YOUNG singer and actor Ross Proctor is only just coming down to earth following rave reviews for his first major starring role.

He returned home this week to the Newton Hall estate in Durham from Surrey where he played the lead in Fiddler on the Roof, in a production featuring leading young actors from round the country.

Ross, 16, who also sings in the county youth choir and plays cornet in his school band, earned his call-up via the Stagecoach drama school in Durham, which he has attended for four years.

He was selected from 1,500 other hopefuls from other Stagecoach schools for one of 60 parts in the musical.

But having perfected the best-known song from the show, If I Were a Rich Man, and practised the Jewish accent, he headed to auditions well prepared to land the lead role of Tevye.

His determination paid off as he impressed director Ally Altman-Cutler, who picked him for the part made famous by actor Topol.

Ross underwent two weeks of intense rehearsals before wowing audiences at the Epsom Playhouse.

He described the experience as "just massive".

"On the last night when I did If I Were a Rich Man the people in the dressing room said the speakers were shaking with the applause at the end of the song.

"Then at the end of the show I went to see my dad and I couldn't get out the door with people asking for autographs."

The experience has made Ross even more determined to seek a career in the performing arts, but first, like thousands of 16-year-olds, he is awaiting his GCSE exam results today, at Framwellgate School, Durham.