IT'S a tale as old as time - amateur company tackles massive West End hit, faces untold technical challenges and manages to pull it off by the skin of its teeth.

Such is the case with the junior section of AAODS, which after massive hits with Les Miserables and Moby Dick -the Musical, this year turned its sight to the hallowed ground of Disney and the classic Beauty and the Beast.

Beloved by generations this traditional tale of love conquering adversity and prejudice has as its centre the obvious moral - never judge a book by the cover and this applies so aptly to the company itself.

On paper a junior group with new members moving up from the chorus ranks to take leading roles this could have been a shaky production for AAODS and after a slightly uncertain start to the proceedings I feared the worst but as the evening progressed and the cast settled into their stride it seemed that we were back on familiar juniors' territory.

As ever the chorus work was exemplary, with showstopping numbers like Be Our Guest and Human Again delighting the opening night audience.

While the dancing and movement was at times restricted by the necessary size of the set - which was impressive - the company, under the direction of Jaci Brickley Clark, still managed to bring life and exuberance to the numbers, something which I'm sure will grow with their confidence during the week.

In the central role of Belle, Laura Sidney was a revelation - what a voice! With some challenging vocal work to face, she drew a collective gasp from the audience with her opening note and continued to delight until the rousing finalé.

Surely with Laura on the scene operatic divas all over the country should look to their laurels because in a few short years she's set to be nipping at their heels - Katherine Jenkins be warned.

When it comes to vocal challenges AAODS juniors it has to be said never cease to amaze and Joe Tulloch as Gaston is another find, with his powerful voice more than standing up to the requirements of the music and teaming well with that of Henry Wheatley as LeFou.

Acting and singing honours must also go to Tom Mogford, who excelled as ever as Lumiere, leading the cast in a lively Be Our Guest, and Jack Wheatley who was equally impressive as his foil Cogsworth - and managed even to carry off the cumbersome clock costume with panache.

As Mrs Potts Rachel Neill was as

self contained and dignified as a tea pot can be, singing the title songs with ease, while her daughter Chip, played by tiny Amy Price was cuteness personified.

Other excellent supporting roles were played by Alex Williams as Maurice, Laura Turp as Babette and Molly Brickley Clark, whose powerful voice was an eye opener, as Madame de la Grande Bouche.

Of course any production of Beauty and the Beast has to have its Beast and John Sowerby was more than up to the challenge.

This is a hard enough role to sing and act without having to do it under a mass of makeup and false hair and it is to his credit that when the Prince's true form was finally revealed, I felt just a tiny bit sad that Belle hadn't ended up with the Beast.

His performance of If I Can't Love Her was both controlled and powerful and bodes of good things to come in the future.

Of course, as ever there were things that didn't quite work - it was sad that the transformation scene at the climax of the scene was played out of sight of much of the audience and lost some of its dramatic intensity and there were moments when - very unusally for this company - the cast seemed a little confused as to what was going on, but this is unfortunately one of the drawbacks of such as technically challenging show.

In short however if you're looking for a show to bring a little colour and magic to these dreary November nights then go no further than the Borough Theatre - you won't be disappointed.