SOUTHAMPTON’S Broadway and West End star Earl Carpenter starts rehearsals on Monday for the brand new musical Moonfleet at Salisbury Playhouse.

Set amongst the cliffs, caves and downs of 18th century Dorset, Moonfleet (April 19– May 5)is based on the novel by J Meade Falkner and is the story of a young man’s search for adventure and fulfilment. Haunted by the ghost of the marauding pirate Blackbeard, Moonfleet is a village of intrigue and drama where shadowy smugglers lurk. For Earl who will play two roles plus ensemble parts among a cast of ten it’s a far cry from his leading roles in big productions like Phantom and Les Miserables.

He says he is looking forward to ‘rolling his sleeves up’ but at 47 revealed he questions his longevity and is filled with trepidation despite his glittering CV.

“I’ve been out of the UK industry for three years so it’s been a case of getting back and seeing how the world is here! It’s changed! There’s not a lot of work around, even with my CV. I’m the older one now whilst a lot of musicals now are casting younger actors: suddenly I’m in that category and I’m not ready for that! The question is how do we weather that? How do we achieve longevity. You have to be realistic; you can’t say well I played on Broadway - it carries no clout at all.

“I’m looking forward to Moonfleet because it’s so different to what I’ve done before. It has a very small cast of ten .This will be different from the luxury I’ve had in the past. I will be multi-rolling and what a great thing to do. It’s great to roll your sleeves up and get stuck in. It's brand new and Salisbury Playhouse has a great reputation.

So that’s what makes it exciting, especially being someone who gets bored easily! I’ve read the script but when I turn up for rehearsals on Monday it will all be new and that’s refreshing - but it’s scary too as I’ve done a lot of stuff we are all familiar with. It’s good I will have to work the memory muscle. It's also close enough for my mum to see it! (she lives in the new Forest)."

Earl plays Maskew (a magistrate) and a guard of Caribrooke Castle.Rehearsals last for four weeks. He added: “There are certain roles I can’t play any more and you think is it my time to step aside. You do get worried about getting older. They want to bring in fresh blood and I do understand that mentality. But you do think right I’m not ready to give up and I’m more hungry than ever and I think I may have taken the last several years for granted and not appreciated it enough.

"My aim is to be as current as I can: I don’t want to hang on a credit of years ago. There’s more power in being current - I don’t want to rest on my laurels. There is no room for the ‘I’ve been on Broadway dear’! You have to be quite savvy about it. But you have to use your CV and say my experience is worth a lot to me and the right environment.

“I genuinely don’t know what to do next . It’s bizarre but I go into Salisbury with a bit of trepidation. I’ve never been cocky and always had a degree of doubt . It’s as hard now as 25 years ago!”