Paul Gambaccini's childhood love of comics inspired this cartoon strip musical, and there are times when you wish he'd left his obsession with his youth. Alastair King's likeable score plays with musical theatre styles of the 50s and 60s, and Gambaccini's lyrics have flashes of wit. But the story line makes Superman seem like an intellectual achievement.
Cartoonist Joe Barino has allowed money and his man-eating agent, Thrifty Bazaar, to persuade him to let the villains get the upper hand in the world of Ultimate Man. But the Lycra superhero thinks the villainous Rex Ringer has gone too far when the latter kidnaps his girl, Cathy Cookie. In an effort to save her, Ultimate Man smashes through to the real world where Joe, newly fallen in love, rediscovers his integrity and draws everyone out of trouble in time for the final number.
It is patchily entertaining, but Gambaccini and his team never get the balance between spoof and affectionate homage quite right. Then there is the problem that the cartoon characters are indeed two-dimensional. What it needs is a book that doesn't just celebrate the Marvel culture of 40 years ago, but brings to it a 21st-century irony.
Until May 27. Box office: 020-7936 3456
