'On the Twentieth Century' at the Union Theatre

'On the Twentieth Century' is a Cy Coleman musical - he of 'Sweet Charity' and 'Big Spender' fame - which uses a Howard Hawks screwball comedy as it's primary inspiration. It explores the tempestuous relationship between a movie idol actress and a producer desperate to get her services. And has lots of entertaining running in and out of compartments with slamming doors.

The Union Theatre is on a bit of a roll at the moment with their small scale productions of big Broadway musicals - like an even thriftier version of the Menier Chocolate Factory's shows. The tiny cavern like space has both the benefit of making you a real part of the performance but can also throw up some sound level problems. The surprisingly large and beautifully brassy band sometimes overwhelmed the performers given the acoustics.

The seating arrangement stretching across the length of the performance area also wasn't quite as successful as having more depth to the seating and stage but a smaller width. Bit too much neck twisting to be completely comfortable. Not that you could accuse the seating in general of being comfortable.

But these are minor concerns in comparison to the sheer energy of the production. In the fine tradition of most farcical comedies, a lot of the comedy relies on the cast throwing themselves at the ridiculous situations with brio and this cast didn't disappoint. The music stylistically sits somewhere around the 1930s even though the show premiered in 1980 and has the same kind of bounce as the book.

Coleman's melodies range from the superbly catchy 'On the Twentieth Century' to the sadistically annoying 'I Have a Written a Play' but my favourite has to be the wonderfully un-PC 'She's a Nut!' Comden and Green's lyrics are playful and have the effortlessness of years of experience.

The staging was inventive given the constraints and had the best cast-train since 'Hello, Dolly!' at the Open Air Theatre a few years back. Howard Samuels and Bruce Granit obviously had great fun preening in fake mirrors and Valda Aviks is delightfully certifiable. Rebecca Vere was as wonderfully untouchable a movie star as you could wish for. Chris David Storer and Matt Harrop were an engaging two stooges and the rest of the cast gave enthusiastic support.

All aboard the Twentieth Century for some sophisticated jazzy silliness, here's hoping for a transfer.

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