Another great piece of theatrical work by Michael Grandage, whose previous work includes Donmar Warehouse's Grand Hotel and Merrily We Roll Along.

The stage design by Christopher Oram, while not very conventional works particularly well in the 'Havana club' scene and 'underground gambling ' scene. It gives a new edge to this musical revival which is the first time I ever seen in London.

Howard Harrison's lighting design was perfectly suited for Oram's design. The use of the old fashion follow spot on the stage for most of the time gave a fantastic effect.

Ewan McGregor surprised us in the film Moulin Rouge but live theatre is another ball game. Still, Ewan proves he is not only a good actor on the big screen but can really work his charm in the theatre as well. Not only is his singing better than in Moulin Rouge, but his control of the high notes, even moreso. Another surprise is his dancing, which is very good. But then, under Rob Asford, what can possibly go wrong? I haven't seen such slick choreography since Modern Millie which, no surprise, Asford choreographed as well.

I am always skeptical when TV soap star / reality c list personalities who can't sing perform in musicals. But this doesn't apply to American actress Jane Krakowski as Ms Adelaide. Not only is she a marvelous actress, but she has great comedic timing and a wonderful voice. No actress in this show can steal her spotlight when she is on stage she is truly the female lead in this show. But through-out the production, the entire supporting cast proved to be great in their dance and song as well.

Fantastic orchestration from Doug Besterman; you get goose bumps just listening to the full sound of this orchestra when they start the overture. Lastly of course, great music and lyrics by Frank Loesser. They don't make them like Loesser anymore. (Nowadays you hardly can get one memorable tune in the new West End musicals). So many wonderful songs like Adelaide's Lament , If I Were a Bell , I've Never Been in Love Before , Luck Be a Lady and of course Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat, which Martyn Ellis did so well.

This is a must-see show and Ewan McGregor did a great thing by introducing a younger audience the theatre. But bring a fan, especially on a hot matinee day. It's about time this theatre invested in air conditioning ( I was told the theatre has just renovated the seats plus air conditioning unfortunately it wasn't working on the day I went ).