Being the first to perform the official world premier of a new musical can be a weighty prospect, but the talented staff and pupils of Tenby's Greenhill School not only shouldered the burden, but ran with it this week with their excellent production of 'Hood'.

Produced and directed by music teacher Neil Martin, who also orchestrated this original musical written by his long-time friends Andy Brown and Steve Williamson, 'Hood' was a sizzling production with glitz, glamour and performances as good as any seen on the West End stage.

The tale is familiar enough, detailing the battles between the fabled Sherwood Forest outlaw Robin Hood and his Merry Men and the dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham, but with an innovative new outlook and punchy musical numbers.

Part homage, part pastiche, with dialogue verging on the pantomimic at times, 'Hood' was a delight from the atmospheric opening to the rousing finale.

The enthusiastic and mature performances, cracking choreography, dazzling set pieces, stand-out costumes and robust musical numbers belied its origins as a 'school' production and was without doubt a worthy addition to the superb shows produced at Greenhill over the years.

Hood is certainly an imaginative reworking of the old legend, with the score an eclectic pot pourri of musical styles ranging from folk through rock ballad to rap which quickly had the audience's feet tapping - there was even a little bit of Gilbert and Sullivan styling thrown into the pot with the amusing 'You Could Do Worse'!

With its dark and brooding opening, 'Hood' was rather a slow burn as it set the scene, taking a good 45 minutes before the titular hero, splendidly played by Robert Hodge, eventually put in an appearance, but after that it was a rollercoaster ride of lively songs, dazzling - and sometimes raunchy - dance routines by Liz Pullen and top drawer performances utilising the full range of the simplistic yet effective set.

Robert, as Robin, was in fine voice and every inch the energetic and enigmatic hero, ably supported by his band of Merry Men, led by Richard Kiess as Little John and Matthew Birch as Will Scarlet.

Treading the boards since the time she could walk, Miranda Rees hails from a well-known Tenby acting family, but she really stepped out of her father's shadows as the Maid Marian. Much more than the just coy love interest, this Marian was a feisty and spirited 'New Woman' and Miranda also displayed her singing talents to great effect with two superb solos.

Although predominantly a student production, there were a few members of staff drafted in, most notably Paul Rapi as arch villain the Sheriff of Nottingham - a tongue in cheek blend of Alan Rickman in Prince of Thieves and Blackadder - while he was given sterling support by young Matthew Holt, who was in menacing form as his strong arm sidekick, Guy of Gisborne.

Religious Education teacher John Morgan also turned in an amusing cameo as, who else but Friar Tuck, while Andrew Rees, who shared assistant director duties with his wife, Julia, was an imposing Richard the Lionheart.

Other roles were taken by: Steve O'Neill (Victoria); Andrew Birch (Patrick); Daniel Treharne (Giant Jim); Rebecca Nicholas (Mary); Jenna Griffiths (Meg); Aimee Hicks (Beth); Anne-Marie Whitehouse (Anne) and Adam Walsh (The Bishop).

Outlaws were James Llewellyn and Hannah Morgan; Lydia May was an outlaw's wife, while the outlaws' children were Elinor Nicholas, Emily Griffith, Sam Davies and Jennifer Allen.

A stand-out quartet were Chloe Laing, Phoebe Osborne, Natasha Sutton-Williams and Serena May as the Fahrenheits, who also doubled up as the Sheriff's dressers and servants, while his guards were played by Craig Maggs and Rhys Bromby.

The orchestra, under the direction of Mr. Martin, were Jo Cooper, Paul Keiss, Christine Toy, Sarah Spankie, Sarah Ellison, Laura Court, Liz Pullen, Sophie Evans, Aaron Hayward, Matthew Bowden, Ian Underhill, Sarah Kitson, Stephan Cicotti, Emily Lewis and Joel Rees.

Those behind the scenes, who so often remain unsung, but did much to add greatly to the style and panache of the production were:

Stage manager - Sian Rees; costume/make-up - Rhian Morgan; front of house - John Pattenden; stage hands - Richard Davies, Rebecca Hall, Olivia Harries, Anna Liddell, Lucy Paice, Lee Sefton, Katie Thomas, Craig Watkins; lighting - Clive Raymond; sound - Glen Hoyland, Rob Herrick; publicity - Poppy Brace, Sarah Torok, Chris Davies, Hannah Morgan and the school's Media Studies department.

The cast and crew also gratefully acknowledge the help given by Graham Morris and Trish Bailey.

If I had one criticism it was that the sound system was awful, with the cast having to work doubly hard to overcome a host of technical difficulties on the night I attended.

While it did not spoil my overall enjoyment of the show, it was slightly disappointing, given all the hard work and effort the staff and pupils have put in over the last few months, as it was difficult to hear the talented ensemble with microphones cutting out intermittently and them struggling to be audible over Mr. Martin's super orchestra in full flight. (To a layman, perhaps there was no need to have three microphones trained on the orchestra in such a small auditorium?)

I was not the only one to express such a view, but we all agreed it was just a minor glitch in what was otherwise a truly outstanding evening's entertainment.

'Hood' was packed full of showbiz razzle-dazzle, energy, enthusiasm and skill and for me, like Robin in the Silver Arrow tournament, certainly hit the bullseye.

The final performance of 'Hood' can be seen tonight (Friday) starting at 7.30 pm

ANDREW DAVIES