Gig review: Michael Ball and Alfie Boe at First Direct Arena, Leeds

He is not referring to compatriot Michael Ball, giggling like a schoolboy at his side but rather the emergence of a bald spot he can’t, to his best efforts, quite hide from the prying camera images beamed up behind him. He spins to watch the pictures up at the rear of the revue-set stage and a cheeky operator somewhere zooms in on his crown, earning a round of mock-retaliation and warm chuckles.

Forty-six-year-old Boe and 57-year-old Ball have this kind of patter down to a fine pantomime art by now. They were both well-respected stage performers when they decided to team up a few years ago, though the latter was arguably more familiar to modern audiences as a Radio 2 host than a West End veteran. Regardless, the formula has proved alchemic, striking a smoothly theatrical yin-and-yang between the elder’s cheeky charm offensive and the latter’s quasi-Byronic delivery.

Their latest variety-esque performance, much like latest record Back Together, spans the gamut between staples and lesser-known cuts lushly buttered up with a healthy helping of dramatic strings. They crib liberally from recent favourites – the dramatic brass flares and strobe lighting of The Greatest Show, from The Greatest Showman, the delightful straight camp of You’ll Be Back from Hamilton – and reach back too, to the soulful pump of River Deep, Mountain High and the unexpected stadium anthemics of You’re the Voice.

Both men arguably made their names in Les Miserables, the worldwide smash musical, and so it stands that they would tip their hat – after the pair have traded solo spots with loose-yet-powerhouse versions of Run and Anthem, they dive in for a trilogy of tracks in the shape of Stars, Bring Him Home and One Day More. Their predominantly middle-aged crowd hang off every note here – and the heavy stuff concluded, are gleefully receptive to a final romp through songs from The Lion King and a medley of Queen hits.

An encore points to an old-but-gold finale of My Way – but just as the pair reach the exits, they’re back, jiving down unexpectedly to a pick-and-mix romp through the Grease soundtrack. It’s utterly leftfield, but the pair have Cheshire Cat grins to match. If this is a theatre show writ-large, there can be little complaint.