PICK Me Up Theatre’s production of My Fair Lady is a very enjoyable triumph.

The musical is, of course, based on George Bernard Shaw’s biting political satire on the British class system, Pygmalion.

In this world, phonetics is the key which can unlock the door to upward mobility, not money, birth or status.

One of the real successes of the show is the performance of the orchestra under the musical direction of Sam Johnson.

The opening Overture sets the tone, alternating crisp, perky playing with a warm, seductive quality, both nicely judged throughout the score.

Director Robert Readman and producer Joanna Hird deserve huge credit for the dramatic flow of the performance.

That said, the burden of responsibility lies with the characters Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle, and Rory Mulvihill and Toni Feetenby are both excellent.

Rory Mulvihill’s Why Can’t The English?, arguably the most important song in the whole of the musical, is spot on and Ms Feetenby’s Wouldn’t It Be Loverly? isboth tender and engaging, with lovely clarinet playing and solid close harmony support.

Even more enjoyable is Andy Stone’s Alfred Doolittle, Eliza’s dad, performing With A Little Bit Of Luck. The hilariously choreographed routine has just the right amount of swagger.

Again the support, this time from fellow dustmen James Coldrick and Andrew Roberts, adds to the joy.

Mulvihill’s I’m An Ordinary Man is very good, offering an insight into  Higgins’ character. And it doesn’t make for pleasant listening: a self-absorbed, committed bachelor with a rather misogynistic attitude to the opposite sex.

Anyway, moving on! I Could Have Danced All Night is, inevitably, a highlight with juicy orchestral accompaniment, as is the delightfully staccato delivery of the Ascot Gavotte Ensemble.

However, the most moving performance is of On The Street Where You Live by Sam Hird's hapless Freddy.

The second act openswith a fine ensemble performance of You Did It with Mark Hird's Colonel Pickering, Mulvihill, Sandy Nicholson's Mrs Pearce and the Maids.

The stand-out number in the second half is, no surprises, Get Me To The Church On Time. And again the choreography and the performance by Stone's Doolittle are great fun, though the key was just that little bit too low for his voice.

So, after a rendition of I’ve Grown Accustomed To Her Face, not the most convincing declaration of the heart, we have a reconciliation, a new beginning?

Here, possibly, but arguably not according to the original which ends (if memory serves me right): “Eliza, where are my slippers?”

This is a really good show full of energy, fun and great music.

Pick Me Up Theatre presents My Fair Lady at Grand Opera House, York, 7.40pm tonight; 2.30pm, 7.30pm, tomorrow. Box office: 0844 871 3024 or at atgtickets.com/york