WITH an award-winning Cole Porter crowd-pleaser and a cast clad in £800,000 of costumes, which arrived via Broadway and the West End, this is more than Another Op'nin, Another Show. Strangely, this op'nin number drifts on a little too long before we meet the main protagonists in this Baltimore-based comedy about recently-divorced show stars getting back together for a musical version of The Taming Of The Shrew.

Relatively unknown leads Craig Urbani and Julie-Alanah Brighten live the double life of Fred Graham and Petruchio and Lilli Vanessi and Katherine. There is a sparkle and snap about the pair which is eerily reminiscent of the Howard Keel-Kathryn Grayson 1953 film. Urbani occasionally over-acts but wows us with Where Is The Life? while Brighten's snarling I Hate Men is worth the price of a seat on its own.

Debutant Michelle Francis, in the joint role of Lois Lane/Bianca, is a positive fireball of ginger-haired energy... think Bonnie Langford with sex appeal. The muscular gymnastics of David Sellings as her boyfriend Bill Calhoun/Lucentio is another eye-popper as the vibrant large ensemble make light of the Tyneside stage's lack of dance space. Former EastEnders Michael Greco and Duncan Smith are charged with the comic genius song of Brush Up Your Shakespeare and just about deliver on the money.

Despite the occasional air of going through the motions, this is a performance you're advised not to kiss off.

Runs until Saturday, March 26. Box Office: 0870 905 5060.

Published: 18/03/2005