A PUPIL of Abberley Hall School has won a leading role in a stage production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at The New Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham.

10-year-old Macy O’Neill, a member of musical theatre group Get Your Wigle On, in Shrewsbury, applied for the part of Jemima through Facebook, and started rehearsals on Tuesday.

“It’s been a bit of a whirlwind,” said mum Naomi Waterson, from Highley. “By chance, we were in the car and an advert came up on Facebook, saying they were casting Jeremy and Jemima.

“We filled in a form and sent it back and were called for an audition two days later,” she explained.

Macy found out she got the part last Sunday, with the five-day production to begin on June 26.

The casting was done by Birmingham and Midland Operatic Society and involved hundreds of other hopefuls.

“There were loads of children,” said Mrs Waterson. “We were filtered into different audition rooms, and each child had a number. There were group auditions first and then they whittled it down to individual ones.”

She said the following week, those left were given two songs to learn and perform as part of the final stage of the audition.

Macy was at school when her mum got the email through to say she had got the part, and “screamed” down the phone when she told her.

Later, she said to her mum: “Birmingham now, then the West End.”

“She has a fantastic singing voice,” said Mrs Waterson. “A people stopping voice. Everyone stops when she’s singing.”

The most people Macy has ever performed in front of is around 800, but this role will see her taking to the stage before over double that.

Her mum said: “It’s all she’s ever wanted to do, but we have always said academia first, hence why she goes to Abberley Hall, which is a great school.”

Abberley are helping Macy prepare for the role in her drama lessons, with Mrs Waterson admitting her daughter is only nervous about the amount of lines she has to learn.

However, before taking to the stage in Birmingham, Macy will first play young Cosette in a production of Les Misérables at Theatre Seven in Shrewsbury alongside her sister Ruth, 16, in April.