Colin Farrell’s uncle and godfather Paul Monaghan says the A-list movie star likes nothing better than a good sing-song around the piano when he comes home to Dublin for Christmas. Paul, a former West End performer turned director, even gave Colin a few acting tips when he was young and now he’s putting Footlights Youth Theatre through their paces at The Watersmeet Theatre for the Schools Edition of Les Miserables.

“Colin is the son of my second eldest sister Rita and when he was very young and trying to get into drama school I helped him with a speech,” recalls Paul.

“That was when he was 16 and it’s been a rollercoaster since then. His sister Claudine also acts in Los Angeles and Colin is permanently based there but he comes home an awful lot. He’s very much a family man and will be over for Christmas for at least three weeks and we get together around the piano; it’s a very family driven time.”

Paul tells me he made his professional debut in Dublin at the age of seven in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. He went on to train at The Brendan Smith Academy Of Acting, The College Of Music and The Royal Irish Academy.

“I was in Joseph with the little boys choir and we earned ten pounds a week to perform in the chorus and I did that until I was 14 and then graduated when my voice broke to being youngest of Joseph’s brothers, Benjamin. After that I did pantos and I came over to London in 1991 on a six month contract to do Les Miserables in the West End and have stayed here ever since though I commute back to Dublin reguarly.”

As an actor/singer Paul has played the title role in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom Of The Opera and the leading roles of Jean Valjean and Javert in the West End production of Les Miserables. He conceived, wrote, directed and musically arranged a series of UK charity concerts while touring with Les Miserables raising over £350,000 for various children’s charities.

His last performance in the show was for its tenth anniversary at the Royal Albert Hall in 1997 where he played The Bishop.

“Every now and then I get a call to come back in and do the show; it’s like a very dear old friend.”

Now he is both directing and acting as musical director for the Footlights show. The choreographer is Taira Foo who appeared in We Will Rock You in the West End.

As a director, Paul’s productions have included Jesus Christ Superstar, Fiddler On The Roof, The Pirates Of Penzance, The Secret Garden, My Fair Lady, Man Of Los Angeles Mancha, Chess, The Wiz and Bugsy Malone.

Paul is currently teaching drama at Trinity College in Greenwich and does a lot of work with the BBC Concert Orchestra, but says the majority of his work these days is with the Footlights Youth Theatre.

So what advice has he given the young performers about the show?

“I know the show extremely and what I learned from Sir Trevor Nunn who directed Les Miserables is a passion for the piece; how to emote the play and pass that on to the students.

“I’ve been as faithful to the original as I can. Basically the schools version is a pared down version of the script with tiny bits taken out but the integrity remains.”

The Watersmeet production will feature a 17-piece orchestra and in total there are about 70 young people who will be performing over the course of a week.

“The cast is split so that as many people get a chance as possible,” explains Paul.

“Jean Valjean is being played by two boys Oliver Yank and Danny Lane, who’s an extraordinary singer. He’s only 15 and he played Tevye in Fiddler in the Roof and everybody thought he was at least 23 because of the maturity of his performance. The standard of singing in this show is comparable to the West End.”

Footlights Youth Theatre perform Les Miserables Schools Edition from Tuesday, July 7 to Saturday, July 11 at The Watersmeet Theatre, High Street, Rickmansworth at 7.30pm. Saturday matinee at 2.30pm. Tickets: Watersmeet 01923 711 063/727 387 or Footlights on 020 8450 9915/07886 944 801 or online at www.watersmeet.co.uk (£15-£12)