MELODRAMA has always been quite at home in the musicals and this production of Carousel was no exception.

However, hidden among the flurries of tragic love, deadly fights and even some scenes from the afterlife, was a show that proved both enchanting and touching -- particularly in the renditions of its most famous anthem, Kop favourite, You'll Never Walk Alone.

Set in a fairground, Carousel revolves around the turbulent lives of Julie and Billie, the tough carnival worker she loves.

Former Coronation Street and Brookside favourite Sam Kane led the cast as Billie and his powerful voice lent an engaging energy to songs like If I Loved You, although he sometimes strained to reach the lower notes.

Jane Mark, as the innocent Julie, faced a more difficult challenge to bring her character alive and was in danger of being too insipid until the final, dramatic scenes, where she conveyed Julie's brave dignity.

With music by Rodgers and Hammerstein Carousel was never going to fail to delight, but one of this show's real strengths was its breathtaking choreography.

Meanwhile, Carousel's tragedy was tempered by its humorous early scenes, with Lynsey Britton, as Carrie Pipperidge, betraying a lovely voice and a comic touch as light as her petticoat's flouncing frills.

Carousel runs at the Palace until November 11, then at Blackpool Grand Theatre from February 2 - 7.