Without wanting to take anything away from the foundation provided by David Lindsay-Abair’s book, Jeanine Tesori sure knows how to build a musical. Well, we knew that already- she gave us Fun Home and Caroline, Or Change among many others. The plot benefits from a simplicity that gives the songs and the emotion they generate a chance to breathe. Lindsay-Abair’s lyrics are sometimes a little clichéd (‘When opportunity knocks, When possibility calls, Take the bull by the horns, Grab life by the balls’) but Tesori takes them on a ride that mixes heartbreak with humour, always with apposite styles of music.

There isn’t one dud or filler – all the songs reveal and advance the narrative- and there are some bangers, with soaring melodies for the cast of talented singers: a soulful Better belted out by Alice Fearn, a lovely ballad Father Time sung by Niamh Perry, and the optimistic rocker This Time. Maria Friedman sings beautifully the poignant Make A Wish.

The show is tinged with nostalgia, since the original play was written in the 1990s and set in working class New Jersey. So, there are no mobile phones, people pay bills using cheques, and kids weren’t hooked on social media. This in itself adds to the sense of lost time.

For time is ever ticking by, and a huge clock dominates Soutra Gilmour’s set which is a giant multifaceted truck. A revolve reveals the background to all the scenes and contains a three storey house. It helps director Michael Longhurst keep the pace moving and its size pushes the performers to the front of the stage, preventing the relatively small cast from being spread out too thin and keeping an intimate feel to the show.

Maria Friedman is extraordinarily good as Kimberly, behaving like a teenager while carrying the burden of her mortality. She has a sparkling smile and sadness in her eyes, and my goodness can she hit those notes that pierce your heart.  Gilli Jones plays Seth, her friend and romantic interest, who is shy and inhibited by a need to be ‘good’ in memory of his late mother. His fresh open face conveys a range of emotions from fear to sincerity to affection. And he sings well. A star in the making.

Kimberly’s school friends are a foursome representing a range of teenage angst. Their insecurity about their sexuality leads to a comical circle of attraction. Ambitious to take part in a local competition as The Dreamgirls, they are desperate for money to buy costumes. They also form a chorus for some of the musical numbers. Sara Hajizadeh, Ronav Jain, Robin Simoes da Silva and Aviva Tulley combine fine singing with convincing acting. They all deserve a name check, as does casting director Anne Cooper.

Kimberly’s parents are disfunctional and self centred. Her father Buddy is a drunk who feels he has wasted his life. He is played by Peter Hannah with a delicate balance of care and negligence. Her mother Patti (Niamh Perry) is pregnant and looking forward to Kimberly being replaced by a new baby.

Kimberly’s aunt Debra drives the plot with a plan for herself and the kids to make some money by scamming banks. Alice Fearn gives a bravura comic performance as the amoral criminal who corrals the kids into temptation, and provides one of the best lines in the show: ‘When life gives you lemons…You gotta go out and steal apples, ’cause who the fuck wants lemons?’, a sentiment that sums up the thrust of the story.

Having set up an intriguing situation in the first act, there are revelations and resolutions in the second. Even though there is drama, it feels risk free, so there is a certain lack of tension. Yes, Kimberly sees that she needs to take control of her remaining life but it is not quite the Wow moment it should be musically or dramatically. We are easily led to the message that we should seize the day because we won’t get the time again.

That Kimberly really doesn’t have much time left is amplified in a classic torch song Before I Go, where the usual lost love is replaced by a lost future. Ultimately it’s a character rather than plot driven musical in which we feel the pathos and humour of this inspirational woman’s situation. It also feels like it could become a classic.

Paul paid for his ticket.