WE have our fair share of world premieres on Merseyside - many go on to gain local, national and indeed global recognition.

It is always good to see home-grown talent soar and LiverBird Song certainly has wings.

A successful eight-show stint at the former Cranes Building and Neptune, before it became the Epstein, was an ideal setting for the war-time musical featuring 18 new songs.

Wirral Globe:

Written by father and daughter team Tony Bradley and Rebecca Myers, it is a very powerful and poigant production to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Blitz.

It is important that the balance is right in telling a story of courage - indiviual and collective - along with a theme of optimism and fortitude.

Humour played a key role in keeping up our war-time spirits and that is suitably conveyed by director Jodie Marshall.

The production set by Alfie Heywood uses scaffolding very inventively.

And full marks to the live band led by Alan Moore and with orchestration by Rececca Myers.

Chroeography by Natalie Dignam is highlighted by a sparkling Burlesque sequence.

Wirral Globe:

the story starts at a munitions factory in Kirkby where our boiler-suited heroines talk about love, life, the outcome of the war while planning a night-out at the Caveman Club.

The set also becomes a ship bringing in American sailors to the Port.

Most striking of scenes in this three-act, two-and-a-half-hour production is the air-raid tragedy of November 1940 at Durning Road in Liverpool.

Wirral Globe:

The cast and crew create a very compelling flashback to the events that led up to this bombing and its aftermath.

The sound and lighting play a pivotal part in the success of this play.

I would suggest, however, that a bit more work is done on the spoken dialogue which was slightly fast-paced.

Wirral Globe:

It is imperative to hear what the diverse characters are saying throughout.

Many in the audience, who lived through the 40s, strained at times to hear the well-written script.

But I am sure this will be ironed out in a show that will go from strength to strength.

With such a strong cast it would be wrong to highlight individual actors and actresses - suffice to say they were clearly all in this vibrant venture together from day one and it shows.

LiverBird Song is a musical that will travel well.

Everyone involved should be proud of bringing a piece of war time history to life.

A dramatic achievement

Globe verdict: Moving and inspiring - Four stars

Tickets from www.liverboirdsong.org