Last updated 11:25, Thursday, 13 November 2008

A huge model of the Roman Colosseum is on tour throughout Britain – and is coming to Cumbria next week.

• View more pictures...

Anna Park, William Teasdale, Olivia Story and Holly Milbourn

And it will form the stage for a famous opera being performed by local youngsters alongside international singing stars.

Opera company Ellen Kent Amphitheatre Productions is currently touring the country performing three famous operas, Tosca and La Boheme, both by Puccini, and Carmen by Bizet. All three are being staged on the model of the Colosseum produced for them by London set designer Will Bowen.

They will perform Tosca when they come to The Sands Centre, Carlisle, on Sunday, November 23.

Handpicked international soloists alongside the full Chisinau National Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus will be joined on stage by 15 boys and girls, all aged between eight and 18, from Stagecoach theatre arts school in Carlisle and Cockermouth.

Ten-year-old Adrian Lawrence, from Patterdale, will be singing a solo in the part of the shepherd boy.

The songs they sing are all in Italian, and Naomi Bewsher, the new principal of Carlisle and Cockermouth Stagecoach, said: “They’ve been working really, really hard. It’s a difficult piece, it’s in Italian and there is movement involved, as they have to dance holding candles in the opera as well as sing, so there is a lot to learn. But they’ve really dug deep and are doing ever so well.”

She added: “It is fantastic to be involved with a professional touring company – it is great performance experience.”

Tosca, one of the most dramatic operas ever written, tells a story of love and betrayal set in 19th century Rome.

Producer and director Ellen Kent has been staging operas in different venues throughout the country for more than 15 years, and says Carlisle always provided a good audience for them.

“We’ve been coming to Carlisle for years and we always do very well here,” she said. “There are a lot of opera fans in the city.”

Though Tosca is less well-known than operas such as Carmen Ellen added that she was sure audiences would be captivated by it.

“Once they get through the doors they will love it,” she promised. “It’s such a rich story. It’s pure melodrama.

“It’s got a beautiful girl, a handsome hero and hideous villain – all you could possibly want.”

Some of the famous songs that feature in the opera include Recondita Armonia, Vissi d’Arte and E Lucevan le Stelle.

It is being sung in Italian but with an English translation in surtitles above the stage, so everyone can follow it.

Starts 7.30pm. Tickets cost from £25- £28.