LEADING lights in a stage school musical could be set for great things in theatre and the performing arts.

A talented cast of 60 and chorus and crew earned rapturous applause from full houses during the six-show run of West Side Story, which ended at Durham's Gala Theatre, on Saturday.

It was the first major production of the Gala Theatre Stage School, with the aim of giving aspiring performers the chance to take part in shows in a professional setting.

But it promises not to be the last that theatregoers hear of principles David Hepple and Charlene Fairish, who played lovers Tony and Maria in the New York gangland musical.

Eighteen-year-old David will not be back for the stage school's autumn production of The Wiz, as he will be taking up a place at Rada, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, in London, in September.

David, from Seaham, has experience working with professional touring productions, including Denise Robertson's Fine!Fine!Fine! last summer.

He has completed a BTEC national diploma in drama at New College, Durham.

Sixteen-year-old Charlene, who has danced in several professional shows at North-East theatres, including Evita at The Sunderland Empire, hopes to follow in David's footsteps.

Having just left Spennymoor Comprehensive, she intends to take up a place on a performing arts course at New College, Durham, in September, and also hopes to go to Rada.

Other West Side Story principles include Lynsey Day, as Anita, who teaches 11 to 16-year-olds for the Northern Academy of Dramatic Arts, while Christopher Mitchell, who played Chino, has been offered a place at the Guildford Conservatoire, formerly the School of Acting.

Lisa Thorner, director of the Gala Theatre Stage School, said: "These are the most talented group of kids I've worked with in all my years in the theatre."

* The Gala Theatre Junior Stage School performs its production of the children's musical, Ocean's World, at the theatre, on Wednesday, starting at 7.15pm.