Sophie quits show

West End actress and former South Staffordshire schoolgirl Sophie Bould has quit The Sound of Music after turning down a new contract from Andrew Lloyd Webber.

The talented 25-year-old revealed her plans for the future as she visited her former school, St Dominic's in Brewood, yesterday to officially open its new £1 million sixth form block.

For a year Sophie wowed audiences at the London Palladium as 16-year-old Liesl von Trapp in the smash hit musical, and was also an understudy for TV talent show winner Connie Fisher, as Maria.

And while she relished her time in The Sound of Music, Sophie, who was raised in Newport, Shropshire, told the Express & Star how she was looking forward to a new challenge. She stepped down two weeks ago after declining an offer to renew her contract for another year.

"It went really well but I decided to leave and pursue other things", she said. "It would have been a little too easy to stay and now I'm auditioning and hoping for the casting call for something else."

Sophie, a former member of Wolverhampton-based South Staffs Musical Theatre Company, sang one of the The Sound of Music's most famous numbers Sixteen Going on Seventeen.

She added she would now like to act in plays rather than musicals but her choice of role would depend upon the production.

And while she took her performing arts qualifications at Thomas Telford School, she said she would have gladly stayed on at St Dominic's if the new facility had been around when she was a pupil. "I had a wonderful day meeting up with some of my old teachers," she added.