CONDENSING 20 years of West End magic into one 90 minute concert is not an easy task.

But somehow the Beyond the Barricade crew manage to pick just the right mix of songs from the past two decades and more importantly, do them justice.

The result is a superb tribute to the world of musical theatre - a show where the audience can simply sit back and enjoy one stunning performance after another.

As is only right, there was a healthy dose of homage to Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber. Becci Morrell’s soaring soprano voice made light work of the Phantom of the Opera’s challenging score and she also treated the audience to the title track from Lloyd Webber’s newest musical Love Never Dies - a simple, elegant ballad destined to become a West End favourite.

But my personal highlights were the excerpts from Wily Russell’s Blood Brothers, a Mamma Mia medley that proved the perfect way to end the first half and, of course, the superb Les Miserables finale.

It was through this musical that Beyond the Barricade’s founders Andy Reiss and David Fawcett met and clearly still have a huge emotional attachment to. David Fawcett’s rendition of Bring Him Home was as heartrending as they come but there was little time to recover before we were hit with the equally poignant On My Own.

A stunning performance of One Day More left the audience truly satisfied and probably helped sell the few remaining tickets for the Les Miserables production currently showing at the Mayflower.