THE appetite for challenges of the young performers of Nardone's Academy of Performing Arts is insatiable.

Fresh from their pantomime at Christmas time, which played to packed houses at Lochgelly Centre, this amazing organisation, started by a former Lochgelly High School pupil who felt that there was a lot of young talent in the area that just needed to be encouraged to take that final step to hit the stage, is going from strength to strength.

Almost three years ago Liam Nardone started up Lochgelly Youth Theatre using the former Baptist Church Hall in Station Road as its rehearsal base hoping to persuade young people to get involved.

He should not have worried because in relatively short time the first show 'Hairspray' took to the stage in September 2017 and from that point on the shows have continued with 'Fame', 'For One Night Only', 'The Addams Family' (at the Edinburgh Festival), 'Jack and the Beanstalk', 'Legally Blonde' and 'Sleeping Beauty' and these have gone down really well with audiences.

For 2020 Liam, who directs and choreographs the shows, is looking to stage '9 to 5 The Musical' in the summer but is also looking to put on a special kids' show 'Annie', for under 14 artistes only.

The rehearsals for the show take up a lot of the former LHS lad's time, but now at college in Edinburgh, he combines developing his own talents as an artiste with encouraging and guiding the young stars of the Academy's shows.

This programme of Annie in May for the U14s, and 9 to 5 The Musical in June, is bound to be a tough assignment for the Academy and its host of talented youngsters.

But really such is their talent and boundless enthusiasm, this will be a challenge they will meet face on and with Liam, who in the Times and Dunfermline Press Community Champions awards in 2019, won the Young Entrepreneur title, steering them the shows will be a stick-on to be another success.