Rodgers and Hammerstein’s magical score guarantees that The Sound of Music is still a resounding success 56 years after being first staged.

Danielle Hope, the winner of BBC Television’s Over The Rainbow, is a delightful Maria, a novice nun turned governess. Her vocal range, impeccable diction and sheer exuberance do justice to My Favourite Things, Do-Re-Mi and the title song.

But Jan Hartley, as Mother Abbess, steals the show with a fantastic, flawless rendition of Climb Ev’ry Mountain.

Steven Hougton, playing Captain von Trapp, is unable to match the charisma of Hartley and Hope. Even so, he, like Hope, interacts well with the talented youngsters playing his seven children. Grace Chapman makes a charming Liesl and Madeline Banbury a cute Marta.

There is strong support from Sarah Soetaert, as the Captain’s unsuitable fiancée, and Philip Day, as his play-it-safe friend.

This new Bill Kenwright production does not include some of the excellent lines used in the 1965 film, but tension builds as the Nazi threat to the von Trapps gradually emerges. It’s a show for the whole family to enjoy, with Gary McCann’s superb set and David Steadman’s musical adaption adding greatly to an entertaining evening.

Four stars