Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games (London Palladium)

Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games is, in some senses, Irish dancing meets The Hunger Games. It's a classic story of good vs evil, featuring a special appearance from the Peter Pan of dance himself, Michael Flatley.

The show is billed as Flatley's last stage performance and when he does appear, towards the end of the second act, the audience erupts. Flatley may not be to everyone's taste but you cannot dispute he is showbusiness through and through and, ever since he burst onto the scene with Riverdance, has put Irish dancing on the global map.

But how do you make the narrative of Lord of the Dance last for over two hours, and deliver something more than a mere showcase for the phenomenal tap dancing? I don't think on that front Flatley has come up with an effective solution.

Clichés abound – a blonde good guy with his clean cut troupe of dancers takes on the bad guy and his team of stormtroopers – whilst the two female leads, both world Irish dancing champions, fight over the impressive James Keegan (and, admittedly, who wouldn't?).

Girls Aloud star Nadine Coyle, making her West End debut in the show, demonstrates an impressive vocal range, even if the songs themselves feel slightly superfluous to the main event. And some apparent sound issues made it difficult at times to tell what she was singing.

High-brow it certainly ain't, and if you're hoping to see more than a mere glimpse of Michael Flatley you may well be disappointed. But the dancing is truly fantastic, the music toe-tapping and the energy levels through the roof. For a fun, Celtic night out in the West End you could do a lot worse.