A WORKINGTON teenager is about to take on the challenge of her life.

Beth Smith, 16, will play Christine, the female lead in one of the most lavish and complicated musicals from Andrew Lloyd-Webber.

Bringing the show to Carlisle's Sands Centre has been a £34,000 risk by well-known producer and StagedRight director David O'Neill.

He said theatres are open around the country but audiences in the north are slower to come back.

Bringing a production like Phantom to the city is a show on a scale seldom seen in Carlisle, and he believes it is the show to bring people back.

There is a cast of more than 80 and 400 costumes.

Although she has played some major parts, Beth said it is hard not to feel daunted by this one.

"I go to Spotlight, the Maryport group and played the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz. I was nominated for a NODA for that.

"I joined StagedRight in 2016 and played Maria in West Side Story.

"I decided to audition for Christine but didn't think I would get it. What makes it easier is that I am singing with friends - Luke Thompson who plays the Phantom and Nathan Yielde who plays Raoul are friends."

She will also have family support. Her uncle, Clark Wilkinson, a familiar face both on and off stage and now a professional producer, and her grandfather, Stephen Wilkinson, is a long-serving member of the local theatre group orchestra. He will be playing the drums while Clark is on the piano.

Beth said she also owes a lot to her family who drive her back and forward to Carlisle for rehearsals.

Once she leaves West Coast Sixth Form, Beth would like to audition for drama school, with a view to becoming professional music and stage artist.

And given her genes and her talent, it seems that is not an impossible dream.

The Phantom of the Opera takes to The Sands Centre stage on Friday 8 and Saturday, July 9 with matinee and evening performances.

Tickets are available from The Sands Centre box office.

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