"Betty Blue Eyes" by West Bridgford Operatic Society.

Squire Performing Arts Centre, Nottingham.

"Betty Blue Eyes" tells the story of Betty, a pig with the bluest eyes you’ll ever see on a pig, illegally reared to be killed to provide a lavish feast for the wedding feast of the Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip - who also make an appearance or two in the musical.

In revenge for not getting his shop he had been promised in the parade, chiropodist Gilbert Chilvers decides that he is going to steal Betty. His wife Joyce sees this as a chance to feast, but there is just one snag, who will kill Betty Blue Eyes?

The musical is quintessentially British with some marvellous eccentric characters, an assortment of bullies, spivs and snobs and the soundtrack is gorgeous.

The harmonies, whether they be in pairs, trios or the full ensemble, are incredibly good, almost choral in places, which shows the work that has been put in by Musical Director, Adam Wright, as well as the cast. You'll love the Overture for this show as it's what I'd call a "proper overture".

The eleven piece band are excellent, recreating the style, sound and feel of the 1940's. The sound is punchy and wistfully frisky with a great drum solo by Helen Shelton during the Lindy Hop section.

This style and feel is backed up by the wonderful costumes, by Ann Thomas, which range from the working class clothing to the glam frocks and the gentlemen's top hat and tails.

And just take note of the amount of props in this show; from the old style measuring scales in the butchers, to a brilliant Silver Cross perambulator and a full tea service.

The sound effects bring Betty to life, with piggy noises from both ends of poor Betty.

The whole cast are superb and, as a group, showcase their comic skills, choreographic skills and, of course , their excellent singing skills.

James Ellison plays Gilbert Chilvers, the chiropodist, who is trying to live up to his wife's "lionheart" image of him. The reason for this comparison is explained near the start when the pair are thrown together. Look out for Gilbert's duet with Henry in "Betty Blue Eyes" and the wistful "The Kind Of Man I Am"

Sarah Shields plays Joyce Chilvers, the wife, whose opinion of her hubby changes with the direction of the wind. There's a brilliant song called "Nobody", which is one of the big production numbers that is performed with great class by Sarah.

Jill Hemington plays Mother Dear; an absolute dream of a role - she is seventy five after all, so can get away with a lot. There's a wonderful scene of confusion for Mother Dear in the scene for the song "Pig No Pig".

Dr Swaby is played by Malcolm Cocking, This Doctor does not like the idea of competition when Chilvers attempts to go up in the world of chiropody by wanting to rent out the shop on The Parade, which just happens to be right next door to Swaby's surgery. Swaby is one of the bullies in the play, who also wants to social climb by hosting the private affair and laying on a sumptuous pig feast.

Chris Heeley plays Henry Allardyce. This is a wonderful character who becomes quite attached to Betty, the pig that is being illegally raised for the feast. When he discovers that Betty has been pignapped, he has a proper comical breakdown. Near the end we also discover just how much he rates Betty over his wife!

Samantha Parfitt plays the very haughty Mrs Allardyce, in Sam's first principal character role.

Veronica Allardyce, the daughter, is played by Becky Birch. Brilliantly bossy and brash who likes to run her mouth, especially when in the company of Joyce Chilvers, who has been hired by Mrs Allardyce to teach her daughter to play the piano. This also is Becky's debut as a principal role player.

Richard Ives plays Mr Lockwood, the solicitor who is in with the plot to raise Betty for the big feast, knowing full well that this is against the law.

Joanne Hooper plays Inspector Wormwold, from the Ministry of Food, and I love this role. Wormwold has to go round looking for "illegal" meat, and when she finds it, renders it inedible to anyone else and threatens to lock up the perpetrator. When she discovers that there's an illegally reared pig in the town, she goes into overdrive. The baddie is always the most fun character to play, and I imagine that Jo is having an absolute ball in this part. I certainly had a ball watching her.

Gareth Morris plays Nuttall, the butcher, who has an agenda of his own. It's Nuttall who has the job of bludgeoning Betty for the feast, when she has been tracked down to the Chilvers' home, due to George not being able to do the dastardly deed!

There's a scene which explains the song "Magic Fingers", which is a gorgeous song and explains a lot of back story for three of the ladies; Julie Fowler plays Mrs Roach, Mrs Lester is played by Cat Tuckey and Stephanie Jones plays Mrs Turnball. Diana Ives plays Mrs Metcalf who is a wonderfully flirty character, also a customer of Chilvers' magic fingers.

Mr Metcalf, one of the other butchers, is played by Clive Marner.

The supporting cast are brilliant to watch as they really flesh out the cast as townsfolk, various other characters and dancers.

Vicky Alhadeff, Jacqui Anderson, Tom Anderson, Adrian Baldwick, Lynn Baldwick, Ali Biller, Bill Cooper, Julie Fowler, Penny Gale, David Gyles, Jonathan Hall, Helen Heeley, Natalie Hemington, Lee Horne, Diana Ives, Stephanie Jones, Clive Marner, Anne Mccarroll, Orla McMahon, Will Radford, Carl Rushworth, Wendy Silver, Martin Thomas, Jacky Tivers, Cat Tuckey and Samantha Thorne.

Directed by Tom Parry, assisted by Samantha Thorne, they have made this fast moving show even faster with a great pace, and so many funny lines that you may have to get another ticket to catch the lines you may have missed from your first watching.

Choreographed by Ali Biller, there's some brilliant and stylish dance scenes in this show. The Lindy Hop scene is brilliantly staged and carried out by Tom, Lynn, Becky, Julie, Penny, Chris, Clive, Orla, Sam and Will. The finale is also a real dance fest for the whole cast.

Loved the harmonies of Natalie, Steph and Cat as the trio of girl singers, all performing with perfect panache.

Set design is by Tom Parry, and when teamed with the back projection by Annie Haley, it really does transport you to everywhere the story wants to take you to. From the local pub to the butcher's shop in the town and even to the gentleman's urinals!!

As you can see, West Bridgford Operatic Society have made a pig of themselves with the size of the cast, which means that the job of stage management hectic. Well, probably not when the Stage Managers are Matthew Allcock and Nigel Newton and their wealth of experience.

Brilliant lighting for the show by Squire Performing Arts Centre, Nottingham.

The sound by Rob Kettridge had a few missed cues, but this is opening night and is a different venue to what Rob normally works in, so it was just a case of getting used to a different sound deck - probably.

What I will also mention is the programme, designed by Christopher Collins, because there's so much information contained within the show's playbill and a lovely design and layout of that information.

This is a pig, sorry, BIG production, and I'm not telling porkies as you can see from the above, and you'll be getting big value for money for the two and three-quarter hours that you'll be in the theatre.

I don't normally include spoilers in my reviews but I must state that no Bettys were harmed during the performance of this show.

I'm off now for a sausage and bacon sarnie as all this reviewing has made me quite peckish, but I won't make a pig of myself.

"Betty Blue Eyes" is at the Squire Performing Arts Centre until Saturday 17 February.