It was Evita press night on Tuesday and I admit I felt a bit nervous.
With our Magaldi auditions and various chats with the cast, I'd started to feel quite motherly about the whole production.
Not that it would have stopped me being critical of it in my review if it had needed it.
But they deserved the standing ovation because, as many people said to me afterwards, it was the best version of Evita they had ever seen.
Leading lady Louise was simply fantastic, and I was so pleased for our Magaldi, James, who put on a confident performance.
You'd never have known it was his first professional engagement. And what a first!
I saw them all at the aftershow party where Louise's best friend Samantha Janus was waxing lyrical about her.
The EastEnders star told me: “She has the voice of the century. To come back to Liverpool and see her, I was in floods of tears.
“Technically Evita is one of the most demanding roles ever. Louise is a true genius and she’s going to be a huge star on the stage.”
Bill Kenwright's other half Jenny Seagrove was also full of praise.
She said: “I thought it was wonderful and Evita was sensational. She has the voice of an angel.
“In Liverpool, if they like you they stand. If they don’t like you, they don’t.”
