COMPILATION shows are notoriously difficult to stage, consisting as they do of a wide variety of musical styles, so it is greatly to the credit of the WOW Youth Musical Theatre group that their second production of this form of entertainment is even better than their first.

The professional production team of Scott St Martyn, Heather Reed, Janet Stockley and Becky Wells have pulled off another superb show in which around 50 young people sing and dance their way through a wide variety of melodies ranging from Abba to Verdi and Gilbert and Sullivan to Sting.

An all-singing, all-dancing production needs a great deal of co-ordination, not to mention lots of costume changes but the whole thing goes off like a dream as the cast, aged between 10 and 18, focus all their energies into the task and put on a display of their considerable talents.

The show provides a veritable feast of solo opportunities from among the young members with performances of the highest calibre from singers too numerous to name them all.

Special mention, though, should go to a few out of the many, namely Jess Thurtell for her emotive rendering of Fields Of Gold, Daniel Strong as Mr Cellophane, Sallie-Beth Lawless and Jenny Galloway for their Pie Jesu duet and Femi Oriogun-Williams for This Nearly Was Mine from South Pacific.

Disco hits start the ball rolling for the full company, followed by songs from the shows with a Motown medley bringing back the glory days of the 60s to conclude the first act.

The surprise inclusion of the Chorus Of The Hebrew Slaves from Nabucco, sung in Italian, opens the second act which culminates in an ever-popular Abba selection that includes a marvellously performed ‘hand-dance’ which just about brought the house down on the opening night.

The standard is never less than excellent, thanks to imaginative choreography and sensitive musical arrangements.