A TEENAGE performer showed his star quality when he refused to quit after breaking his foot during rehearsals for a West End theatre show.

Theo Close, from Darlington, fell badly during dance rehearsals for a variety show at Her Majesty’s Theatre, in London, but carried on without alerting anyone to his injury or complaining, because he did not want to let the production down.

The 14-year-old, a pupil at Carmel School, in Darlington, was taking part in a production by the theatre school he attends, Stagecoach, which had teamed up with 18 other performing arts schools to stage the show.

Theo was the winner of The Northern Echo scholarship, which paid for one young boy to learn to dance and be considered to play the role of Billy Elliot in London’s West End in 2006.

The theatre is usually home to Phantom of the Opera, but is used on Sundays for other projects.

Trudy Hindmarsh, Stagecoach principal, said Theo had shown he was a real team player.

She said: “He actually broke two bones in his foot when he fell, but he didn’t tell anyone he had hurt himself.

“He went on to dance on it another three times and went up and down several flights of stairs to the dressing room a number of times.

“He just didn’t want to let the team down or anyone else down, so he carried on dancing on it.

“He is a real trooper. I think it is a sign The Northern Echo chose the right one.”

Before he broke his foot, the teenager had recently started dancing again after he had been out for ten months following a knee injury.

Theo’s mother, Lorraine Emmerson, said she was extremely proud of her son.

“I am really pleased he carried on because an awful lot of work and time went into the show and if he had pulled out, he would have been gutted,”

she said.

“He is actually quite mature for his age.

“There had been an awful lot of rehearsal time and he just didn’t want to let anyone down.

“I’m very proud of him.”