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There were two outstanding stars of this production, but a couple of pretty nifty crooks too. I particularly liked John Guerrasio's Revd Moon (alias the gangster Moonface Martin), who did much to enliven an initially slow-to-kickstart show. There's a splurge of the smash-hit number 'I get a kick out of you' quite early on (Porter deliberately went for an early strike), but the showstopping full-belt version was wisely reserved here till later in the show, when the characters are far better established. There are hints of slick orchestration (clarinets and what sounds like a celesta, for instance).

Best of all, Kim Criswell's swingeing performance as the (distinctly dubious) evangelistic soul-saver, Reno Sweeney -- the role created by Ethel Merman : her duet with lovelorn Billy (Graham Bickley), 'You're the top', had a splendid swing. Reno's character, tippling ('I tell you liquor has never passed my lips.' 'You know a short cut?'), innuendo-ridden and outrageous, is blissfully larger than life : a kind of breezy Oprah Winfrey in full flow. Reno's buzzy duet with Moon ('If you're ever ...'), abetted by slick woodwind, saxophone, brass and solo trumpet, was a laugh a second.

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