Cinderella at Cambridge Arts Theatre until Sunday, January 15. Review by ANGELA SINGER.

THIS show belts out the numbers – Sheila Ferguson from the Three Degrees is the fairy godmother, called Precious Moments – and you will want to see her again.

Dressed like the American answer to Dame Shirley Bassey, which indeed she is, - though of course, younger – she is magic and magnificent, with a voice to fill the theatre. She glitters. If anything, she is even more amazing than she was in the 70s when she was a soul diva. It is a privilege to be in the audience.

When Miss Ferguson recreates her Three Degrees trio with Matt Crosby’s Buttons and Steven Elliott who plays Baron Hardup – it is, ladies and gentlemen, a moment of history.

This is a show full of brilliant singers. Rolan Bell as Dandini has a rich and powerful – velvet voice, and a masterful demeanour. And the duets between Katie Rowley Jones as Cinderella and Lewis Bradley as Prince Charming are a mellow delight to listen to.

This is an all-singing all dancing Cinderella. However, if it is anyone’s show, it is Matt Crosby’s as Buttons. He drives the action, with the comedy, the tongue- twisting monologue, the slip-sliding slapstick, the dance routines and – again, a great voice. He also provides something you don’t always get in pantomime and have no reason to expect – an astute and authoritative performance, which actually has depth. His heart was in it – and he captured mine.

And, of course, in Cinderella you get not one dame but two. Perhaps it was a bit cruel to name them Beatrice and Eugenie. But Andy Spiegel as “B” and Adam Price, as “Euge” were splendid and resplendent in some inspired costumes. They were nasty, grasping and rasping.

As ever, the Arts has provided Cambridge with a sparkling Christmas treat