★★★★☆ The standalone numbers are all of the highest quality and accompanied where required by top class dancing. Last night there were audible gasps as the male dancers appeared looking not unlike the Chippendales. But they are no mere eye candy for the ladies and  were both artistically expressive and athletic, as were the female troupe.

★★★★☆ The show opens in a grim girls’ orphanage.  The walls tower up into darkness, and huge doors and tall lamps accentuate the tininess of the occupants, lying on their starkly function beds. The laundry boy tells them that they get ‘clean sheets once a month, whether they need them or not’. Everything is bathed in a blue-green, sepulchral light.

★★★★★  There is far more to Bourne’s Swan Lake than mere gender-juggling. In many ways, a more interesting aspect of Bourne’s achievement is that he has taken the central idea of the story back to its dark, mythic origins.

★★★★☆ People singing about shoes? Not a particularly auspicious subject for a night’s entertainment you might think. But following a sluggish start, Kinky Boots tears off the humdrum and delivers a mad musical, peeling away prejudice while serving up a thunderingly good time.

★★★☆☆ Despite my reservations, I can see why Motown The Musical is a hugely successful show that has triumphed on Broadway and in the West End. Motown’s music deserves to be remembered and celebrated, and for those who love juke-box musicals this show is an absolute must-see.