Don't wait till Tomorrow Morning to see this

It is not often that you truly care about the characters of a musical. But in Tomorrow Morning, a story of two couples at the start and end of their marriages, you do.

Laurence Mark Wythe's new musical follows 20-somethings Kat and John on the eve of their wedding day, while slightly older Catherine and Jack are about to sign their divorce papers.

Set in the intimate New End Theatre in Hampstead, north London, the first half is filled with light-hearted laughs. And without being overly sentimental, the second act leaves you slightly choked up.

At first the pixie-faced Kat (Emma Williams) and laid-back John (Stephen Ashfield) seem entirely different from the business-like Catherine (Annette McLaughlin) and sensitive Jack (Alistair Robins). But it soon becomes apparent that they are the same couple, only a decade apart.

The little foxes that destroyed the vineyard were there right from the start. His "precious porn" became affair with the 23-year-old office assistant; her cravings for Snickers and Ben & Jerry's ice-cream at midnight became an insatiable appetite for buying things she doesn't need especially if the label reads "Armani".

However serious the subject matter, it is conveyed with hilarious gusto in the song The Secret Tango. The eternal question, John sings, is: "Where do you hide the porn?"

In their own way, each seeks in the other a cure for their fears. Could he replace the father that left her as a girl? Could she free him from his fruitless quest to matter even though he never got to write that novel?

Under Nick Winston's direction, the four performers - all West End stalwarts - achieve superb ensemble on the tiny stage. Their voices work well together, with Williams' enchanting soprano soaring above them all.

Every inch of Philip Witcomb's Ikea look-alike set is used to the full. The lively performance of back-stage musicians has you humming along all the way home.

Tomorrow Morning might be small and new, but the heart of this musical is much bigger than most in the commercial West End.

Tomorrow Morning, New End Theatre, Hampstead, NW3, until August 13.
Box office 0870 033 2733. .

Martina Smit