At a packed Regent Theatre, the effervescent Liza Pulman delivers a smooth hugely enjoyable concert featuring the songs of Barbra Streisand.

Opening with the jazzy Don’t Rain On My Parade and Carole King’s brilliantly timeless You’ve Got A Friend, Pulman and her excellent six-piece live band (somewhat pretentiously called “The Stardust Ensemble”) delighted an appreciative audience.

This is not a shallow tribute show or a portentous biography, but rather musicians at the top of their game delivering popular high-quality entertainment.

With well-researched and humorously informative patter, Pulman nails Streisand’s Oscar-winning Evergreen and Billy Joel’s atmospheric and perceptive New York State Of Mind.

Displaying operatic range and control, blended with crisp enunciation, Pulman mixes the up-tempo quirky Second-hand Rose from Funny Girl, with the slinky dreamy What Are You Doing For The Rest Of Your Life.

Absolutely outstanding are the beautifully moving The Way We Were (from the well-loved early 70s movie), and Randy Newman’s stylish country-feeling I’ll Be Home.

Producing an enthusiastic standing ovation were the aching You Don’t Bring Me Flowers (it’s my wife’s birthday soon; must remember to get her some!) and the inspirational 1929 American Presidential choice Happy Days Are Here Again.

And the encore was the movingly profound and thought-provoking People, (People Who Need People).

An excellent concert!