BEAUTY pageants are renowned for bringing out the best and worst in the competitors, and this musical comedy showcases every aspect of what is likely to be the worst example – the all-American contest.

The ‘girls’ were presented to us individually, with categories for Evening Gown, Swimsuit, Talent and Sportswear.

The twist here, though, is that all the parts of the contestants are played by men.

Each night a selection of the audience are invited to act as judges, marking each contestant out of ten.

On opening-night, Miss Bible-belt (Daniel Ferrett) won the coveted vote to be crowned Miss Glamouresse, sponsored by a decidedly down-market cosmetic company.

Ferrett’s statuesque figure certainly looked the part and his performance was very convincing.

My personal judge’s vote went for Miss Industrial North-East (Sam Gregory), who’s convincing Hispanic accent was well-maintained throughout.

The intimate venue lends itself to shows of this style, with the thrust-stage putting the actors within touching-distance of the audience, allowing every facial expression and catty aside to be noticed as the cast grew increasingly competitive.

The costumes were well chosen to complement each character and the speed at which the changes were made was equally impressive.

The cast performed some rudimental dance-routines as they strutted their stuff, all choreographed by Hannah Edwins, displaying her versatility having won a recent Curtain Call Award for her role as Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray.

John Sparrow and Chris Ball provided lively keyboard accompaniment to what was a very enjoyable evening.

ALAN JOHNS