A TOP West End producer has told why she picked X-FACTOR star Diana Vickers for the lead in the first major revival of multi award-winning play The Rise and Fall of Little Voice.

And Nica Burns said she had to “beg on her knees” to persuade the 18-year-old, who lives in Huncoat, to break from recording her debut album to rehearse for the role in Jim Cartwright’s hit show.

The Rise and Fall of Little Voice is coming back to the West End in a strictly limited season at the Vaudeville theatre from Thursday October. 8 Producer Nica Burns said: “There was no question of reviving this fabulous play in the West End until we had found our Little Voice.

“When Jim Cartwright, who originally wrote The Rise and Fall of Little Voice for Jane Horrocks, told me he had found the perfect girl — and then dragged me off to Wembley to see Diana Vickers perform as part of the X Factor tour — I thought he’d gone mad.

“But when I saw Diana I knew immediately he was right; she has a special quality.

"When she finally agreed — after much persuasion — to come in and read for us, we found out that not only can she sing but she was an intuitive actress as well.”

Playwright Jim Cartwright said: “This young girl is a natural actress.

"The moment she read the part, it was magic. A frisson ran through the room.

“Diana Vickers is the real deal. She is Little Voice.”