The rights to perform the popular musical came out in 2002

Hillview School for Girls, in Tonbridge, is performing Les Miserables after becoming the second school in Kent to secure the rights.

It came up with the idea after a group of students went to see the West End production and "fell in love with it".

The state secondary school is hoping it will be spectacular and not look like an amateur production.

Rebecca Wilson, joint acting head of drama and director of the musical, said: "We'd like to spend a lot of money on the production and we want to do it brilliantly."

Some of the students cast in the leading roles for Les Miserables

The school paid an undisclosed amount for the rights and has already had a positive response to its plea for sponsors.

"We've got about two definites," Ms Wilson told BBC News Online.

"We want to spend the money on the set and costumes," she said.

She said if the sponsorship money was not forthcoming, the school would not spend as much, although �20,000 was the target, with the rest coming from ticket sales.

The school is offering sponsors a "tailor-made package" as an incentive, which includes free classes for conversational French, singing and dance, and motivational workshops, as well as free advertising in the programme.

Hillview School for Girls is well versed in putting on shows for the public, but it is the first time it has used the Stag Theatre in Sevenoaks, which has the biggest stage in the South East outside of London.

The rights to perform one of the most popular musicals ever written came out in 2002.

The school will be using a specially approved schools edition of Les Miserables, which has been abridged to a running time of just over two hours.