A mob of young stage talent descended on Sheringham at the weekend, as the town's Little Theatre chose its line-up for the gangster-themed musical Bugsy Malone.

Youngsters aged eight to 16 queued back on to the street, January sale-style, as 81 of them vied for places in the 60-strong cast.

They were put through their acting, dancing, and singing paces in the morning, before afternoon callbacks for those chosen to join the team.

Theatre youth outreach worker and show co-director Bridget Robinson said: 'It was a fantastic turnout, with a good spread of ages and it was great to see some new faces.'

Bugsy Malone is set in the 'speakeasy' prohibition days of New York and tells the story of rival gang leaders Fat Sam and Dandy Dan.

Dan's gang is winning the war with their custard-shooting splurge guns, so Sam calls on ex-boxer Bugsy for help.

The show is the theatre's annual youth musical and follows last year's successful production of Oliver!

There will now be 10 weeks of rehearsals to get the show ready for curtain up on April 6.

Also on the show's creative team is 23-year-old professional actor Harry Williams from North Walsham, whose involvement in the same show 12 years ago in two roles – gangster Shady and the barber – inspired him to go on to drama school.

Harry, who last year played the scarecrow in the venue's Wizard of Oz panto and directed its Little Shop of Horrors youth show, said: 'It is such a fun show because kids are playing grown-ups and because there are so many opportunities to act, dance and sing.

'It really gave me a buzz to go on to study drama at City College Norwich and East 15 drama school in London, and helped me make lots of friends.'

Bugsy Malone is at Sheringham Little Theatre from Friday April 6 to Saturday April 14 (no performance on the 8th) at 7.30pm nightly, with a 2.30pm matinee on the Saturday.

For tickets, and more information about getting involved with youth drama, call the box office on 01263 822347 or visit www.sheringhamlittletheatre.com