If you are aiming to put on a schools musical, then you might as well go for the big one.

And they don’t come much bigger than Les Miserables - already a massive box office and critically acclaimed success that has made household names out of the likes of Alfie Boe and John Owen Jones.

After all, there’s nothing like aiming high – except perhaps, aiming high and achieving even higher.

There must have been people who thought that Kingstone High School had bitten off more than it could chew when it cast a huge group of 11-16 year olds to perform a show renowned for its towering score and technically demanding vocals.

A show that requires not only massive stage presence and sublime singing but also the ability to convey a powerful story with almost no dialogue, relying instead on the musical numbers alone.

But what the school produced had been nothing short of a triumph. Whether it was winning over the production’s licensee, the mighty Cameron Mackintosh, who rarely, if ever, allows the show to be performed by amateurs in a professional theatre, or coping with the transition from school hall production to the technical possibilities presented by The Courtyard's theatre, this talented bunch of over-achievers took it all in their stride and presented a show that had the audience on its feet, cheering, clapping and crying with the sheer brilliance and emotion of it all.

Depth of talent

I have to hold up my hands here and confess that Les Mis is my favourite piece of musical theatre, so I attended this production bristling with fears that a group of children couldn’t possibly work this show to anything like its full potential.

But I also have to hold up my hands and confess that I was proved spectacularly wrong – the youngsters put on a show that would have made any amateur adult company envious and provided some performances that wouldn’t have been out of place in a professional cast.

There was a maturity of stage presence and technique that meant the audience instantly forgot that the performers were not yet old enough to vote and illustrated why the show was a sellout for every performance.

Every single cast member earned the right to be on the stage with the depth of their talent and it seems churlish to single out any one performer, but Edward Deacon (Valjean); Andrew Morris (Javert); Elena Crapper Eponine); Mark Gillespie (Marius); Matthew Owen (Mr Threnadier); James Martin (Enjolras) and Jordan Bryan (Gavroche) together with the rest of the principals Charlotte Dyson; Eva-Jean Wright; Elizabeth Piggott; Lucy Glover and Alister Williams were spectacular. With a cast numbering more than 80 space just doesn’t permit me to mention anyone else – but I would if could, though director Abigail Corre and musical director Matthew Hunt simply cannot go unremarked.