★★★★☆ Lucy O’Byrne was outstanding as Maria. Her voice and demeanour were ideal for the role, and she was extremely convincing. She was, for me, the main exception in the production to the notion of comparison with the film. Halfway through the first number I had put Julie Andrews out of my head ad started to revel in this new Maria.

★★★★★ For those unfamiliar with the story, this is a musical theatre presentation of a 1950’s movie in the genre of a film noir. We are taken from a death scene in a Beverley Hills mansion back in time to where the origins of the crime began . . . Ria Jones gave a masterclass performance as Norma Desmond, owning every scene with polished stagecraft, dark charisma and a mighty vocal.