Nic Greenshields never saw himself as the beast, but the producer of this latest version of the classic fairytale thought his 6ft 6in build was just what they wanted. He talks to Viv Hardwick about his odd hair-raising experience in this lavish musical which plays Sunderland for two weeks.

"I DON'T think my own mother would recognise me under this make-up," admits Nic Greenshields, who is about to take on Wearside as the uglier half of Beauty And The Beast. The lavish Disney-inspired touring musical arrives at Sunderland's Empire Theatre next week with Greenshields equipped with a prosthetic face mask which is adhered to his skin in a make-up session lasting ninety minutes.

Greenshields admits that he sweats so much that a new mask has to be created for each show, an attention to detail demanded by Disney which ensures that a convoy of articulated lorries is required to carry the costumes and equipment for a 70-strong show team.

Even at 6ft 6ins he didn't consider himself beast material and originally auditioned for the role of evil, muscle-bound village boaster Gaston.

When the role of The Beast, who hopes to break the curse of ugliness by winning the love of local beauty Belle, was offered Greenshields admitted it was a huge surprise.

"Although my height was bonus when I turn from this young spoilt prince into a huge beast. It would look a bit silly if I was only 5ft 10ins and with my horns on it makes me look about 7ft tall and a lot of people actually think I'm on stilts or something, which I find bizarre. But I do look very imposing in the body suit."

The performer is looking forward to the Sunderland Empire leg of the run because he has friends in the city and nearby South Shields.

He says: "I like touring even though I've been lucky enough to appear in the West End on a number of occasions.

"Cities on a regional tour always seem to be more of a big deal. People will have booked their tickets months ago and they're excited over the prospect of a big night out. You feel that from the audience straight away, while in the West End it can be 5pm and you've got 1,000 tickets sold and by 7pm you've got 2,000 sold because people have walked in off the street because they needed somewhere to go. That means you don't always get the same sort of reaction."

Fate can be a little beastly to a beast as Nic discovered after having the bright idea of shaving off his own long hair and donning a wig to try and cool down his head.

He explains: "There was nowhere for the heat to go beneath my horns so I decided to shave my head and the company agreed to make me a wig. The wig had gone fine until we got to Liverpool and on our first night there is a part of show where I fly to transform. Something got caught in the mechanics and it ripped the whole thing off... one minute I had hair and the next I was a skinhead. The audience fell about laughing and it was the night we had the Press in.

"So the next day's headlines were all about the 'hair-raising performance of the beast', but it was all in good fun."

Greenshields will be the Beast until January, after a Christmas season in Cambridge, with the option of another tour in 2006.

He says: "It's a lovely part but I'm up for various things at the moment including Guys And Dolls in the West End with Ewan McGregor." Somehow it's no surprise Greenshields has gone for the role of Harry the Horse.

Early in his career he landed TV roles as a teenage character but in order to make himself more available for screen work he knows he can't sign up for nine-month show tours.

The product of the Sylvia Young Theatre School did manage to land a role opposite Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd in the Cole Porter tribute movie De-Lovely.

What does annoy him currently is show producers turning to untrained Big Brother contestants to fill roles in musicals.

"These stars of TV can get £15,000 to £20,000 a week, which is ridiculous when people with years of stage training behind them are on £300 a week. It's too much of a difference," he says with obvious feeling as a scholarship winner to Laine Theatre Arts in Epsom. He merged with a Musical Theatre Diplomas with Honours and went from a chorus debut in Miss Saigon to Whistle Down The Wind, The Beautiful Game and then the international cast of Disney's own Beauty And The Beast as Baker/Cake Slice and understudy for Gaston and Beast.

By becoming The Beast, even as an almost unrecognised singer, Greenshields knows he's now a serious contender for leading man roles in future. Let's hope he gets the chance to sink his teeth into more meaty parts.

* Beauty And The Beast runs for two weeks from Monday until October 1. Box Office: 0870 602 113.