FORMER Ely Cathedral head chorister Sam Graham has beaten thousands of other young hopefuls for a place with the National Youth Theatre. Sam, 15, was one of the youngest of 250 actors to be selected after 4,000 people applied for places. He will join the

FORMER Ely Cathedral head chorister Sam Graham has beaten thousands of other young hopefuls for a place with the National Youth Theatre.

Sam, 15, was one of the youngest of 250 actors to be selected after 4,000 people applied for places.

He will join the company's two-week acting course during the summer holidays and have the chance to audition for National Youth Theatre productions which are staged at top theatres in London and other major cities.

"It's a privilege to have been selected and I'm really going to make the most of such a great opportunity," he said.

Sam, a drama student at The King's School, Ely, and a member of the King's Barbers, also won the singing prize in the intermediate section of King's 2007 Musician of the Year competition.

King's head of drama, Adella Charlton, said: "Sam thoroughly deserves his success and I know he will make the most of the opportunity he has been given by the NYT."

To be or not to be: Sam practises his lines ready for his summer course.

Photo: SUPPLIED