This is more a ballet with songs than a musical, and I found it to be a little bit of a slow burner as it took a couple of scenes to settle into the show. However, once it got going it was wonderful. Unlike the movie, Adam (played by David Seadon-Young) is given a much larger role in this production and, I have to say, he was my favourite character of them all.

Have you ever wanted to know what the gin and drug-fuelled parties of 1920s New York were like? Well, The Other Palace brings them to life in this heady production. I saw this show during its first week of previews so there were still a few kinks. For example, almost every single line in the opening number was unintelligible. I am not sure whether this was due to poor sound balance or poor diction, but fortunately it improved as the first half continued.

The opening two minutes made me worry that this show was going to feel contrived, dated and too saccharine. None of this was helped by the slightly poor diction in the opening number. However, the opening number and first two minutes passed and this became one of the best productions I have seen for a while. A strong cast is led superbly by Mark Umbers and Scarlet Strallen. Umbers is charming and endearing, if strangely stooped in posture, as Georg Nowack, which makes his nastiness towards Strallen’s Amalia Balash appear all the more cruel and jarring.