CRAIG Revel Horwood is sitting so quietly in the corner that it takes me a while to register he’s actually there.

Apart from the odd showbiz ‘darling’, the normally flamboyant Strictly Come Dancing judge is nowhere to be seen.

He’s busy at his day job, firmly in charge as a new musical is brought to life before our very eyes.

We’re in a dingy rehearsal room close to London’s Kings Cross, but I’m gripped by the creation of Fiddler on the Roof, which is just weeks away from its world premiere in Southampton.

The cast are in jogging bottoms, dancing, singing and playing their way around a dusty hall, but I don’t care – I’m completely mesmerised.

Starsky and Hutch’s Paul Michael Glaser really is Tevye bidding an emotional farewell to his daughter.

Even the stage manager is in tears.

For a second, I’m on a freezing cold train platform in rural Russia watching the scene unfold.

That is a sign of a truly terrific show – and I for one can’t wait to see it in all its glory at The Mayflower next month.

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