It was Noel Coward who remarked on the potency of popular music, how is marks our lives and shapes our emotions in a way classical music rarely does.

The modern master of this is Andrew Lloyd Webber, who also masterminded the idea of making you whistle the tunes to his shows as you walked in as well as when you came out.

Whistle Down The Wind is not Lloyd Webber's best by far but he repeats the happy knack of making you feel moved.

Yes, it is corny, even schmaltzy, but it stays in the brain, albeit irritatingly.

Whistle is the musical version of the 1961 film starring Hayley Mills and Alan Bates. But it has been transferred from rural England to the Deep South of the US in the Fifties.

When a group of children come across a stranger in a barn, he tells them he is Jesus Christ rather than admit to being a convicted murderer on the run.

Setting it in the US Bible belt suits the tale as does the period. In today's England or America, the children would more likely call the police or nick his wallet.

Producer-director Bill Kenwright has chosen a talented cast to tell the story and, though I tried my best to resist, I soon surrendered and loved it.

Chris Holland, standing in for the indisposed Ray Gabbard, as the stranger, has a fabulous voice, emphatic, firm and full of vigour.

And Swallow, or "Swaller" as pronounced here, the girl who discovers the stranger, is another find. Claire Howard is a Julie Andrews in the making with a lovely, clear sound and diction to die for.

And Amos, the James Dean-type rebel, is a Meatloaf sound-alike - although much slimmer.

The children, from the K-BIS Theatre school choir, are excellent. Their chorus of No Matter What - a No1 hit for Boyzone - is extremely moving.

It may not have the great songs of other Lloyd Webber shows and lyricist Jim Steinman may not have half the talent of Tim Rice but this is a very good show, smartly executed and gets its points across with a lot of sugar and the occasional flare of fire.

For tickets, call 01273 328488.