You have to suspend belief just a tiny bit for this one, but if you do then the rewards are high. An admittedly sprightly almost 80-year-old Tommy Steele pretends to be our youthfully eponymous hero in The Glenn Miller Story at the New Theatre this week. He's part narrator of the bandleader's story and part in the character, and yet entirely a great entertainer who knows how to engage an audience in a good yarn.

This simplified rags-to-riches story line takes Miller, a college dropout with musical ambitions, from obscurity in Colorado to emerging fame in the bright lights of Gershwin's New York, to Juke Box domination, and then on into the Second World War, playing for the troops and raising morale on the BBC Home Service. Steele is more than ably supported by Ashley Knight, as his faithful sidekick Chummy, and the outstanding Abigail Jaye, who winningly takes on the important role of Helen Burger, the future Mrs Miller. There are six excellent singer/dancers, who swing and tap through those famous Miller arrangements, and a terrific 16-piece band that gets the Miller sound right and tight. The set works well, especially the lit-up arch for the stunning intro of the band, and the direction overall is efficiently controlled.

It's not overlong, and there's some community singing for the last twenty minutes or so. This isn't a negative thing, in fact it's one of the better bits, as our audience did join in and enjoyed themselves. They showed their appreciation very positively at the end, and at the end of the encore, and then at the end of the extra bit after that.

This is a joyous show, with its great music and dancing and a story line, which whilst familiar to the audience, is still engaging and highly nostalgic. And all the familiar tunes are there: 'Moonlight Serenade'; 'Chattanooga Choo Choo'; 'Get Happy'; 'Sing, Sing, Sing'; 'Pennsylvania 6-5000'; and 'In The Mood', all belted out by the band and the enthusiastic cast of colourfully costumed youngsters.