THE shimmering comedy, Stepping Out - top-hatted and coat-tailed, and coming to the Festival Theatre, Malvern, from May 9 will help dance your troubles away.

The show looks at the lives, loves and slightly worrying dance moves of a very different group of dancers.

The brilliant Richard Harris (writer of Outside Edge, The Darling Buds of May) serialises the ins and outs of a weekly Thursday night adult tap class. From the ex-pro dancer who teaches the class, to the middle aged woman who uses it as a therapy and including the lonely man who needs the company.

The nine tappers represent all ages, shapes and walks of life. From their rather hopeless beginnings to their glittering opening night Stepping Out is a hilarious comedy, complete with songs and dancing too.

Patsy Palmer takes the lead roles - tapping her way back into the hearts of the nation.

For eight years on EastEnders, the most watched programme in BBC history, Patsy became a household name as the feisty young redhead Bianca and remains today one of Britain's best-loved actresses-having recently made her critically-acclaimed musical debut in Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Tell Me On a Sunday.

Stepping Out premiered in the West End in 1984 at the Duke of York's Theatre, starring Barbara Ferris, and Marcia Warren. It won the prestigious Evening Standard Award for Best Comedy that same year. It was made into a hugely successful film-starring Julie Walters, Liza Minnelli and Shelley Winters-in 1991 and then returned to the stage as a musical in 1998.