'Being in Oliver! at nine was my first step towards the West End'

"I want to do this when I'm older."

That is what Jamie Tyler said 36 years ago when he made his musical debut in a community theatre production of Oliver!, taking on the lead role.

Now, after years of hard work performing in shows such as Evita and Grease, his career has come full circle and he is part of the latest West End cast of the Lionel Bart show based on the Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist, about the boy who wants more.

Tyler said being cast in a show he had loved since he was nine felt like he was "coming home".

The actor, 45, who grew up in Rushden, Northamptonshire, said the 1989 Irthlingborough Entertainment Society production of Oliver! was his first full-scale show, after he had been in talent shows and reviews.

"It was the first time I really had to learn lines and take direction. I just remember absolutely loving it," said Tyler, who now lives in Olney, near Milton Keynes.

"It felt like it was the thing that started me off thinking, 'I want to do this when I'm older', as the attention was really fun."

He went on to appear in many more shows in the area, including at the Sharnbrook Mill Theatre near Bedford and in a production of The Sound of Music at the Royal & Derngate, Northampton.

After finishing sixth form, he planned to go to drama school "but couldn't afford it", so he got a job working on a cruise ship.

He thought it would give him time to secure funding for drama school, but instead he kept getting booked for more theatre roles.

Tyler said: "I was in the dressing room in the West End in Grease when I said to one of the cast members, 'I need to try and get into theatre school'.

"But they said, 'You probably don't need it now', as I was already getting work in the job I wanted to do."

He has appeared in the West End in Spamalot, Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar, Much Ado About Nothing and Love's Labour's Lost, as well as being part of touring productions of South Pacific, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Tommy.

He took time away to concentrate "on being a parent, getting the stability of having a house [and] finding a way to pay the mortgage without having to rely on theatre, which can be a shaky profession".

But he auditioned for the current production of Oliver! and was cast as a swing performer.

"It feels so exciting being back in the show. Being back in the theatre full-time certainly feels like coming home," he said.

"When I hear the Olivers sing Where Is Love?, it gives me goose bumps – it takes me back.

"It seems to have this familiarity that once you've done it, it's in your bones. The songs never leave you."

Being a swing performer means he has to be at the theatre for every performance, having learnt the parts of about five characters, and he can be called to go on at any time – sometimes at just a moment's notice.

"If someone twists an ankle you have to... get into a costume and go on."

He also covers for cast members when they have scheduled time off.

"It's lovely. There is always another swing team around to help you, as every show has about four or five," he said.

"We always help one another and there is always a dance captain about to help go through the choreography with you.

"It's just so social, like one big family."

Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.