YOU CAN always lay your hands on custard - that's the easy part. But 50 young actors? If you're a Hollywood producer with a big budget and the contacts to match, it's not a problem.

But for the producers of a new amateur version of the classic splatter-gun musical Bugsy Malone, it's proving a major stumbling block.

The Hedge End-based Performing Arts Company will be staging its version of the show, which traditionally features a cast of children, at the Eastpoint Centre in Thornhill, Southampton this summer.

Rehearsals are already well under way - but the group desperately needs another 20 members to complete its cast.

Altogether, the show (made into a film starring Jodie Foster in the 1970s) includes almost 50 speaking parts, but the company only has a membership of 30.

"Bugsy is a big production with quite a lot of cast members," says director Barbara Fairclough.

"I know there are at least 47 speaking parts and on top of that, there are a lot of non-speaking parts. Even if you can't sing or dance or act, you can do something to help out."

The company, a youth group with an average age range of 14 to 30, stages two productions a year.

Explaining her reasons for tackling such an ambitious project, Barbara explains: "It's something that particular age group was enthusiastic to do, because of the gangster side of it and the slapstick.

"The songs are also very good and melodic."

The notoriously messy musical, which is set in 1920s Chicago, replaces the traditional gangster machine guns with "splatterguns" - so be prepared to get covered in goo. If you are interested in auditioning for the show, the company's next rehearsals are on Sunday and Monday at the Hedge End Youth and Community Centre.

* For more information, call Barbara Fairclough on 01489 690140.