Bath Operatic and Dramatic Society must have been delighted when they learned they had secured the rights to stage Oliver! this season, knowing it would follow hard on the heels of a primetime BBC reality spectacular devoted to the musical and a West End revival.

But while the TV show I’d Do Anything might be able to take some credit for the size of the audience at Tuesday’s first night, the crashing applause which greeted the finale, at times so loud you could barely hear the cast, belonged to the BODS cast in their own right.

Lionel Bart’s delightful musical is so well known it needs exceptionally strong singers to carry off the lead roles successfully, and BODS has certainly found some outstanding new talents.

Grace Miller, as ‘tart with a heart’ Nancy, has a fantastic voice, Oliver Harper, who shines as the Artful Dodger, is clearly a star in the making and Edward Gabe, who took the role of Oliver on the first night, stunned the audience with his first big number, Where is Love.

The show also features established performers: Rob Dallimore adapted his crooning skills superbly to wrap his vocal chords around Fagin’s dastardly lines, Juliette Coad showed her flair for comedy, arms akimbo and skirts a-flying as Mrs Sowerberry, and Iorwerth Mitchell cut a very comic caper as her henpecked husband.

BODS showed it is a true operatic society with some fabulous ensemble and chorus singing, with the harmonies in Who Will Buy and Omp-pah-pah really standing out.

Oh, and we mustn’t forget Sidney Ashworth, Bill Sykes’ four-legged sidekick Bullseye (did BODS spot the dog before they chose the show, we wondered?). He even managed a ‘speaking’ part and got a solo ovation.

Shows like Oliver! have a real feelgood factor, great for all the family and a fantastic night out.

This performance proves the talents which win reality TV competitions evidently do exist in every town across the country.

Why bother travelling to London when you can get a performance of this quality right on your own doorstep?

Oliver runs at the Theatre Royal until Saturday, April 25.