As Eliza's accent is altered so is her life, and the audience is pulled willingly into a story of hope and happiness.

Director Rachel Rogers has assembled a large and versatile cast that brings the stage into vivid life. They sing the justly celebrated songs with gusto and skill. While they sing they sometimes dance, and Emma Winslow's choreography full of invention and wit.

The stars shine very brightly. Alex Scott as the transformed flower girl Eliza sings like a professional and commands the stage. Her antagonist, saviour and teacher, the largely boorish Henry Higgins, is played with polished assurance by John Spooner.

But these two are not allowed complete dominance. Eliza's dustman father, Alfred Doolittle (Martin Cook) is a large stage presence and his grainy voice and coarse manner are a feature of the evening. Colonel Pickering, Higgins' linguistic ally, is convincingly played by Kenneth Marshall. Some great casting went into this production.

Mrs Higgins (Kathleen Watkins), Henry's mother, a lady more comfortable with duchesses than flower girls, is played with studied superiority worthy of Lady Bracknell. Indeed the scenes of elevated social life are particularly well done and funny. Eliza's first venture into polite society at Ascot is a delight.

This is a busy production with many scene changes – all executed unfussily – and a brisk pace. TAODS are, as usual, excellent, but the play is too long, and needs judicious editing to keep it sweet and luvverly till the end.