Marguerite - TNT

It can't match the sheer sweep and emotion of Les Mis, but this elegantly designed new musical from its creators, Boublil and Schonberg, has a couple of melodies that linger after the curtain has come down, and at least as many more that merit a repeat hearing. The doomed love affair of Alexandre Dumas' La Dame Aux Camelias has, provocatively, been relocated to occupied Paris during World War II. Ruthie Henshall's Marguerite (mistress of Alexander Hanson's severe German general) and Julian Ovenden's smitten Armand (the young pianist she falls for at her sumptuous 40th birthday party) give impressive performances, but the poignancy of their affair is unintentionally diminished by the wider background of hypocritical collaboration, betrayal and persecution.
Theatre Royal Haymarket, SW1 (0845-481 1870). Until November 1. £25-£60