Never are the failings of fame more poignant than on the spinning stage of the 1950s' Cabaret Club when we see just how much the beaming smile of the showgirl truly costs.

Loose Change, a new musical written by Lisa Gaye Wright and Vivienne Parkes, takes its audience on a colourful dive down the back alleys of fame, with both a script and a musical score that could happily hold their own with a West End audience.

‘Pearl’, a show girl who falls down on her luck, played passionately by Bethany Jameson, was offset by Stewart Barlow, who stole the show as Del-Boy-esque ‘Micky’, her cheeky dodgy-dealing best friend.

There are some lovely numbers, too, from Lisa McQuillan (Pearl’s nemesis ‘Coco’), Jeremy Mills (Pearl’s lover) and Noel Davenport (Charlie the world-weary Bar Manager), but stage mics proved gremlins for the cast, whose voices, in some instances, would have been clearer without them.

Strong direction from Eileen Rawlings polishes the show off, and, though it can have been no mean feat directing a musical within the cosy confines of the BLTC stage, it is pulled off nicely save for a couple of instances where characters could unavoidably be seen coming on for their cues.

But neither stage mics or cue visibility could de-tract from what was overall a thoroughly enjoyable show.