I’VE never been the biggest fan of Bath Operatic and Dramatic Society but in Crazy For You at Theatre Royal Bath they’ve produced a stage classic worthy of the golden-age of Broadway musicals and some Rose Bowl Awards.

Their version of George and Ira Gershwin’s smash-hit musical comedy is by far the best production I’ve ever seen them perform and I found it captivating from beginning to end.

I always cringe when BODS packs the stage with just about every member they have but in this show they make a welcome return with a large cast of local talent, including semi-professionals.

The production is high-energy, high-kicking and gloriously glamorous and there’s not a weak performance from any of the cast.

Who wouldn’t like to hear a host of famous Gershwin musical numbers including I Got Rhythm, They Can’t Take That Away From Me, Nice Work If You Can Get It, Someone To Watch Over Me and Embraceable You sung and performed beautifully?

In 1930s New York, everybody dreams of being a star in the bright lights of Broadway. Everybody including Bobby Child, a young New York banker who is sent to Deadrock, Nevada, to foreclose on a shabby rundown theatre.

While there, Bobby falls for feisty Polly Baker, the theatre owner’s daughter, but she’s not quite so taken with the city slicker. Bobby vows – through cunning, razzmatazz and a hilarious case of mistaken identity – to win Polly’s heart and save the theatre.

Crazy For You is packed with wit and wry humour and its fresh interpretation of timeless musical songs spans a variety of styles from cabaret and variety-show to jazz and tap.

BODS returns to TRB with a cast of 38 local performers, aged from 20 to 73 years, who hail from Bath, Bristol, Wiltshire, Somerset and Gloucestershire.

Steve Blackmore leads the creative team following the success of BODS’ last TRB production, Legally Blonde, and directs a show worthy of being played to a packed auditorium.

The lead role of Bobby Child is played by Arnie Richardson, whose professionalism shines through the singing and dancing, and is more than matched by Rosie May Cook, playing his love interest Polly Baker, who returns to BODS five years on from her appearance as Helene in Sweet Charity.

Other key roles are played by Grant McCotter, as the Broadway theatre impresario Bela Zangler; Pip Knowles, as the sneering saloon owner, Lank Hawkins; and Annabel Latham as Irene, Bobby’s New York socialite fiancée, making her debut with BODS.

Jane Morgan, who plays the Zangler’s Follies Dance Captain, Tess, is also the company’s Dance Captain and should take the credit, along with choreographer Annette Wilsher, who runs the Bop About Dance School in Bradford on Avon, for the cast’s many high-energy and dynamic routines.

Lastly, the show’s musical Director Peter Blackwood, for more than 30 years a pianist and teacher at Bath Spa University, has directed music for over 200 local theatre productions and it shows.

Crazy For You is an excellent show and deserves to achieve success at the prestigious local Rose Bowl Awards for theatre productions.

It is on at TRB to Saturday (May 7). If you can grab a ticket, I thoroughly recommend seeing the show.

Tickets are available from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 01225 448844 and online at www.theatreroyal.org.uk