Monday night's show was a gala performance' (meaning?) to welcome Summer Strallen to the role of Maria. The world of reality' star-manufacture must now go to such lengths to top itself (if only!) that the show's producers cast Ms Strallen - to replace another talent-show winner, Connie Fisher - and then shoe-horned her into TV's Hollyoaks, playing an aspiring starlet (called Summer, no less), in order that Andrew Lloyd Webber could turn up and cast' her as Maria all over again. Neat, eh?

For all that tackiness, I must confess to being pleasantly surprised. I mean, I'm not about to put The Sound of Music in my Top Ten All-Time Cultural Experiences; but if you're willing to overlook two-dimensional drama, characters that turn on a Pfennig, and shamelessly manipulative orchestration, Rodgers and Hammerstein's feel-good blitz is really rather fun. Charming, even.

Ms Strallen is equal to her new task. She is hopelessly cheerful and innocent, but with just that hint of foot-stamping when roused. She's effusive and lovely with kids. She occasionally dresses in a Bavarian Mädchen's outfit, and has an impossibly pert bum, even for a novice (your correspondent lives opposite an abbey) . . . What's not to like?

Simon Burke is the appropriately starchy Captain Georg von Trapp, and Paul Grunert (as Max Detweiler) a fine gutless impresario. Amy Lennox (Liesl) does a good job of looking about two-thirds her already tender age, and Margaret Preece supplies the essential twinkle in the Mother Abbess's eye.

The real star(lets), though, are the von Trapp children, played - in accordance with some joyless Health and Safety regulation - by a squad of about two dozen kids, in rotation. Both their lines and their relatively complicated choreography were flawless. Kudos to all concerned.

Some of the singing isn't quite 100 per cent, especially from the nuns; but, on the top notes at least, this sounded like it might be the fault of the mics. Besides, these occasional rough patches are as naught compared to the sound of audience-members humming along like a ravine-ful of wounded yaks. Why, people? Why?!

Mark Henderson's smart lighting and Robert Jones's very impressive sets work some much-needed atmospheric magic. Though the see-sawing mountain' centrepiece is a bit much, the marriage scene, alas, is too short to do justice to the High Baroque chapel rigged up in its honour.

At the curtain, the cynic in me always wonders if the cheering and applause would be as vigorous without the unabashed orchestral prompting. But the audience was on its feet - and you can't say fairer than that.

The Sound of Music is booking at the London Palladium until October 18. Tel: 0870 890 1108 (www.soundofmusiclondon.com).