THE tale of the ultra-authoritarian headteacher bent on hypnotising the world has wowed children of all ages since Gillian Cross first released The Demon Headmaster as a novel in 1982.

Now the musical version is with us and Malvern Theatres' resident company, the Malvern Theatre Players, is rising to the challenge of re-producing the original's magic on stage.

Director Chris Bassett is confident that the blend of talented youngsters and more experienced hands he has assembled are more than capable of doing just that.

Starting next month, The Demon Headmaster, based on the original novel but with a script by Paul James and music by Eric Angus and Cathy Shostack, is set to hypnotise everyone who dares venture into Malvern Theatres to see it.

Mr Bassett said rehearsals were going swimmingly and praised the group of nearly 40 youngsters who are taking part in the production.

"They always brighten things up, and they're doing extremely well," he said.

Allied to the youngsters' enthusiasm is the experience of long-standing MTP members Lee Farley and Andrew Howie in the central parts of the headmaster and TV presenter Eddie Hair.

Pitting their wits against the dastardly headteacher in the characters of a gang of subversive students will be Ben Humphrey, Dave Crowe, Nick Amos, Alicia Bennett and Lindsay Powell.

Mr Bassett added that the production, which he describes as a "real" musical - rather than a play with songs tacked on - has translated well on to the stage.

"The music in it is absolutely terrific," he said, "and there's a range of different types of modern music, from jazz and blues to rock 'n' roll. It's a fairly broad spectrum of music throughout."

The Demon Headmaster runs from Wednesday, April 2, to Saturday, April 5, at 7.30pm, with a matinee on the Saturday at 2pm.

To book, call 01684 892277 or log on to www.malvern-theatres. co.uk.