TRAGIC star Judy Garland knew all about the tradition that the show had to go on no matter the circumstances.

She would certainly have recognised a difficult situation when it arose. And so did the cast of this superlative production when – a third of the way into the show - the first night’s action abruptly shifted from stage to the theatre stalls.

For the proceedings suddenly ground to a halt when an elderly man three rows from the front collapsed with what was believed to have been an epileptic fit.

As people around him rose from their seats to help the victim, the house lights came on, and stars Gary Wilmot and Sam Attwater calmly left the stage as another very different drama started to unfold.

Meanwhile, quick-thinking theatre staff called the emergency services and made the patient as comfortable as possible before medics helped him from the auditorium.

Then within a minute or two, the actors returned to the stage in the time-honoured manner, and the show went on.

And what a fabulous, humdinger of a tribute to the doomed singer and movie star. Lisa Maxwell is entirely convincing as her character steers a passage through a life studded with abusive relationships and a drink and drug habit that made the pop stars of the day look like teetotallers at a temperance convention.

Ms Maxwell is utterly magnificent as the foul-mouthed heroine who, referring to her narcotics intake, “could power Manhattan if they stuck cables into me.”

And Sam Attwater is perfect as her manipulative manager and lover Mickey Deans, who’s only real concern is that the goose keeps on laying those golden eggs.

The only man who really cares is her pianist Anthony Chapman (Gary Wilmot), who towards the end virtually proposes to her, despite the fact that he’s gay.

This absolutely unmissable monster of a show by Peter Quilter runs until Saturday (April 9).

Review by John Phillpott