Andrew Lloyd Webber shows usually have the musical theatre equivalent of a power ballad at their heart which, in the days when there were such things, was invariably released as a single.
In Aspects it is Love Changes Everything. So it is a surprise that, he brings in the big guns early, right at the start of the show, rendering everything that comes after an anti climax.
There are several reprises though, ensuring audiences will have at least one song from this production running through their heads for days after.
This is a tangled tale of love and lust, of a capricious and unsuccessful actress, Rose (Shona Lindsay) who lets herself be romanced by a 17-year old admirer, Alex (Tim Rogers). When he goes off to the army she takes up with his elderly, wealthy uncle George (David Essex) while periodically reviving the affair with her young lover.
Some years later the rejected Alex returns from the Malayan jungle where he becomes the object of affection for George and Rose's teenage daughter, to the horror and envy of her parents.
Aspects has caused something of a scandal due to some semi-nudity, lesbian kisses and scenes of couples copulating against walls.
But this production is curiously passionless.
The couples go vigorously though the motions without really tapping into the emotions.
Shona Lindsay seems rather too solid a character to convince as the beguiling yet self-centred Rose.
David Essex, shorn of his familiar gypsy curls, was clearly popular with the packed audience and relied heavily on personal charisma to carry him through as the ageing roue.
Though his voice is distinctive he appeared to be the most limited vocally.
The production picks up in the second half with the introduction Rachel Lynes as Jenny, who brilliantly captures the mercurial emotions of an infatuated adolescent.
And I have to confess that, for me, the Lloyd Webber style of having all the lines sung rather than spoken doesn't make the dialogue any less banal.
