A TALENTED couple who have been cast alongside each other in a number of Darlington shows over the years have been reunited as "husband and wife" for a new production.

Julian Cound and Samantha Morrison have been paired up again for Darlington Operatic Society's latest production, Top Hat, which runs at Darlington Hippodrome from Wednesday April 3 to Saturday April 13.

The successful partnership goes back 13 years when Julian moved up to Darlington from the Midlands and auditioned to become a member of DarlingtonOS. His first show with DOS was Sweet Charity in 2006 in which he took the role of Oscar opposite Samantha who was cast as Charity Hope Valentine.

Julian said: “Working opposite Sam is always an absolute dream. To be honest, I was a little nervous at first as I knew Sam’s reputation as a perfectionist and someone who throws herself into a part from the very outset. My way of working is a little bit more of a slow burn, finding a character and eventually letting myself go.”

He added: “Sweet Charity is a tour-de-force for any actress, and watching Sam work through the rehearsal period and the show was an amazing experience. Little did we know that we would work closely together on some amazing shows over the following 13 years.”

Samantha said: “There are times when you get to work with people and it seems so easy, there is an instant spark between you and you instinctively know how the other person is going to react which really helps when you are working on an emotional level.”

Julian and Samantha have now worked closely together on several DarlingtonOS productions, most notably in Barnum and Footloose.

Julian said: “In both of these shows, we played husband and wife. Both were emotionally difficult partnerships to play but these are the most rewarding kinds of roles – especially when you are opposite a brilliant performer like Sam.”

"Thankfully, in Top Hat there will be far more laughs for us as we again play husband and wife but the story-line is close to a farce – it will be great to be able to laugh during rehearsals rather than be on the verge of tears all the time.”

Tickets are only available from DarlingtonOS via the ticket hotline 01325-244659 or online at www.darlingtonos.org.uk