CONTRARY to popular suggestion I wasn't around when Messers Carr, Shackleton and Co staged the first production by AAODS back in 1911.

I have however been around - with varying degrees of popularity - for the past 20 odd years, so there was a double dose of nostalgia on offer on Sunday evening when the company staged a concert marking its 100th anniversary.

Not only did it provide a chance to look back with nostalgia on some of the highlights that I recall, but also meet up once again with some of the performers responsible for those golden moments.

Of course it didn't hurt that the concert itself will now fall into that lexicon of golden moments, for this was really AAODS at its very best.

With a cast of almost 30, the show moved seamlessly through the ages, starting with a tribute to the Gilbert and Sullivan years and ending bang up to date with a rousing chorus from Les Miserables, with passing nods en route to Ivor Novello, Sigmund Romberg, Cole Porter and Rogers and Hammerstein.

Featuring some of the company's most familiar faces, the evening also included guest appearances from former alumni Oliver Thornton, now making a name for himself in the West End and Samantha Davies, who made the journey home from the Antipodes to recreate her 1998 performance with Once Your Lose Your Heart from Me and My Girl.

With a cast as strong as this is it invidious to pick out star performers, but there was something touching about Tony Paton's If Ever I Would Leave You and Barrie Jackson and Rita Rouse's Love Unspoken while the female chorus version of Tripping Hither showed that if nothing else this was a company more than happy to poke gentle fun at itself.

A rafter raising highlight was also provided by the junior members of the company who offered a sneak peek of their November production with an exuberant performance of The Jitterbug from The Wizard of Oz.

Perhaps the warmest applause of the evening was reserved for the company's longest serving member, the much loved Brenda Harris - who joined the group to introduce one of AAODS' most successful sons, Oliver Thornton.

Packed with energy and fun this show must rank as one of the most enjoyable evenings I have spent in the theatre for some time and shows once and for all that with 100 years under its belt the future is looking bright for AAODS.