IN our age of penny-pinching and on demand TV, the ‘full house’ has become a rarity - a fanciful concept spoken of in hushed whispers like the Second Coming.

Even in the culture-savvy and affluent Bath, you can always spot a few dozen empty seats.

Clearly all that was missing to fill those last few forlorn pews was the winning powerhouse of Amanda Holden and Tamzin Outhwaite. Last night’s delightfully funny performance of Stepping Out was a standing room only kind of affair.

Stepping Out charts the lives of seven women and one man, the permanently silent ‘wallflower’ Geoffrey – woefully outnumbered by a gaggle of gabby women - attempting to tap their troubles away at a weekly dancing class.

Initially all thumbs and left feet, the group is just getting to grips with the basics when its bumbling performers are asked to wow the crowds at a charity gala.

Fraught rehearsals over several months involve airborne boater hats, lots of fiddling with sticks and gauche box steps from the perfectionist Vera (Amanda Holden), mouthy Maxine and uptight Andy, bubbly Sylvia and shy Dorothy, eager Lynne and cheerful Rose, and, of course, token male Geoffrey.

At the piano is the dour Mrs Fraser and spurring them all on, their ever-patient teacher Mavis, sensitively brought to life by Outhwaite.

Holden is wonderfully commanding and amusing as the socially inept and holier-than-thou Vera. When she is not elbow-deep in a toilet bowl scrubbing for dear life or picking Sylvia’s old chewing gum from various chair legs, she doesn’t think twice about calling her fellow dancers fat or prying into their private lives. But Holden is measured in her portrayal of the lonely woman, who is eager to please to the point of absurdity, as she seeks solace in the company of a motley crew of tappers.

Beneath the raunchy chatter, riotous husband-bashing (courtesy of Tracy-Ann Oberman and Sandra Marvin as the outspoken Maxine and Rose respectively) and Vera‘s pearls of wisdom - not least ‘It might be February outside but it’s always August under the armpits’ - Stepping Out is a tender and uplifting story of acceptance as a group of relative strangers with seemingly very little in common find strength in numbers.

The dazzling tap finale(s) was the crowning glory of an already top-notch performance. It would have been easy for the cast to be outshone by West End stalwart Outhwaite. While she undoubtedly glided along with effortless panache, they more than held their own – all throwing in little quirky touches and shimmies into the mix, matching their characters’ personalities to boot.

This is a fun but thoughtful romp – not to be missed.

Stepping Out runs until Saturday at the Theatre Royal Bath.