IT'S one thing celebrating the legend that is Barbra Streisand.

It's quite another to wow an audience in quite the same manner as Liza Pulman managed at The Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on Sunday evening.

To say that this one third of the satirical comediennes who make up Fascinating Aida captivated her audience from the very opening bars of Don't Rain on My Parade to the closing, heart-wrenching People two hours later, would be understating the case and then some.

A warm, relaxed feel wrapped itself around Ms Pulman's performance, which is a celebration of rather than a tribute to a woman who has been performing - and continues to perform - for the past 55 years.

There aren't any wigs or mimicry.

There is instead an abundance of assurance, wit, grace and style and all of which shone from her as she regaled us with some of the background to not only Streisand's biggest hits such as Evergreen, but also some of the lesser numbers known - but nonetheless remarkable - from her vast back catalogue.

For instance there's Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf? as you’d never heard it before. A song the legend-in-the-making performed in her audition at the famous Bon Soir club to win that all important break, in front of an audience including Gregory Peck.

Then there were the searingly beautiful versions of Billy Joel's New York State of Mind and Carol King's You've Got A Friend, both of which Liza Pulman came pretty close to making her own.

And as if this wasn’t enough, not content on this occasion to have her usual six piece ensemble of superb musicians under the musical direction of the masterful Joe Atkins, Ms Pulman brought some more friends along.

Last year, she recorded The Way We Were and You Don't Bring Me Flowers with the world famous Brighouse & Rastrick Brass Band.

For the first time ever, the band performed with Liza Pulman on both of these and the resultant depth and heart, combined with the star of the show's incredible vocals, sent shivers scurrying up the spine.

There were laughs, there were facts but above all there was some timeless music to send the audience away humming some of the finest songs ever written.

Thanks to the talents of Liza Pulman, however, even these had been given a fresh lick of lustre.

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