Britain may have got Bhangra but Watford is lagging behind if Tuesday’s audience was anything to go by. Despite a spirited cast and a scorching score by Sumeet Chopra, people remained firmly in their seats, which is unusual because this feelgood Bhangra musical has been wowing people to their feet across the land.

The show is a rags to riches tale about a bhangra singer who leaves the Punjab and finds success on the streets of Southall. Managed by the manipulative Shindie (Sophiya Haque), who allows the blingtastic DJ Lovely(Rakesh Boury) to sample his music and make a fortune, Twinkle sees his own fortunes plummet while others grow rich. When his best friend Rocky dies he hits his lowest point.

Written and directed by Pravesh Kumar from Rifco Arts, the play has a fairly light plot but is made into something more substantial by the sheer quality of the music and exbuberant performances, most notably from Rina Fatania as Twinkle’s auntie Bibiji and the fine-voiced Natasha Lewis as Jussi. Shin gives a fine performance the disillusioned artist Twinkle and Sunil Pramanik provides the perfect foil as his responsible sidekick Rocky. Most of the cast double-up on roles which is testament to their talent both as musicians, dancers and actors. It’s just a shame we couldn’t match their energy.

Melanie Dakin