It’s fascinating what an earworm can do. My friend’s dog is called Bugsy because her daughter, aged 10 at the time, couldn’t get the chorus of a song from a movie out of her head. Nearly three years later we’re watching the stage show of the same film, and it occurred to me how one line from the song is far more pertinent to the canine than its titular hero. “Don’t mess with Bugsy or you’ll wind up wishing you’d left well enough alone” is good advice if you’re ever tempted to go too near this particular Jack Russell. Just sayin’...

It’s a lot safer to get up close to director Sean Holmes’ rousing musical version of Alan Parker’s hit film, not least because the warring mobsters of prohibition-era New York only splatter each other with custard pies and splurge guns. They’re also all children, as per the original movie, with the rotating cast ranging in age from nine to 15.

The age gap inevitably meant some performers were more experienced, mature and vocally powerful than others - a couple of dialogue-heavy scenes felt clunky and rushed as a result – but their sense of camaraderie and encouragement was both admirable and infectious, creating an exuberant atmosphere that instantly engaged an audience that was so partisan it might have been their parents and families.

It really might, as there were surprisingly few youngsters at this well-attended opening night, which is a shame as the show really is for them (Parker famously created the 1976 movie for his own children), and seeing the delight on the face of the now 13-year-old who accompanied me definitely fuelled my own enjoyment. We both loved the imaginative sets, slick production, dynamic dance routines and fabulous showpiece numbers, and picked out future stars in Amar Blackman and Taziva-Faye Katsande in the key roles of Bugsy and Tallulah respectively.

My companion was especially impressed by the nifty car chase sequence and Noo Yawk accents, and while we were both confused by the peculiar finale - everyone dies in a gun battle only to come back to life and make peace with each other - we happily joined the show’s richly-deserved standing ovation.

Four stars

Reviewed by Steve Adams and Florence Caines at Coventry's Belgrade Theatre on Tuesday 13 September. Bugsy Malone The Musical continues to show at the venue until Sun 18 September