I MUST admit my heart sank when I saw more than 100 names listed for these performances by youngsters from Stagecoach Yarm and Darlington... particularly when the small arts centre stage was bulging bigger than a city banker’s bonus with 66 taking part.

Reassured by the news that the stage school was running two casts on different nights, I settled back to see how one of the closest schools to the fictional Easington setting of Lee Hall’s appealing tale managed to bring most of this musical to life.

I say most, but even this slimmed-down version, specially created to celebrate five years of Billy Elliot the Musical in the West End, saw the clock stretching towards three hours before the final encore. Such was the enthusiasm for realistic costume, accent, setting and action – and scores of part players to file on and off – it was evident that a lot of care had been taken over this production.

And even before I knew that the Born To Boogie section had been selected for a place at last weekend’s Billy showcase at London’s Victoria Palace Theatre, the performance of Lizzie Heward’s dance teacher Mrs Wikinson alongside Stuart Thompson’s confident Billy had that little touch of class.

Plus, of course, Emily Collins as Mrs Wilkinson’s daughter Debbie, Jenny Henry as pianist Mrs Braithwaite and the eight ballet girls who, without the slightest prompting from a proud mum, were, by far, the most appealing costumes of the evening.

Annabelle Crosby, Lucy Coates, Holly Newton, Hannah Lucy Jackson, Emma Walton, Tori McDougall, Ellie Manvell, Rachel Elphick and Macy Stasiak were the other ones chosen for this part of the show.

Annabelle got even closer to Billy Elliot audiences than most, having played the role of Debbie in the West End for a year before rejoining her studies at Stagecoach Darlington in January.

The biggest struggle was for the older cast members who had to become adults. Toby Chapman had a good stab at the pivotal role of Billy’s Dad, while Alice Byrne earned a round of applause for the dementia-beset portrayal of Grandma.

Andrew Ashton added the essential touch of Billy’s gay friend Michael, who got the laugh of the night by telling his pal that dressing up in women’s clothes was okay, but ballet school was beyond the pale.

While it’s never particularly nice to hear young people of ten to 19 swearing profusely, it is the era of the Miners’ Strike.

And, as boxing club coach George (Francis Walton) points out when organising the whipround to take Billy to his audition, “we don’t want to come across as a bunch of Palestines”.

■ Shotton Hall Theatre School, in Peterlee, east Durham, was also selected for last Sunday’s Gala Show, in London.