THIS is the Lloyd Webber musical that takes a whimsical 1961 film about three Lancashire farm kids mistaking a fugitive murderer for Jesus and switches its location to the Deep South and deep racism of late 1950s bible-belt Louisiana.

That change of location leads to the influence of hymns and gospel in a score that is driven by the twin turbos of power ballads and rock'n'roll.

Lloyd Webber has a different musical partner on board, not Tim Rice, nor Don Black, but Meat Loaf's main man, Jim Steinman, who has always been prone to plenty of wind and hot air in his lyrics.

Here you have song titles that smack of Lloyd Webber, Try Not To Be Afraid and No Matter What, and others that could belong on a Meat Loaf album: Keys To The Vaults Of Heaven, A Kiss Is A Terrible Thing To Waste and Tire Tracks And Broken Hearts. When Children Rule The World, meanwhile, could be the stuff of a Michael Jackson single.

Yet even Meat Loaf or Jacko would struggle to turn these non-whistling songs into chart hits.

Whistle Down The Wind is not as well known as Joseph, Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats or Phantom, because the score is not in their league.

The title track reached only number 24 in 1998 - and you may struggle to recall that Tina Arena had the minor hit - and only one number stands out.

No Matter What, the lachrymose Boyzone chart topper, is given three airings, first providing the ensemble finale to the first half, then returning for more "Ah" impact in the second half.

This is an uneven musical, with dialogue feeding the emotions of the songs in the opening half, and the second being more a succession of earnest numbers. It aspires to the gravitas of a Stephen Sondheim or the epic sweep of Boublil and Schonberg, but lacks the lyrical brilliance of the former and the dramatic impact of the latter. Henry Metcalfe's choreography, too, is as leaden as an old fish weight.

Being a Bill Kenwright musical production, the performance style is committed and focused and briskly efficient, everyone giving their all, with the Young Showstoppers from Heckmondwike winning the audience's hearts.

Glenn Carter reprises his West End role of The Man/Jesus with pumped-up intensity, and Rosie Jenkins, as the eldest child Swallow, conveys the girl's awkward mix of innocence and burgeoning self-awareness. In the role of widowed father Boone, Richard Swerrun looks over made-up with greying hair and burnt orange face, but sings as sweetly as ever.

No matter what they do, Whistle Down The Wind is a flawed family musical, out of its depth on themes of southern bigotry, religious revivalism and racism and out of good tunes too.

Updated: 10:01 Tuesday, May 11, 2004