Pupils shine in the limelight

Hours of preparation, lashings of greasepaint and pages of songs to memorise.

For the Black Country students lucky enough to perform at Wolverhampton's Grand Theatre opposite professional Broadway actors, it was a dream come true.

Pupils from schools across Dudley took to the stage alongside their West End heroes last night for a unique production.

Twenty-one excited students, from Crestwood, Kingswinford, Summerhill and Wordsley Schools, filled the dressing rooms backstage ready for the performance of their lifetime in West End Story.

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Ready to sing and dance their hearts out on a magical musical tour with West End actors Daniel Boys, Nic Greenshields, Lucy Cound, Christopher Key, Sherrie Pennington and Hannah Waddingham, there was a buzz of anticipation as they prepared themselves ready for the one-off show.

Stacey Hill, aged 15, said she was really nervous but excited about her appearance in the show. She said: "I can't believe I'm going to be singing in the same show as actors like Hannah Waddingham.

"She can sing just about anything."

Bethany Adams, from The Kingswinford School, said she had been frantically practising her lines for her solo performance of Tell Me It's Not True from Blood Blothers by Willy Russell with Christopher Key.

She said: "My mum's going to be watching me so hopefully I'll make her proud."

The performing arts students are part of the Snap Productions theatre company. Director Christopher Key is resident director of West End show Avenue Q, which was the winner of the 2004 Tony Award for best new musical.

The director, who lives in Bridgnorth and divides his week between here and London, has been tutoring the performing arts students for two years. Wife Lucy, who has played the role of Maria in West Side Story, said: "They have been very excited, especially when all the other professionals arrived. This is the second time they have performed at the Grand.

They had a taster last year but this year it's their show." All 21 year 11 students got through a tough round of auditions.

And last night they performed classics from well known musicals The Phantom of the Opera, Chicago, Grease and Les Miserables among others.

Solo numbers were performed by rising young stars Ryan Passey and Evie Pickerill to much acclaim from the audience.

The West End show offers the youngsters the chance of real work experience on stage.

Earlier in the week they travelled to London to rehearse with a full orchestra.nextpage