After going in with his sister for a casting audition, Alex, who lives in Bargo, won the part of The Boy in this opera by Bellini.

``The casting team said they would give my sister work as long as they could have me for the production,'' Alex said. ``Then they pointed to me.''

Karen, Alex's mother, said her son had developed a love of acting at an early age.

``Alex has been acting for about three years now but only got into it last year,'' she said.

``He's been in a couple of commercials for Sultana Bran, Coco Pops, BigW and Foxtel.''

The role of The Boy is a prominent part in the opera.

Mrs Keithley said Alex loves acting on stage.

``Alex has his heart set on this line of work,'' she said. ``It's brought him out of his shell and increased his confidence.''

Alex has a profound love of English and is very articulate. ``He's read all the works by Shakespeare and when he first stepped on stage in front of an audience he absolutely loved it,'' Mrs Keithley said. ``Performing for an audience doesn't put him off at all. All his friends have been great. Some are getting into acting.''

Alex said: ``I love being on stage and just having fun.''