THERE is a, possibly apocryphal, story that when Andrew Lloyd Webber asked his father what the song 'Memory' sounded like, Lloyd Webber senior replied, "it sounds like a million dollars' and it's a sentiment probably echoed by the appreciative audience at the Borough Theatre in Abergavenny for the opening night of AAODS Juniors production of the multi award winning hit musical Cats.

I must admit to a moment of concern when I first heard that the company had chosen this as the follow up to last year's successful production of Grease but by and large this had eased by the time the first song had ended.

Cats was never going to be an easy option - with very little story and hugely challenging music and choreography it is a show which has stumped many a production team, but with the enthusiasm of the young performers and a whole lot of very hard work, this talented company has once again pulled the cat out of the bag - if you'll excuse the pun.

A true ensemble piece Cats has few stars, relying instead on total commitment from the entire cast from beginning to end.

The performers rarely leave the stage and the demands both physically and mentally are immense and it is to the young performers' credit that they stood up to the challenge and came away virtually unscathed.

Leading the cast was Miles Harding as Munkustrap whose vast experience shone through in both his singing and stage presence. He was matched step by step however by Luke Williams as Rum Tum Tugger, Alys Le Moignan as Bombalurina, Carys Davies as Griddlebone and Bethan Langford as Grizabella, onto whose plate fell the double edged sword of singing Memory - the most familiar song in the whole show.

Excellent cameo performances also came from Tom Brace Jenkins and Emily James, who delighted as Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, Brandon Jones as Skimbleshanks,?Kerrigan Heffernan as Bustopher Jones, Louise Morgan as Jennyanydots, Millie Francis as Jellylorum and Alex Williams as Old Deuteronomy.

For me, one of the star turns of the evening came from Joe Pugh as Gus the Theatre Cat. Last year I criticised Joe for over acting - that he went on to win an A4B award for his performance in Grease shows what I know about anything - but to his huge credit he turned in a performance that was considered, gentle and moving and certainly provided one of my favourite moments of the night.

Credit must also of course go to Molly Brickley Clark, who took to the stage despite undergoing emergency surgery just two weeks ago. Not only did she perform as Demeter, commanding the stage with her performance of Macavity, but she was responsible for the choreography for the production - a truly massive feat for anyone to take on.

As ever there were first night technical glitches - the lights were obviously problematic and sound was not tip top but what was never in doubt was that every performer on stage and those behind the scenes gave their all to the production and worked their socks off to pull it all together.

There were times when the vocal challenges of the show were obvious and the threads were pulled a bit tight, but it's easy to overlook what a hard piece of theatre this is for any performer, let alone those of such a tender age.

This is a show which will only get better as the week goes on and I envy those in the audience on Saturday night - I guarantee you will have your socks blown off!