With toe tapping tunes and four fun-loving friends taking centre stage, Madagascar the Musical will certainly make you want to move it, move it.

The show opened last night to a packed audience of all ages, largely owing to the bargain offer of £15 tickets for the show, which is enjoying the final week of its tour at Mayflower Theatre.

Based on the 2005 smash hit movie, it follows the adventures of Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Gloria the Hippo and Melman the Giraffe.

(Image: Phil Tragen)

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Despite being born in the Big Apple and growing up in Central Park Zoo, best friends with The King of the Jungle, Marty dreams of the wild.

With a little help from a trio of mischievous penguins, he makes his birthday wish come true and escapes, only to be followed by his friends, who track him down waiting to board the subway at Grand Central Station. 

Taking to the high seas, they are shipwrecked on Madagascar, which is where the fun really starts. 

The first act was a little slow in places with some fidgeting bottoms among the younger audience members, but as soon as King Julien was involved, the pace was picked up.

(Image: Phil Tragen)

Playing the ring-tailed lemur, as deputy for injured CBBC and Strictly star Karim Zeroual, was Southampton's own Connor Keetley, a recipient of the Mayflower Higher Education Bursary who looked to be having the time of his life on his hometown stage.

He was a firm favourite of my daughters, aged ten and six, alongside the rather sassy hippopotamus Gloria, played by Jarneia Richard-Noel. I particularly liked the hypochondriac giraffe Melman (Joshua Oakes-Rogers) and the occasional monkey cameo.

It's a tricky story to tell on stage going, as it does, from the big city to the wilds of the jungle, but the costumes were a delight and the set simple yet cleverly done.

(Image: Phil Tragen)

The talented cast did a great job getting the audience going towards the end of the 1hr 45 minute show and, for the finale, we were all on our feet dancing away.

Where else could you see an acrobatic giraffe rope skipping to a dance classic.

Madagascar the Musical runs until Saturday. Tickets from mayflower.org.uk