Tim Hughes is impressed beyond expectation by a hugely enjoyable production by a group of talented Oxfordshire performers

Serendipity is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as The faculty of making happy and unexpected discoveries by accident.

It also perfectly sums up Oxfordshire Youth Music Theatre’s stunning production of Crazy for You – a musical based on George and Ira Gershwin’s 1930s musical Girl Crazy, but pulling in tunes from other shows too.

To be honest, I was not expecting much. Don’t get me wrong; the group have a great reputation, receiving high praise for previous productions. All the same, we are talking not just am-dram, but also other people’s kids, some as young as 15. Ordinarily, I’d have rather eaten my own hat. Instead, I polished off a large plate of humble pie, after spending one of the most enjoyable nights at the theatre I can remember.

The casting was inspired, with superb acting, singing, dancing and choreography. A number of those on stage radiating charisma, marking them out as future stars.

So polished were the performances – including the music from the band – that I quickly forgot I was watching a group of teenagers. Indeed it was a good deal slicker, and certainly more fun, than a lot of professional theatre I have seen recently.

Brilliantly directed by Paul Andsell, the show follows the story of Bobby Child (Doug Broad), the rich scion of a New York property magnate, who has his ambitions fixed on one thing only – the stage. That is until he is sent to the dusty former Goldrush town of Deadrock Nevada, to serve repossession papers on a former theatre, now run as a post office by the feisty Polly Baker (Rosie Hunt).

Falling in love at first sight, his passion for the theatre is equalled only by his affection for Polly. He resolves to save the theatre, and win her over, by posing as the eccentric impresario Bela Zangler and staging a Broadway production with the help of the glamorous Zangler’s Follies Dancers. Much hilarity ensues, with belly laughs aplenty.

The show rolls along on a wave of great Gershwin numbers – ably acted, danced and, in Broad’s case, tapped out, by the cast. The most stirring numbers are the big choreographed showpieces involving the ensemble; (credit to choreographer Jessica Townsend who used the original Broadway show as her model). The cast clearly had as much fun as we did. Which is as it should be.

Broad and Hunt are wonderful, but so too are the exuberant showgirls Tess (Darcy Rak) and Betsy (Sophie Taylor), as urbane metropolitan gals transplanted to the American West. Credit also to Chris Ventom, who plays Polly’s father, Everett, putting in a great performance as a dreamy old man.

Hannah Cound is marvellous as Bobby’s thwarted, frustrated fiancée and Phoebe Rose, Luke Allmond as Zangler (an inspired performance as a drunk by a young man I assume as never touched a drop!), and Josh Herman as the stiff-upper-lip English guide book writers Patricia and Eugene Fodor.

This rollicking production was the result of six months hard work, not least by musical director Debbie Rose and assistant Matt Winkworth, and it shows.

That these kids have achieved such greatness so soon is sobering indeed. Great things beckon for many of them. And with a few budding Daniel Radcliffes and Emma Watsons among the cast, we can expect to see their names on the credits of West End shows and Hollywood Blockbusters in the not too distant future.