The Little Tramp is coming to Christchurch!

The character made most famous by Charlie Chaplin, British Music Hall’s greatest export to Hollywood and the golden age of the silver screen, is just part of the story of this show biz icon, international silent movie superstar and co-founder in 1919 of the film distributors, United Artists.

Now Charlie Chaplin’s rise to stardom is the subject of a brand new Musical, Chaplin – The Charlie Chaplin Story, which is part of a major 32 venue UK Tour that arrives on stage at the Regent in Christchurch on Thursday ( June 23) at 7.30pm.

The show is a celebration of the man lovingly known as “the Little Tramp” after the character he perfected in so many of his famous silent film comedies, in which he combined slapstick with just a touch of pathos to prepare the audience for his next comic mishap.

Steven Arnold -best known for playing butcher’s son Ashley Peacock in Coronation Street, stars as Charlie Chaplin’s brother Sydney in this "heart-warming and hilarious musical" about the first true British icon of Cinema.

Steven is joined onstage by Rachael Wood (Emmerdale), Helena Gullan (‘Once’- London’s West End) and a cast of six West End actor-musicians who play over 20 instruments live onstage.

The musical tale weaves through Chaplin’s modest and troubled childhood growing up in the gutters of Victorian London. It focuses on his relationship with his mother who, after being admitted to an asylum, was forced to put her sons into the workhouse. It moves through Chaplin’s early showbiz career on the Vaudeville stage, through the primitive years of early Hollywood and finishes with Chaplin discovering his big breakthrough film which made him a household name - ‘The Kid’ (1921).

Steven Arnold, 41, left Coronation Street in 2010 when his character Ashley was dramatically killed in a tram crash on the live 50th anniversary episode of the soap.

It was a character he had played for 15 years and many may have questioned whether there'd be a career for him beyond The Cobbles after after all that time.

Well the work offers poured in and Steven says he hasn't looked back since.

The Charlie Chaplin Story is, he informs me, is his 18th stage job since leaving the ITV soap.

Asked if he worried about leaving Corrie and going back to stage acting he told me:

"It pretty much happened while I was there. I left Corrie and I started working the next day!

I did Dancing on Ice and then panto and then it was job after job. I chilled out for three or four months but I've been working ever since.

"I did panto at the Kings Theatre in Portsmouth - my first job, while I was training for Dancing on Ice and I haven't looked back. I've been so fortunate. I've been working for different companies and they keep asking me back. It's been like a domino effect."

He doesn't have a preference when it comes to working in TV or in live theatre:

"I just love my job, full stop! I love every aspect of it. At the start of the year I did four films and co-directed one. I'm doing another one next year. "

Steven's character Ashley was killed off in one of Coronation Street's most dramatic storylines ever - the live episode of the tram crash. How did he feel when he was told about his violent death and departure form the soap?

"It happened so quickly. They decided the time was up for my character and I agreed with the producers. I had six months to work with the producers and it wasn't upsetting at all. I couldn't think of a better way to go than on the show's 50th anniversary live show. I thought what a fitting way to go - I was over the moon. People said I wasn't happy but that couldn't have been further from the truth.

I had 16 fantastic years on Coronation Street. I met so many fantastic people and I can look back on that time with fondness - but that chapter in my life is shut."

The Charlie Chaplin show is an opportunity he relishes:

"I play seven different characters . It' a really big challenge; it's a fantastic opportunity for any actor. I just absolutely love doing this show."

He is full of praise for actor Brian Hodgson who plays Charlie Chaplin. ( Steven plays Chaplin's brother, Sydney)

"This lad blew me away with his presence - he's mesmerising. He will make a lot of people cry!

It's emotional but it has a lot of funny parts."

Six people play over 20 characters and Steven's portrayal of Chaplin' brother is important as, says Steven he was probably one of the few people Chaplin confided in and , he says, " only Sydney would get away with talking to him the way he does. They had a mutual respect for each other and were very, very close but from childhood they were split up and had a really tough upbringing in London and moved house about 20 times by the time he was 15. Sydney was sent to military camp and Charlie was sent to the work house. If you come and see this show you will learn so much about Charlie Chaplin. He was such a star of his time and to do all that from where he came from was incredible but he had this passion and this drive ."

There will be no let up in Steven's work schedule once this finishes either: he revealed he has two scripts to learn whilst doing this!

Tickets: 01202 499199

www.regentcentre.co.uk