I went to Chichester with high expectations for the Festival Theatre's new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's highly-acclaimed musical, Carousel - the first musical to contain a tragedy.

Some of these expectations were met, but others, sad to say, were not, although the first night audience roared its applause.

Carousel, first unveiled in 1945, is a show with a dark side. Its anti-hero, Billy Bigelow, commits suicide when threatened with capture and a long jail sentence after a bungled robbery on an 19th Century New England dockside.

Up in heaven's back yard he is offered a chance to redeem himself if he chooses to go back to Earth for just one day to put matters right and do something good.

But before that happens, there's a great deal of fun to be had watching the people of a conventional, buttoned-up small town at play, larded with the bitter and the sweet.

The roles of Carrie Popperidge and Enoch Snow, a conventional couple played by Lydia Griffiths and Robert Irons, are a delight to watch. She is feisty, if a bit prim, while he is upright and pedantic.

Irons' voice is a delicious baritone with great depth, while Griffiths sings with grace and warmth. Her rendering of When I Marry Mr Snow is exquisite.

Bigelow's accomplice in crime, Jigger Craigin (Adam Croasdell) steals every scene he is in - not least when he tries to embrace and kiss the prim Carrie while telling her he is teaching her to "wrestle".

Croasdell is a swarthy, swaggering soul who looks and acts for all the world like a young Sylvester Stallone.

This show has two other scene-stealers. Nina French's Mrs Mullen is an excellent musical theatre singer, who can get emotion across with ease.

And Roy Dotrice steals all his scenes as the witty and wise Starkeeper, God's assistant.

The big choral numbers are immaculately done. June Is Bustin' Out All Over, led by the splendid Ms French, is as jolly and exciting as you could wish and the number A Real Nice Clambake has all the purity and passion of a spiritual or a hymn.

The final reprise is a great showstopper, with the whole cast singing You'll Never Walk Alone. This is superbly done, a breathtaking, moving finale that leaves you ready to just leap to your feet and applaud.

Much less successful is the song's first rendition, which seems to come and go almost without notice.

But most disappointing of all in this show are the central performances of the dark, wife-beating, carousel barker Billy Bigelow and his wife Julie Jordan.

Norman Bowman's Bigelow is not at all convincing. He is nowhere near burly enough to be in any way menacing and his singing has a lack of depth that constantly disappoints.

His swagger does not come at all easily. It is a role he should really not have attempted, and his is not a patch on the performance given by Sam Kane, who toured as Bigelow in the show a couple of years ago.

Harriet Shore's Julie Jordan is just too wimpish to believe. She may utter fine words but her voice is far too weak and squeaky to be anywhere near believable. The use of American accents is not just patchy but irritating, in that the use of the drawl makes some of the dialogue inaudible.

Some of the choreography also seems unnecessary. The extended Act II ballet is far too long and just what the dancing during the number Blow High, Blow Low means I have no idea.

Director Angus Jackson and choreographer Javier de Frutos need to look at this again.

This is not a great Carousel. It's passable, but it needs a great deal of work done on it. I would say cut the dancing and get the show below its three-hour running time.

Until Saturday, September 1. Tickets cost £10-£35, 01243 781312.