Starring as the lead in Calamity Jane really is a dream come true for I’d Do Anything-winner Jodie Prenger.

After coming through Andrew Lloyd Webber’s BBC talent show for budding West End stars, the success has been unstoppable for this humble Lancashire lass.

Set in the fictional Deadwood City, the classic story is perhaps best known for the preceding 1953 film starring Doris Day.

Prenger says: "Doris Day is one of my icons and I don’t think I’ve ever played a real life character before - the wonderful Martha Jane Cannary, in this case.

"It really is a glorious role and such a great thing to be part of.

"I love the songs and am a fan of the film so to be sat there as an eight or nine-year-old, you never think you are going to be actually up there doing it one day."

Her love for musical theatre stems from a trip with her grandmother to see 42nd Street and Prenger admits she feels "lucky" to be involved in Calamity Jane.

"I have never known audiences like it, they were singing along in Edinburgh, they were dancing in the aisles in Manchester and shouting out," she says.

"We are very lucky, there are so many shows closing left, right and centre but this has got brilliant music, a really strong cast and overall it is just a great, great show.

"We finish the tour at Richmond and I am sure it will be electric - there is always something quite special about the last week of a show."

After the tour comes to an end, Prenger will have a few weeks of rest before throwing herself into rehearsals for Annie.

Beyond that, she will be reunited with Lloyd Webber for the first time since starring in Oliver! in the West End.

She says: "Can you believe I’m going to be back working with the lord again?

"[I’d Do Anything] really was the greatest thing, it was so special to be part of it and it gave me everything I always dreamt of."

It will be her first time gracing the Richmond Theatre stage but she says she is more than familiar with the town.

"I’ve never performed there but I know Richmond well - I’ve walked my dogs in the park many, many times," she adds.

Calamity Jane; Richmond Theatre, Little Green, Richmond; August 4 to 8, evenings 7.30pm, matinees 2.30pm; tickets £13.90-£44.90; visit atgtickets.com/richmond for more details.