ACTOR, singer, musician and songwriter Richard Fleeshman is still mostly remembered for playing troubled Goth Craig Harris in Coronation Street for four years from the age of 12.

But the ITV soap proved a rigorous but perfect training ground for a successful stage career that has included Ghost the Musical at the Piccadilly Theatre and on Broadway- winning him the WhatsOnStage.com Award for Best Actor in a Musical, and Legally Blonde at the Savoy Theatre.

TV viewers may remember how in 2003, aged 13, he became the youngest celebrity contestant to win a Stars in Their Eyes celebrity special, and he also won Soapstar Superstar in 2006. A year later he released his debut album Neon. He has also supported Elton John on tour on several occasions.

Now he is playing Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls on its UK tour which visits Southampton Mayflower from Tuesday May 17 - Saturday May 21.

The show, directed by New York's Gordon Greenberg, comes direct from the West End where it won wave reviews at the Savoy Theatre.

Guys and Dolls first premiered on Broadway in 1950. It ran for 1200 performances and won the Tony Award for Best Musical. The musical has had several Broadway and London revivals, as well as a 1955 film adaptation starring Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra and Vivian Blaine.

Talking about the role Richard, 26, said: "I did Legally Blonde and then Ghost and I think every bit of experience is like a pilot in a plane - it's all air miles and you learn from every show and you never stop learning. You learn something from every job, every show and every director."

Despite winning the WhatsOnStage.com Award for Best Actor in a Musical for Ghost the Musical at the Piccadilly Theatre and on Broadway but remains level- headed:

"You have to take things in your stride. It's lovely to win awards but as my parents say if I get excited about awards, if you believe the good stuff you have to believe the bad stuff. There are many, many great performers and productions that don't get awards - it's just a lottery. It's live theatre: some nights are good and you aim for a great show every night but so many elements must cone together and other nights you might say that didn't go quite the way I wanted but then you get to do it again the next day. "

Richard has greasepaint in his blood. His father is David Fleeshman- actor, theatre director, broadcaster and drama lecturer with a wealth of experience in television, film, theatre, radio and commercials, and his mother is Sue Jenkins who played Gloria Todd on Coronation Street, 1985 - 1988, and Jackie Corkhill in the Channel 4 soap Brookside, 1991-2001.

Richard was just 12 when he landed the Corrie role and he says he has a lot to thank it for.

"I was in Corrie for four years and it was the start of everything for me. It was a big learning curve and I even got to film with Sir Ian McKellen, for goodness sake!

"I knew the casting director as I'd been for a commercial. I lived in Manchester and they were blanket auditioning people for this family. I got called back and back again and after about six months they gave me the part. My parents had been quite blaze about it. Then it got down to either me or one another person and the night before my parents sat me down and said are you sure you want to do this and I said yes it will be fine and they said it will change your life. It always seemed like just a job to them so it's just like a job to me- but a very enjoyable one! But there are aspects that are not enjoyable and are challenging and you are self-employed and it's not like mum I will be a doctor'. But when I decided I wanted to do this they completely supported me."

Despite his success Richard urges anyone thinking about an acting career to think very seriously about it.

"When young kids say to me that when they grow up they want to be a performer I say if there is anything else that will make you happy in the world then do it. It's gruelling, cruel, and there is no empathy if you have a mortgage to pay and kids to feed. If you are flavour of the month it's great, but if you are not you will be working a lot of second jobs. You might be the most well respected actor in the world but you can hit a wall. Unless you have a burning compulsion to play 200 seater theatres I don't recommend it. "

This seems very wise and worldly comment for a young actor of 26 but as Richard points out he has been doing the job full time for ten years.

"I have always taken the job seriously. You don't always think of the pressures of it being a kid as some never get their 'Get Out of Jail' card. And it's very different when you do get out [into the professional acting world]."

Starting so young in this industry he says has been both "a blessing as well as a curse".

"I have no nerves. The joy of being a kid is you take everything in your stride. I've been incredibly fortunate . It's strange that I have never done a normal job. I've just been very lucky. "

With an impressive CV, does Richard get fed up with always being remembered for his role on Coronation Street which he left when he was 16?

"Well, it's ten years since I left Coronation Street and in that time I've toured with Elton John, performed on Broadway, made a TV series and had many roles on stage but the first thing people always ask me about is Coronation Street. Yes, that makes sense and of course people will mention the most well known thing. Now I'm just resigned to that."

But he says Coronation Street taught him so much.

"Being on Coronation Street can give people pre-conceptions of what that means but I've been lucky to have diverse roles.

It taught me to be a professional at 12 and nothing is made with that speed on TV. It taught me to turn up knowing my lines and ready to work. I was in at the deep end without arm bands. Now it would be terrifying. Even Ian McKellen said it was madness and there was no time but I said that's how it always works. It's an incredibly harsh environment to cut your teeth on. It was great to be involved in big long running storylines and I got to film in Paris for three weeks for my exit storyline although I never really thought about it at the time."

So would he ever go back to Corrie?

"He's not dead. His entire family was killed and his girlfriend Rosie has gone but weirder things have happened in the world of soap."

Does he prefer working in TV or on the live stage?

"With TV there's a lot of waiting around and it goes in fits and starts. You can spend seven hours sitting in a trailer and then spend two hours full on filming with every cut away and close up. With a live show you are there at 6.55 and then you are live and you hold a play in your head. The joy is you are in control of every moment and no one can cut it. The lovely thing about TV is if you are not happy you can go again and re-film it. Nothing beats a live performance though and the reactions of the audience."

For tickets for Guys and Dolls visit mayflower.org.uk or call the box office on: 02380 711811.