THE Grand Opera House has not had much luck with musicals this year. Stand By Me's week-long run was cancelled by the touring company; the Electric Lipstick tour bit the dust long before its York dates and Rent's August visit has been put back indefinitely by its promoters.

However, the soul revue The Blues Brothers Meet The Soul Sisters is still coming to town next week on board the good ship Bill Kenwright, the musical impresario with the Midas touch.

This tribute to the likes of Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Wilson Pickett stars a cast of soul sisters and blues brothers backed by a live band and brass quartet - seven musicians in all.

The show was given a "test run" last year at the Theatre Royal, Windsor, as director Keith Strachan recalls. "We needed a show for three weeks at Windsor and the idea for this musical tribute came from those Soul Sisters, Blues Brothers compilation albums. The show was so successful that we decided to work on it a little more and do a tour," he says.

Yet why should The Blues Brothers Meet The Soul Sisters succeed amid the surfeit of tribute shows? "The difference with this show is that it centres on the performers themselves. It's not about people just pretending to be Tina, Aretha or whoever; it's about them giving well-crafted performances," says Keith.

"There a lot of people trying to do these shows, and some are doing them well, some not; if they don't have the experience of Bill Kenwright as a producer or me as a director, then they can have difficulties through being inexperienced."

Among the six performers are two Americans, Michael Dimitri and Karine Kendra, and the seasoned soul singer Dawn Hope.

"She's singing Tina Turner songs in our show, and she didn't think she had it in her to do that... but she does!" Dawn's Tina turn is one of the reasons why Keith Strachan has so enjoyed mounting this Sixties tribute show.

"This music is still popular because there's a raw quality to it, like the early rock'n'roll and the early blues that also came out of black America," he says. "That raw appeal lives on."

The Blues Brothers Meet The Soul Sisters, Grand Opera House, York, Monday to Thursday at 7.30pm, Friday and Saturday, 5pm and 8pm. Box office: 01904 671818.