An old school building has come alive with the sound of music and dance for a youth summer theatre project.

Dozens of children from south Norfolk are putting the finishing touches together for a musical production, which will be performed to a paying audience tomorrow night.

The group of 25 youngsters, aged between nine and 18, have been learning the words to The Sound of Music, working out dance routines, and designing the set and costumes for the musical as part of the Hegarty Youth Theatre Project.

The youths, who have been working hard at the Gissing Children's Centre, near Diss, all week, will be performing the classic musical at the Diss Corn Hall from 7.30pm on Saturday.

Sam Watt, who runs the theatre school at the former village school building, said the project was giving the young people something productive to do during the summer holidays and the participants were enjoying themselves.

'They have a really good sense of humour and they are having a whale of a time. It is pretty intense and they are trying so hard.'

'We are trying to keep it as true to the film as possible and some of them have never seen the Sound of Music before and some have been brought up on it. It is nice for them to look back at a different era and it is interesting to learn how children behaved in the 1940s,' she said.

Tickets for the performance on Saturday cost �3 and are available on the door or from the Corn Hall box office on 01379 652241.