A FIVE-year-old girl stole the show when she appeared in world-famous opera Madama Butterfly.

Little Harriet Storey, of Kendal, took her very own curtain call after performing on stage with the world's largest touring opera company.

"I was bursting with pride," said mum Vicky, who was watching in the audience with dad Gareth during the sell-out show at Blackpool's Grand Theatre. "The crowd was clapping so loudly, it was brilliant. She loved it and she came off stage absolutely buzzing."

For the one-night only performance, Harriet played the part of Sorrow, son of the beautiful young Japanese girl known as Butterfly in Puccini's tragic romance.

The Crosthwaite Primary School pupil has been dancing since she learned to walk, said mum Vicky, and started attending Stagecoach performing arts classes aged three. The Kendal and Lancaster school has for many years been providing extras to the Ellen Kent touring company for its Blackpool dates.

"They've never before used someone so young so it's really wonderful," said Stagecoach principal Ann-Marie White. "I was watching from the wings. It was amazing. At the end they even brought her forward for her own curtain call."

The stage was set as an exquisite garden, and many of Stagecoach's teenage pupils donned bright silk kimonos and parasols for the wedding scene.

Harriet's mum Vicky said she was very impressed by how the five-year-old coped with appearing at the famous Blackpool theatre and in such a dramatic storyline. "For Harriet's first time on stage to jump straight into doing that was amazing. To be there and on that stage - I couldn't even do it; she doesn't get it from me! I've never done dancing or singing; it's completely off her own bat."

Vicky and Gareth are expecting a second daughter in July and they say music-loving Harriet is "so excited" to teach her new sister everything she has learned at Stagecoach.

Meanwhile, the performing arts school's pupils recently achieved the top marks in the country in their LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art) exams. More than 50 children gained distinctions in acting, verse and prose exam. Principal Ann-Marie said she was "blown away" by their success.

Stagecoach is offering two-week trials at its classes and is enrolling for summer schools in Kendal (August 13-17) and Lancaster (August 20-24). For more, phone 01539-730849 or email kendal@stagecoach.co.uk