PROMOTED as a tribute to the music of Golden Globe-winning television show Glee and other gleeful tunes, this show did exactly what it said on the tin.

It ticked all the boxes with its devotees, but anyone expecting the full theatrical package of elaborate sets and fancy costumes, a glimmer of a storyline and the odd emotional twist and turn would have been left feeling slightly glum, not gleeful.

The die-hard ‘Gleeks’, who sang and danced along on the enthusiastically received Mayflower opening night were certainly swept along by the relentless feel-good factor of this unashamedly happy production.

The show is an unadulterated celebration of the global television phenomenon, nothing more, nothing less.

There is no storytelling, only an eclectic musical mix of smash hit tunes that takes us at breakneck speed from Beethoven to Bacharach.

The Glee brand sugar coating that flavoured every number felt a little oversweet and sickly for my taste, but there was no disputing the show-stopping talents of the nine all-singing, all-dancing ensemble and their cracking five-piece band, whose broad smiles and boundless energy took us breathlessly through uplifting tunes like Livin’ on a Prayer, Golddigger, Rehab, Proud Mary and Don’t Stop Believin’.

From Bill Withers’ Lean on Me to John Lennon’s Imagine and Queen’s Somebody to Love, this was the ‘Gleetastic’ show the audience had wished for!

A real family friendly night out, it had fans young and old up partying by the finale as the cast proclaimed Southampton was its best audience yet.

There was a particularly warm reaction to Southampton’s own Naomi Miller, 19, who virtually raised the roof with her powerful vocals appearing in her first role since graduating from theatre school.

The show runs until Saturday.

HILARY PORTER