David Bellan watches a show that is ablaze with glamour

This is a brash, in-yer-face show that stars Brendan Cole and Aliona Vilani, well-known for their many appearances on Strictly Come Dancing. Brendan took the delightful Sophie Ellis-Bextor to the final this year, while Aliona crashed out early, having been saddled with the bumbling Tony Jacklin. There were two more men, Brendan’s brother Scott, and Patrick Helm, plus Melanie Hooper and Crystal Main. On a platform at the back of the stage were an excellent band led by Barry Robinson, and singers Julie Maguire and Iain Mackenzie.

Music was loud, and girls’ cost-umes skimpy and glittering. A two-hour show is a lot to carry for a cast of only six, and breathing space is achieved by long chatty sequences from Brendan Cole, who turns out to be a very likeable compere. There were also solos from each of the singers — I particularly liked Mackenzie’s style, and he can dance a bit too.

We moved enjoyably through a series of sambas, tangos, foxtrots and quicksteps; the men suitably macho, the girls most of the time looking sexy, and also seemingly doing most of the hard work in the dance numbers. This was a talented cast. Here and there the tempo slowed, and the costumes became more discreet, as in a beautiful English waltz, danced slowly and expressively by Brendan and Aliona. Just before the interval the audience was invited to hand in questions about Strictly, which Brendan would answer on stage. This turned out to take up a big chunk of the second half, with questions such as ‘do you fancy Darcey Bussel?” and ‘how much does Artem hate the handsome new bloke ?” (neither satisfactorily answered).

As a climax. Brendan and Aliona recreated the iconic duet from the film Dirty Dancing, in front of a standing clapping, cheering audience. A show not big on finesse, but high in entertainment, and greatly appreciated by a packed house.