The World Goes 'Round, Arts Theatre, Marie Clark Musical Theatre

Marie Clark have gone a strange path for their second musical of the year. Instead of a traditional musical they have opted for a celebration of the wonderful body of work from collaborators John Kander and Fred Ebb. Kander and Ebb gave us some amazing shows like "Cabaret", "Chicago" and "Kiss Of The Spider Woman" amongst many others. Whilst these shows are represented, it's the other numbers in the show from their lesser known works that make this an entertaining evening.

Director Ben Saunders (who also designed the wonderfully versatile set) has assembled a cohesive and dedicated cast of performers who deliver many a wonderful performance. Musical director Gordon Combes has picked his soloists very carefully making sure the right people sing the right songs. Jenny Scarce-Tolley sings up a storm several times but never more so in the duet "The Grass Is Always Greener" (paired with the equally wonderful Maxine Morales). Nikki Gaertner-Eaton nearly manages to upstage her husband Chris Eaton (never an easy feat) in "Ring Them Bells" but the real standout is Omkar Nagesh who not only shows his serious side in "I Don't Remember You" but his humorous side in "Sara Lee".

Kylie Pedler's choreography works well for the most part even if the execution of the ensemble isn't as polished as it could be.

The band suffers from bad audio (always a problem when onstage). The drums couldn't be heard and there was practically no bass, whilst the acoustic instruments had intermittent tuning issues throughout the night. One suspects that with a few more performances under their belt, these problems will iron themselves out.

The sound mix was a little hit and miss on opening night and few lazy follow spots need to be tightened up. However, once these small issues are resolved this will be a very entertaining evening.