WHEN Titanic opens in Worcester tomorrow there is one person the cast hopes it does not have to hear from - the prompt.

But for Worcester Operatic and Dramatic Society's Lesley Hart the award-winning musical will be a very special occasion - her 50th show as prompt and her first as the society's president.

Mrs Hart, elected at the group's recent 107th annual meeting, was following in a family tradition. Three members of her family - two aunts and an uncle had been president of WODS and her mother was a keen supporter.

Mrs Hart joined WODS in 1968 and for a couple of years trod the boards as a dancer and in the chorus. For the next 10 years she worked backstage with either the props or the wardrobe team.

In 1982 she became the prompt and worked front of house selling programmes and raffle tickets.

She has also been front-of-house manager at the society's headquarters, St Mary's Hall, in the Arboretum, for several years.

In 2003 Mrs Hart was elected to the main committee and has helped with fund-raising, organising raffle rotas and cataloguing photographs and slides. She was also subscription secretary for a year.

Mrs Hart will be wearing her chain of office to welcome people to the musical and, just before the curtain goes up, will rush backstage to take up her position as prompt in the dimly-lit wings.

She said: I suppose it is my lifelong interest in language and words, both English and foreign, that helps me enjoy being a prompt. I have always been interested, especially if we have a script with unusual phrases, such as we had for HMS Pinafore. I was very interested in the nautical phrases.

"Being a prompt you have to concentrate very hard.

"The trick is to watch the script, not the show and make sure the actors are saying what they should be saying."

Titanic is on stage at Worcester's Swan theatre until Saturday, April 26 It is based on the sinking of the unsinkable' liner when it hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage to New York.

It opens in Worcester the day after the 96th anniversary of the disaster with a cast of about 45 and a 12-strong orchestra.