GARY Barlow may currently be spending his Saturday nights trying to unearth new talent to star in a new musical but for one total unknown, the Take That favourite has already proved that miracles do happen.

For Chloe May Jackson will tonight open in London’s West End in the musical comedy The Girls - her first professional role.

Chloe May got a part in the new musical written by Gary and Tim Firth following her first ever audition.

“I only went along to gain some experience of what an audition was like and they asked me back, When I went I didn’t even know what I was auditioning for,” said Chloe May. 18.

“I couldn’t really believe it.”

That audition led to Chloe May getting the chance to be part of a three-week workshop for the musical 18 month ago while it was still a work in progress.

From there she was then asked to be part of the world premiere of the show when it played both in Leeds and the Lowry, Salford Quays, 12 months ago. And now, a reworked version of the show will open at the Phoenix Theatre in London for a four month run.

“The whole thing has been amazing,” said Chloe May, a former pupil of Ribblesdale High School, Clitheroe, “I have been very lucky, I still can’t believe that I am where I am.”

The Girls follows on from smash hit play and film Calendar Girls, the true story of a group of Yorkshire housewives who posed nude for charity.

Chloe May plays Jenny a teenager who moves into the village and causes a stir.

“The stage show is very different from the film,” said Chloe May. “Jenny is quite a mysterious character. She comes across as a typical teenager but she’s very guarded but she has an interesting storyline.

“She’s not in the big cast numbers. Most of the scenes I’ve got are either by myself or with one other person. It’s very intimate.”

In the 12 months since The Girls was seen at the Lowry, Gary Barlow and Tim Firth have been heavily involved in preparing the show for the West End.

“The show hasn’t changed a lot but it has become even better,” said Chloe May.

“In rehearsal we would see Tim a lot. Gary couldn’t be there as often as he’s doing loads of things all the time.

“But it’s funny, when we see Gary you don’t really see him as this big star - he is part of our team, so it’s not as terrifying as you might think. It’s only when you remember who he is and what he’s achieved that it can be a bit daunting but really he’s one of us.”

Chloe May may be getting used to mixing with the stars but it hasn’t always been like that.

“That first day in rehearsal I was so quiet which is not like me!” she laughed. “I was so nervous being in a room full of such prestigious actors and well known figures, it was crazy.”

As a youngster, Chloe May appeared in a number of amateur productions.

“I was a Munchkin in the Wizard of Oz once,” she said, “and I did Oliver and the Wind in the Willows. My first main role was as Lucy in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at Darwen Library Theatre when I was eight. I knew then that being on stage was what I wanted to do.”

When she went for her audition for the Girls, Chloe May was part way through a Btec course in musical theatre at Salford City College.

“When I got offered the chance to be part of the workshop the college said I couldn’t take three weeks off but I said that I was off to London even if that was going to be the beginning and the end of my journey in this profession .

“Things like that just don’t happen to a northern lass like me.”

Chloe has known she’s been heading into the West End for months and she’s glad the waiting is finally over.

“I did some waitressing and then over the summer got a summer job at York Maze on the acting team there. We did four pantomimes a day and commentated on three pig races a day for seven weeks. It was amazing and such good fun.”

Now Chloe May can call the West End home for the next four months.

“I can’t believe I’ve got this and I’m seeing this world every day and the listening to the stories that such established actors tell me.

“I’ve kind of brought my family into this extraordinary world and they are loving it especially my nan,

“I’ve broken the mould in the family, we’re not at all theatrical. My mum is head of maths at Rhyddings High School in Oswaldtwistle and my dad’s a builder.

“I still can’t believe I’m getting paid to do what I love, It’s the best job in the world.”

The Girls opens at the Phoenix Theatre, London, tonight and runs until Saturday, April 22