BEYOND Broadway - a touring show launched three years ago to take the best of musical numbers to all parts of the country - made a popular return to the Courtyard Theatre last Friday.

Producer/performer Ed O'Driscoll and his wife, Lynn, front the concert with distinction and, while touring a wide area, have also auditioned for rising talent.

This resulted in 17-year-old Lucinda Bronte joining the team - a quartet of songsters completed by Australian Dean MacRae - and at the Courtyard there was a spot from home-grown performer James Wisker.

The15-year-old Hereford Cathedral schoolboy, a member of the Stagecoach Theatre Arts, charmed the audience with a single song from the musical Joseph.

Big numbers from the hit shows were the order of the day, but Beyond Broadway boasts "you heard it here first" and also includes some lesser-known songs.

These included fine performances from Jekyl and Hyde, a show that has been on Broadway for five years but has yet to be produced in this country.

Musicals provide something for everyone and the gamut of emotions was run from the melancholy of Les Miserables to the rousing numbers of Mamma Mia and Grease - and through it all the O'Driscolls ability to connect with an audience shone through.

Jeremy Finney