I'VE learned two things from the opening night of AAODS' production of High Society - one is that I'm delighted that Barrie Jackson has decided not to retire and the second is that new talent is never far from the forefront in Abergavenny.

For me at least, Barrie Jackson and 13 year old Emily James were without doubt the stars of this lively Cole Porter musical, stealing every scene - Barrie's uproarious She's Got That Thing was a sheer comic delight, while Emily's performance as Dinah was one of the best Borough Theatre principal debuts I can remember - her sisterly duet I Love Paris was an early evening highlight which set the scene for the rest of the show,

Quite honestly Barrie and Emily alone are worth the ticket price, add to them a host of other talented performers and you have a thoroughly enjoyable night of theatre.

I can't say High Society is a show I would rave over - the stage musical has always enjoyed a somewhat muted reception and frankly it doesn't have a fraction of the charm of either the Hepburn film or the Grace Kelly musical it inspired.

However in the hands of AAODS it is lively, colourful and by and large enjoyable.

As the lead protagonist, socialite Tracy Samantha Lord, Barbara Bennett gave her all, channeling Katharine Hepburn at every opportunity, although sometimes falling short of the staccato machine gun like delivery the character demanded.

Playing opposite her as C?K?Dexter Haven Patrick Callaghan was as relaxed and at ease as I have ever seen him on stage with numbers like Little One and Just One of Those Things sitting perfectly with his voice.

The pairing of Stephen Hopkins and Evelin Sipos also worked well with a nice chemistry emerging as the evening progressed.

I loved Evelin's rendition of He's a Right Guy and while she didn't quite hit the mark with her depiction of the brash New Yorker her natural ease on stage and her singing made up for any shortcomings.

As Margaret Lord, Jane Lewis was haughty and eccentric in equal measure and it was nice to see her once again 'married' to AAODS stalwart David Evans, who gave a lovely cameo as the wayward Seth Lord.

As George Kittredge, Rob Jenkins played it for laughs somewhat at the expense of the character although his main number I Worship You went down well with the audience.

Chorus work, as always with AAODS was superb and although numbers were slightly down performance was not and challenging chorus set pieces like High Society, Well Did You Evah and the brilliant Let's Misbehave were more than up to AAODS standard.

In short this was a hugely challenging show both technically and dramatically and by and large it was one which the company faced head on and made a success of thanks to the talents of director Sarah Fowler and musical director Andrew Hopkins

I'm sure that as the week progresses, the technical difficulties are ironed out and it gains a little more pace High Society will be a surefire audience pleaser.