FORGET the fairytale, this is Cinderella for the 21st Century.

This stunning new musical was not at all what I had expected, but was a delight nonetheless.

There was a ball, glittering frocks, a midnight deadline, a pumpkin, a guardian angel and a slipper, but this was no Disney cartoon.

Our two protagonists Cinders, who has been through so much she feels old before her time, and Ella, who feels like she's running out of time, are the heroes of this piece and dim Prince Charming barely gets a look in.

It is a love story of sorts, but there's more to it than that. Cinders and Ella find themselves before they find love.

Set in the modern day, Cinders helps recently widowed Ella as part of a buddy scheme. Ella is targeted by her evil step nieces, keen to swipe their uncle's estate.

Throw in the reopening of the Midnight Ballroom by a local entrepreneur and his grandson into the mix, plus plenty of magic from our police officer turned fairy godmother and you have an extremely well received show which earned a standing ovation on its press night.

References to Tinder, veganism, the frozen food chain Iceland and, of course, Brexit were great fun.

Michael Fentiman directs Lydia White (Cinders), Valda Aviks (Ella), Emma Darlow (Melania), Imelda Warren-Green (Ivanka), Michael O'Connor (Harry) and Jos Slovick (Daniel Deeni) in this hilarious treat, here for the festive season until January 5.

The hugely talented cast perform some incredibly catchy tunes with aplomb. Cinders is a particularly stunning singer while the evil step nieces revel in their roles in the Patsy and Eddy from Absolutely Fabulous mould and the magical policeman channels his inner Uncle Bryn from Gavin and Stacey.

There are plenty of laugh out loud moments and the odd spot of magic.

If you want the Disney fairytale version, this is not for you.

But my five-year-old daughter Poppy and I both loved it.