"IT DOESN'T get much better than that for a school production," marvelled Queen Katherine head teacher Stephen Wilkinson.

And it doesn't -My Fair Lady was a mammoth undertaking, but how well it turned out.

From the opening bars from Anne Pater's ensembled musicians, it struck the right note.

A merry musical with a cast of thousands.

It ran for more than three hours, but that didn't matter.

Nor did the odd pause in tempo.

The Westmorland Hall audience was captivated by the sheer standard of acting, singing and dancing.

And the costumes, especially for the Transylvanian Embassy Ball, well, you could hear the packed house catch its breath, they were so stunning.

Everyone gave their all through singalong tunes such as With a Little Bit of Luck, I Could Have Danced all Night and I'm Getting Married in the Morning.

And one of the things that struck me most was the galaxy of happy faces.

Many stars shone bright: Alex Brockbank as the upright, Mrs Pearce; dapper and eloquent Chris Wilkinson (Colonel Pickering); the romantic and tuneful Freddy (Tim Chetwood), and Sam Ayre, strutting the stage as the somewhat belligerent, brilliant phonetic Professor Higgins.

There were great character performances from a fine set of young actors who had a lot of lines to absorb - particularly Sam and Chris who played well off each other.

Tessa McNamara handled the part of Henry's mother with finesse, and as Alfred P.

Doolittle, teacher Kevin Bell showed how he's missed his way as an actor.

Gad on yer Kevin.

But what to say about Sarah McCafferty as Eliza? Words failed me at times, as she performed like a consummate professional.

First coarse, then gracious, as Higgins transformed her, Eliza blossomed from rebellious guttersnipe into an elegant belle.

Switching from Cockney lingo to cut glass oration, her singing was truly fantastic.

Space prevents me from heaping due praise on all individually.

But they all took their much-deserved bows.

From cleverly-choreographed tap dancers to the salt-of-the-earth Tottenham Court Road bunch, not forgetting too, producers Caroline (also director) and Keith Barber, who held it all together and motivated the cast to pull out all the stops and perform to such a high standard.

QKS's My Fair Lady brought a whole new meaning to the words school production.