WHEN Popstars band Hear'Say split less than two years after being created in a blaze of glory, Noel Sullivan and his bandmates' dreams lay in tatters.

Fast forward 12 years and the 34-year-old Cardiff singer has landed a dream role, after carving out a successful career in musical theatre.

He is following in the footsteps of Steve Martin and also Rufus Hound, playing Freddy Benson in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels — a musical based on the 1988 comedy film.

Direct from London’s West End, where it starred Rufus and Robert Lindsay and ran for a year to rave reviews, it opens at Manchester's Opera House tomorrow and is on until May 30.

Noel said: "Parts like this don't come around very often.

"I'm absolutely loving it.

"It's so much fun playing the bad guy and getting to be cheeky.

"I don't think people realise it's going to be so funny.

"I think that's what is amazing about this show.

"I was a massive fan of the film, I grew up in the '80s and Steve Martin is one of my comic geniuses."

Prepare to be transported to the luxurious lap of the French Riviera where the decadent world of sophisticated conman Lawrence Jameson is set to come crashing down with the arrival of larger-than-life Freddy — a conman of an entirely different order.

Soon realising the town is not big enough for the both of them, the two find themselves going head to head in the con of their lives, pulling out all of the stops in a bid for the affections of millionaire soap heiress Christine Colgate.

Little do they know what they have let themselves in for.

Noel first rose to fame in 2001, after his appearance as an aspiring pop singer in the first series of the ITV reality television documentary Popstars, alongside Danny Foster, Myleene Klass, Kym Marsh and Suzanne Shaw.

He said: "This (musical theatre) is what I always wanted to do.

"When the band happened, it kind of took me off course for a little while.

"We were the guinea pigs of what is now the very well-oiled machine of The X Factor.

"I think the band lasted as long as it should have, for its time.

"Now if you win, they take you away for a year and make you into a popstar. We were in the glare of the spotlight from day one.

"There's still a place for it though, it's still a worthy platform."

Following Hear'Say's split, he turned to musical theatre and went on to land a number of high profile parts including Galileo Figaro in the tour of We Will Rock You and then Drew in Rock of Ages.

After a lengthy audition process, he was chosen for the part of Freddy in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

Noel, who released a musical theatre album on iTunes last year, said: "I was thrilled.

"The others are so fantastic.

"Carley Stenson is an absolute dream, you couldn't ask for a better leading lady.

"Mark Benton is hilarious as Andre.

"Michael Praed is just so suave and sophisticated.

"We are getting on really well."

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is on at the Opera House, Manchester, from tomorrow until Saturday, May 30.