Half a Sixpence, Bradford Alhambra.

Push Tommy Steele out of your mind! Surely the role of draper's assistant Arthur Kipps in this bright, bouncy, charming show must really have been created for Gary Wilmot.

His Kipps is a wonderful cheeky chappie, innocently optimistic at first yet increasingly bewildered by the turns his life keeps taking - particularly when he comes into money and finds himself thrust from his working-class roots into a world in which he can never really be at ease.

H G Well's semi-autobiographical novel, on which this light-hearted musical is based, has as its serious sub-text the rigid class structure of Edwardian England, an age during which the seeds of socialism were being sown and nurtured.

In an era when people were still meant to "know their place", young Arthur (like so many of the nouveau riche even today) loses his and finds himself in social limbo until his fortunes take a downturn, he comes to his senses, and it all ends happily with a final, spirited encore of Flash, Bang, Wallop!

It's a polished, fast-paced pro-duction with some superbly-choreographed, terrific musical numbers - mostly jolly and bright but with the occasional venture into pathos (What Should I Feel?, the soul-searching song in which Kipps tries to sort out his confused attitude towards his wife Anne, gives Wilmot a chance to show what a powerful, emotional singer he can be).

Although he's the undisputed star of the evening, there are some fine supporting performances.

Claire Marlowe captures all the innocence and straight-forward honesty of Ann, the childhood sweetheart to whom Kipps gives the "half a six-pence" token of his love.

David Delve is wonderfully over-the-top as Mr Chitterlow, the flamboyant actor-playwright who takes Arthur under his wing.

Zara Plessard gives a compelling performance as Helen Walsingham, the graduate socialite determined to do good works by reaching down to the lower classes and falling in love with Kipps in the process, and Gaye Brown is suitably intimidating as her mother.

A group of lively youngsters from the Young Showstoppers at Heckmondwike add to the appeal of this show, which is at the Alhambra until Saturday.