At just 22, Zabrina Norry has the biggest role in the borough's biggest Christmas production. ALEX KASRIEL talks to the star of The Little Mermaid.

It is the fourth and final week of rehearsals and the cast of The Little Mermaid still have some new songs to learn.

Zabrina Norry, the star of the show, is comparing herself with her mermaid character, Alani.

"She's a bit headstrong and temperamental," says Zabrina. "She knows what she wants and she won't stop until she gets it, sometimes without thinking things through. I was like that when I was a teenager."

This does not come as a surprise, since Zabrina has been a stage actress since the age of nine.

It all started when her local theatre in Oxford was looking for children to be in its Christmas musical.

"I went to the audition and on the way home on the bus I bumped into the director, who offered me the job on the spot," she says.

She then began taking acting lessons at Sylvia Young theatre school.

Zabrina managed to juggle GCSEs with a two-year stint in the West End's Whistle Down the Wind.

Sounding like her Little Mermaid character, she says: "At that time I wasn't thinking far ahead."

Zabrina was in the same school year as S Club 7 pop star Hannah Spearitt and actress Billie Piper.

"When you're in that environment everyone wants the fame," she says.

"We were constantly up for jobs. I was only there on Saturdays. I thought it was important at the time to keep my grounding, to keep my roots back in Oxford. I liked having two different lives."

Zabrina, whose strength lies in her singing voice, has been in television adverts and music videos.

But this production, with a cast of seven, is the smallest she has worked in.

"I am enjoying performing on it," she says. "Everyone gets on. There are not many options not to get on. Everyone is really lovely.

"The small cast shows you how hard everyone works. They double up their parts, some even triple, so they have to work even harder than me, for example, because I'm just the one person throughout."

The production is set to be a visual treat, with amazing fish and shark puppets, fluorescent against the black ocean.

Its other pull factor is the original musical score unique to the Kazzum production.

Zabrina says that children will be enthralled by the evil Sea Witch, who is a vampy goth in this production and whose song is very rocky.

Kazzum have been bringing thrilling shows to artsdepot and before that, The Bull in Barnet, for years. Last year, the company brought a charming Pinocchio to the new building in North Finchley.

The latest show, made famous by the enchanting Disney animation, tells the story of a mermaid who is asked to give up her beautiful singing voice to the evil Sea Witch in return for her wish to be a real girl. Meanwhile, falls in love with a dreamy prince.

During the run of the show, artsdepot's gallery will become a theatrical costume house with opportunities for children to try their own hand at dressing one of the show's characters and creating the latest in fashion designs at the drawing table. Work by the winners of artsdepot's school design competition will be displayed on the walls.

And from December 20 to 23, from 12.30pm-1.15pm and 4pm-4.45pm, children can make stained glass seascapes like the aquatic scenes they will see in the show. The sessions run prior to the afternoon and evening shows and admission costs £5.

  • Little Mermaid runs from December 8 until December 31 at 1.30pm and 5pm, at artsdepot, Nether Street, North Finchley.Tickets are £12 (£10 concessions and children) Family tickets for four are £37.50. To book, call the box office on 020 8369 5454.