MARTI Webb is one of those performers destined never to be a megastar, and the reason for that is a mystery. Her voice is by turns tender and powerful, her stage persona is engaging and she looks good, too. Yet because she isn't surrounded by the hype of some other enduring stars of the musical theatre, it seems easier to relate to her in this very intimate performance.

Critics of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber sneer at his music but I guess I must be a musical simpleton because I find many of his songs beautiful and moving. In this production, Unexpected Song and Tell Me On A Sunday brought goosebumps to my arms and tears to my eyes. Don Black wrote the words and he's a man in touch with his feminine side; so many of the songs speak of experiences every woman shares.

Alone onstage for the entire evening, Ms Webb gives a masterly performance, keeping us close as she flees to New York after a failed relationship and sharing with us her heartbreak, her wry observations on the American way of life, her joy at finding new love and, inevitably, her hurt at another break-up. She's just like us, falling in love, being lied to, finding out her lover is unfaithful, and moving on, sadly but full of hope. I wasn't the only one fumbling for tissues during the final song, Somewhere, Someplace, Sometime, and the *l Runs until Saturday. Box Office (01325) 486555

Published: 28/05/2004