Performer: Ellie Laugharne

A fine singing cast gives creditable performances in Johann Stauss II's most famous operetta, but Paul Curran's updating of Act 2 to 1930s Berlin takes the fizz out of the Champagne.

Some good singing performances can't overcome a dated feeling of Gilbert's humour: the evening improves as the storm clouds gather.

A fine cast breathes life into the story of the captured Ottoman Sultan Bajazet and his Mongol conqueror.