FIVE starry-eyed youngsters will be treading the boards at Manchester Opera House this weekend after winning parts in the latest dance production.

Max Mondryk (11), brother Harry (9), Megan Littler (8), Nichola Ferris (10) and Amy Hart (11) will take on lead roles in 21st Century Pop on Saturday, performing a medley of hits.

The group are all protgs of Wendy Rees, who works with the youngsters on a one-to-one basis providing vocal and stage performance tuition from her home in Bolton Road, Bury.

They won places alongside 200 dancers and more than 40 singers after competing against 90 other children. Producer Daniel Wood, of Juxtaposed Productions, was so impressed with the talent, the original 30 places was increased to 48.

Megan Littler, of Egerton Road, Whitefield, only started working with Wendy eight weeks before the auditions when the singers each had to sing and dance without music.

Brothers Max and Harry Mondryk, of St Joseph's Avenue, Whitefield have starred in several talent contests. In May last year, Max competed in the final of a regional competition, wowing judges with his impersonation of pop idol Freddie Mercury, while Harry appeared in Channel 5s Kids Talent Show. Mum Sally said: "None of the children is nervous at all - whether they will be before they go on stage or not is a different matter as it is the biggest venue they have ever done."

Wendy, a qualified dancer who has been working in showbiz since the age of seven, said: "They had to learn 11 songs word perfect in less than two and a half weeks and, when they went for the first rehearsal, they had to learn another song. I am very, very proud of their achievement. They are lovely kids and I cannot put into words how proud I am of them. To me, they have all got the X-Factor."