A WEST Dorset man has reached the ‘pinnacle’ of his career as he stars in a West End musical.

Keiron Harris will take to the stage this month at the world famous London Palladium to star in Scrooge the Musical.

The 39-year-old will be playing Bisset the Butcher, as well as other minor characters and understudying for other main parts.

He will be starring alongside ’50s and ’60s Brit pop idol Tommy Steele in the title role of Ebenezer Scrooge.

The show, produced by Bill Kenwright, opens at the Palladium on October 22 and runs until January 12.

Kieron, who attended Charmouth Primary and the Woodroffe School and now lives in London, said: “It’s a nice little part and I’m in all the scenes, all the numbers.

“It’s an amazing theatre to be performing in and this is my first West End show.

“I still get really nervous and I think I will especially with this job because it’s quite a biggie for me, the first West End show.”

Kieron did a GCSE in performing arts at Woodroffe and said his teacher advised him not to take it up at ‘A’ Level.

“My teacher told me never to pursue a career in performing arts because I would never make it,” said Keiron. “Apparently I wasn’t very good.”

Instead he studied BTEC performing arts at Weymouth College and later secured a place at the prestigious Guildford School of Acting.

Kieron said he would actually thank his old Woodroffe teacher.

“I think I have always been a little bit headstrong and when someone tells you that you can’t do something you find alternative methods to reach your goals,” he said.

“Years later I’m finally getting to do what I wanted to do in one of the best theatres in the world, so thanks to him I have ended up where I am.”

He graduated in 1995 with a diploma in musical theatre and moved to London where he starred in his first pantomime at the York Theatre Royal and was invited back five more times.

Other jobs since have included the touring play of Ladies Night, starring in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and dance captain on a cruise ship.

He starred in the tour of Scrooge the Musical alongside Shane Richie, Michael Barrymore and Tommy Steele, but this is the first time the production has returned to the West End since 2005.

Keiron hopes it will lead on to other jobs. He said: “It’s a very tricky business to get into and not many people make it. I’m not saying I’ve made it but I have reached a pinnacle of my career where I can say ‘I’ve done it’.

“This will hopefully open a few more doors.”