She shouldn’t really have been there, and she knew her parents would be angry if they ever found out.

“I was very young, 16 or so and training as a dancer,“ explains actress Elizabeth Seal. “I overheard some of the girls in class, the bigger girls, who were probably only 20 or something, were going to this audition for a show.

“I had never even seen a show, I’d seen a pantomime. I decided not to go to class the next day and I took myself to this audition.

“I was offered a job – which didn’t please my parents at all – they thought I was at school! I had to have a tutor in the afternoons, which used to make some of the older girls laugh a fair bit.“

It was to be her first stage job, joining the chorus line in Ivor Novello’s Gay’s The Word for an 18-month run.

“I was the baby, they used to call me baby seal,“ the 79-year-old recalls. “I learnt an incredible amount. I used to watch from the side every night. I was thrown in, but you learn very quickly.“

The role was the first of many to come and the young actress got her first big break as Gladys in the West End transfer of The Pajama Game.

“I’d auditioned for the chorus,“ she says. “They pulled me out of the line and said can you sing? I said: ‘I’m not sure, I’ll try’. They gave me a script to read. I read the whole thing, stage directions, everything – they were all hysterical with laughter. I didn’t know what they were laughing at.“

Soon after, Elizabeth won the title role in Irma La Douce, beating Julie Andrews to the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical in 1961. She was the darling of the popular press – regularly making magazine covers and front page news.

“It was a very exciting and stressful time,“ she remembers. “I was a big success and they make quite a meal of it.“

After a notable career she took a break soon after the birth of her second child: “It was difficult running around airports with babies and children.“

Now, more than 60 years since Gay’s The Word opened it is getting its first professional revival – and stars Elizabeth as Madame Nicolini.

Following the death of her husband, the photographer Michael Ward, two years ago, Elizabeth has been busy looking after his archive and organising exhibitions. Then came the casting call.

“I wasn’t sure at first but my daughter said it would be marvellous. It’s been wonderful, I’ve met a lot of old friends – they’ve all come out of the woodwork!“

This revival of Gay’s The Word, Ivor Novello’s final work before his death just a month after its opening, has been greeted with enthusiasm by theatre-goers, relishing the chance to see this colourful backstage comedy.

The story centres around Gay Daventry, a bankrupt operetta producer who opens a drama school at her home. Unsuccessful as a school, it does lead to riotous comeback for Gay. Full of wonderful songs and a huge cast, it is typical of Novello’s feel-good style and billed as ’the happiest musical comedy of the year’. As Elizabeth puts it: “It’s very dated and very silly, but done with the right energy and verve.“

Gay’s The Word comes to The Radlett Centre on Sunday, March 3 at 7.30pm. Details: 01923 859291