TWO of the region's talented performers are in the spotlight in a new musical that's proving a real showstopper.

Both from Kendal, dancer and former Queen Katherine School student Lucie Palfreyman, and singer and actor Amy Forrest, who attended Kirkbie Kendal, share the stage in Stop The Train, which starts its 2015 tour of the north west at the beautifully restored Burnley Mechanics Theatre on Friday, June 12 (7.30pm), following rave reviews for its opening sell out shows.

Penned by the multi-million selling and award-winning writing team Rick Guard and Phil Rice, Stop The Train is a five star mix of fabulous song, fantasy, twists, tension and humour.

The story follows a group of workers on a busy commuter train, the unorthodox behaviour of a mysterious passenger awakens their dreams and ambitions.

Amy plays Ilya Amenkina, who works in a restaurant at night, a cleaner by day, but with the savvy and means for much bigger plans in her life.

Lucie - who began her professional training at 16 years at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds - is dance captain in the production, with a team of four female dancers, playing a variety of characters and dancing many styles within the musical.

"Amy and I worked together as teenagers at The Kendal Arms, as waitresses, and were amazed to see each other again on the first day of rehearsals in Clitheroe," explained Lucie.

Billed as 'the best written new musical since Blood Brothers', en route to London's West End Stop The Train also calls in at Lowther Pavilion, Lytham on July 29; The Grand Venue, Clitheroe, August 8; Preston's Charter Theatre, September 3; Thwaites Empire Theatre, Blackburn, October 17; Oswaldtwistle Civic Theatre and Arts Centre, November 13; and Todmorden Hippodrome, December 12.

Burnley Mechanics Theatre box office 01282-664400.