WITH the entertainment world going Abbacadabra at the moment, any show boasting a strong tribute link is bound to earn some bookings.

Quite how this train-crash of a show – having jumped the spandex-coated rails after eight numbers to plough into a hoary old re-hash of Seventies’ Village People kitsch – kept a large audience enthralled, I have no idea. But it did, and they cheered for more.

Executive producer David King, and director and choreographer Alan Harding have gone for the kitchen sink approach, as five wiry guys and a mixed bag of nine gals frantically dance to everything from a Riverdance version of In The Navy, to inserting Lulu’s Shout into a Motown medley.

While I was shaking my head in sheer disbelief, the audience clapped along to a second half which leapt in and out of Abba songs with gay abandon.

Having lived through the Seventies, I don’t remember it being quite so camp, but the high stacked heels and colourful costumes certainly lend themselves to such splendid interpretation.

The four leads of Jess Parker, Suzanne Carley, Nick Wyschna and Simon Schofield look nothing like Anni-Frid, Agnetha, Benny and Bjorn, but they give every song their best shot. Perhaps the policy of shouting “Come on Newcastle”

at regular intervals needs a little rethink, but having to squeeze into so many outfits so quickly probably gives little time for more research on tour venues.

The programme has six pages of “cut-out and keep”

figures and accessories, which will probably live longer with me than memories of the production.

■ Until Saturday. Box office: 08448-1121-21