REVIEW: Mad About The Musicals – at the Forum Theatre, Malvern, on Saturday, October 31, 2015.

HERE’S entertainment that is pure quality featuring five like-minded souls who provide a perfect ensemble performance.

Now on its tenth anniversary tour of the UK - which began early in October in nearby Redditch and concludes this coming weekend just down the road in Tewkesbury - they’ve been packing in the crowds around the country just to prove the point that many of us are mad about the musicals.

Gareth Gates is the big name on the bill but this most likeable young man is, to a certain degree, just another member of the team which also features Michael Courtney, the driving force behind the phenomenon that is Mad About, and three lady vocalists - Kerry O’Dowd, Nichola Lagan and Rosanne Priest - who are each more than capable of holding their own in any musical production with their good range and some excellent harmonising.

The show takes its audience on a whistle-stop tour from the heart of London's ‘Theatreland' to the glitz of Broadway, in an exotic celebration of a selection of some of the very best songs from numerous shows.

With a host of favourite numbers from the pen of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Boublil & Schoenberg - and others, the talented cast of Mad About evoke the true spirit of the spectacular musical.

Luxurious voices beautifully delivered a wide range of songs, certainly an eclectic mix from many famous musicals… from the 1930s right through to present times including the freshest of all, Dr Zhivago.

One or two were, perhaps, a little obscure but taking us through some eight decades of shows, there have been so many there are bound to be an occasional one that’s not so familiar.

However, an older one that was well remembered was from the 1954 film musical, A Star is Born, in which Judy Garland sang The Man That Got Away. But the big hits of the night were from We Will Rock You, which features hit after hit from Queen, Miss Saigon and, of course, Les Mis.

The evocative Empty Chairs At Empty Tables was sung with considerable feeling by Gareth Gates, while the richness and warmth of Michael Courtney’s voice was perfect for Bring Him Home. And it that wasn’t enough to set the pulse racing I Dreamed a Dream, involving all five singers, was truly memorable.

Shows such as these also need top notch musicians and the five-piece backing band, led by keyboard player Bruce Knight, certainly produced the goods.

A packed auditorium and standing ovations - it doesn't get much better than this. And fully deserved.

If you go back 13 years, to 2002, Gareth Gates was famously runner-up to Will Young in the UK's first Pop Idol and unlike some talent show winners he has since carved out a very successful career for himself instead of disappearing into pop oblivion.

He has had numerous chart hits and appeared worldwide. In the UK alone he has sold 3.5 million records, released three albums and had four number one singles.

In 2009 he auditioned and impressed Sir Cameron MackIntosh and accepted the role of Marius, in the 25th anniversary tour of Les Miserables. He has since performed a successful 'Boogie Nights' concert tour with the legendary Osmonds as he continues to carve a successful career in musical theatre.

This can only enhance his CV.

And what a busy man is Michael Courtney. He has regularly produced and directed the show’s hugely successful UK tours, along with other shows such as Waterloo, Shakin All Over, Its D’Lovely, A Night Of Musicals, not to mention over 30 UK Pantomimes and he was nominated as the UK Producer of The Year by Encore Magazine.

He’s also the show’s link-man, adroitly covering any little blips and mixing a nice blend of self-deprecating humour into the proceedings along with a number of ‘insults’ targeted at those around him on stage.

It’s two hours of the very best entertainment if it’s musicals you are mad about. The show is now nearing the end of a hectic schedule which in recent days has seen them in towns and cities such as Lincoln, Oldham, Porthcawl and York, and with hardly time to draw breath they head from St Alban’s next weekend back into this area for a performance at Tewkesbury’s Roses Theatre on Sunday, November 8.

If you’ve missed them to date you would be mad to miss out again.