If you're a Bugsy Malone first-timer then you might well be a little trepidatious about a cast made up of kids.
So will director Sean Holmes' first-time touring production, based on Alan Parker's 1976 film, hit the spot with the Manchester Opera House crowd or leave them feeling tempted to fling a custard pie themselves?
Set in prohibition era New York, the action centres on rival gangster kingpins, speakeasy owner Fat Sam (Albie Snelson) and Dandy Dan (Desmond Cole), accompanied by a motley crew of mini mobsters and showgirls.
It's custard pies versus (the far superior and coveted) splurge guns as the pair and their acolytes fight it out, Fat Sam backed by self-styled boxing promoter Bugsy Malone. Bugsy (Gabriel Payne) is a salt-of-the-earth kind of guy who just wants to give his girl, aspiring singer Blousey Brown, a shot at stardom rather than a shot of whipped cream.
The action is slick, the humour slapstick, with Snelson's Fat Sam and his sidekick 'Knuckles' (Thomas Walton) giving off Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy vibes in the comic highlight of the night.
The set is fun and ingenious, with props dropping down from the ceiling and Fat Sam's bar an escapist splash of colour in stark contrast to the depressing grey, concrete reality of those infamous New York fire escapes.
Costumes too are a delight to behold - swanky, playboy style suits for the men and sequinned, silky slips and fur stoles for the ladies.
Given their young ages, the dialogue throughout flows effortlessly with no slip-ups and Paul Williams' irresistibly upbeat score, from Fat Sam's Grand Slam to Bad Guys and So You Wanna Be A Boxer, go down a treat.
Delilah Bennet-Cardy as Blousey singing Ordinary Fool is the tearjerker of the night and is delivered with real heart and vulnerability as well as technical skill.
However, there are times with other individual cast member songs when the energy and the volume, the gusto, are simply lacking, killing the pizzazz of the performance a little.
Quite the opposite though is true of the dancing, the combination of Drew McOnie's vibrant choreography and the cast's superb physical movement abilities the standout feature of the night, despite some cast members only having the chance to properly show off their moves in the finale, which seems like a missed opportunity.
What you will make of this musical comedy depends on what you are expecting. It's very much a case of smiles over substance but it's an undeniably entertaining night out for all the family.
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