Time certainly does fly when you're enjoying yourself.

I'm sure I wasn't the only one in the audience to be astonished when the curtain came down for the interval in this mesmerising song and dance spectacular.

It seemed to have started only a short while earlier but almost an hour had whizzed by and a glance at the programme confirmed that we had enjoyed more than 20 instantly-recognisable songs and tunes from the cream of America's pre-war composers. And, of course, there was more to come in the second half!

Puttin' On The Ritz is the sort of show that's in short supply these days. Packed with all manner of musical treats from the pens of George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and other notable writers, it's a joyous, glittering tribute to some of the slickest, wittiest and most beautiful songs of all time.

Producer and director David King - the man behind a myriad of award-winning shows and who has apparently become affectionately known as 'the working man's Andrew Lloyd Webber' - has put together a hugely-talented cast of young singers and dancers who perform this wide range of classic material from the twenties through to the forties as expertly and passionately as you'll hear and see on any stage.

And, as a bonus, he's recruited some well-known faces from two of the most successful television shows of recent times, dynamic duo Katya Virshilas and Jared Murillo from Strictly Come Dancing, and Becky O'Brien, who sang so brilliantly on Britain's Got Talent.

Such a concept can't fail to delight and, with such diverse standards as Summertime, Night and Day, Somebody Stole My Gal and Minnie The Moocher, performed in front of a sparkling Hollywood-style stage set, with a big screen showing contemporary clips from the era (watch out for the Laurel and Hardy sequence during the interval), it's no wonder that there was a standing ovation for the cast at the conclusion of Monday's opening night performance.

The blend of perfectly-performed songs and energetic dance numbers, provides a non-stop reminder of the brilliance of those songwriters of the past.

The show covers a huge variety of styles and the cast adapt remarkably to every challenge that comes their way, from big carefully-crafted ballads to the early jazz of the Cotton Club era. There's poignancy and humour, gloriously-romantic swirling dance routines and some staggeringly-good high-energy tap dancing, along with more costume changes than a chameleon on fireworks night.

Katya and Jared give a masterclass in dance, their talents applied to everything from graceful ballroom favourites to a witty Charleston.

Becky O'Brien displays her skill at reproducing on stage the legendary numbers of Judy Garland, while the show's other singers, Hannah Kilminster, Lucy van Gasse, Rebecca Lisewski, Adam Ellis, Simon Schofield and Ricky Rojas, along with a troupe of 10 dancers, make invaluable contributions to the success of this nostalgia-filled evening.

They might not write them like that anymore, but with young performers of such high calibre able to interpret so expertly material written long before they were born, we can still enjoy the best of those wonderfully-productive years.

The Theatre Royal, 32 Thames Street, Windsor, West Berkshire, SL4 1PS. Contact the box office on 01753 853888 or visit their website.