PART-TIME DJ Maureen Young's first taste of the stage left her yearning for more.

She appeared as a slave girl in the panto Sinbad the Sailor with St Joseph's Players earlier this year.

That gave her the chance to belt out a few songs, her first love.

Now she is preparing for her play debut after landing the role of lovestruck Sally in the company's riotous comedy Good Old Summertime, which runs for four nights from next Tuesday

"I'm loving every minute of it - then it's back to pantomime," enthused Maureen, pictured above, centre, with stage parents David Parkinson and Katherine Roberts.

Tickets (£3) for the play, the final part of a seaside trilogy by Leslie Sands, are available at Boardman's Outfitters, opposite the Co-op on Bradshawgate, Leigh.

Nine years ago David and Yvonne Parkinson worked hard on rehearsals for Good Old Summertime with Hambleton Players.

Then, with production time approaching, they were forced to abandon the project.

Now David and Yvonne are back in their 'nearly' roles with St Joseph's.

"It was very disappointing to do all the work and not do the play," said Yvonne. "But we were a small group in Blackpool and couldn't cope when two actors suddenly departed.

"It's great to get a second chance."

Director Dorothy Galvin cast them in the same roles for the play, and it will be the second time they have played the characters on stage.

Yvonne explained: "We both appeared in Beside The Seaside, which is the first of Leslie Sands' trilogy, many years ago.

"The characters are like old friends."

Yvonne plays loud landlady Mrs Austin, David plays lugubrious holidaymaker Wilf Pearson.

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