At long last I caught up with Half a Sixpence today before it closes in the West End in a few weeks time. It's a delightfully re-modernised old-fashioned show which has come to the West End via the musical powerhouse of Chichester. The original was, of course, a vehicle for the fabulous Tommy Steele who also starred in the film version. But for this new production, Cameron Mackintosh has reunited the dream team of George Stiles and Anthony Drewe alongside bookwriter Julian Fellows to update the classic musical (as they did on Mary Poppins) and give it even more style and substance.

But 'Flash, Bang, Wallop', director Rachel Kavanaugh's Sixpence has produced a brand new, bona fide West End star in Charlie Stemp as the musical's hero Arthur Kipps. With his shock of black curly hair and winsome smile Mr Stemp will surely be winning our hearts in many more West End shows. Stemp is rarely offstage and it really is his show.

Andrew Wright's dance routines are phenomenal and really don't let up. Stemp throws himself on and off tables, bars and ledges yet never seems to run out of puff. There's a great sense of fun in Sixpence too – 'Pick out a simple tune' is one of the best, with Stemp entrancing the whole company with his trademark banjo.

At the heart of the show is a lovely moral about winning and losing a fortune and what is really important in life – and also how you should treat everybody equally no matter how rich or poor they are.

There's a dash of romance too, as ordinary boy Kipps gives his true love and childhood sweetheart 'half a sixpence' as a token of his undying love at the start of the show. However, life moves on for him when he's left a fortune by his grandfather and he is thrust into the upper-class society where he can get together with a tutor whom he has a soft spot for.

Emma Williams has great heart as the upper class girl who encourages Kipps to 'Believe in yourself' in one of the show's new numbers. Devon-Elise Johnson is suitably down-to-earth as Anne, who reappears in Kipps' life and wins his heart. Ian Bartholomew is delightfully eccentric and irascible as the writer who alerts Kipps to his fortune then writes a play about it too.

But it's Stemp's performance that is the heart and soul of this show about a young man finding his way in the world. The finale number at Kipps' wedding, 'Flash, Bang, Wallop' sizzles its way to a thrilling climax and Stemp's star rises even further. Stemp deserves to have as long a career as Sixpence's original star Tommy Steele – he'd make a great Bill Snibson in Me and My Girl to name but one show that deserves his talents. In the meantime, Stemp will play the lead role in Dick Whittington at the London Palladium this Christmas – the venue where Steele played in so many of his hit shows. It surely won't be long before he opens in a major musical there.