USUALLY more at home on the West End stage, Ruthie Henshall is taking a bit of time out from treading the boards to teach some possible West End stars of the future.

The queen of the West End wants to spend the summer with her two little girls, but will also be stepping into a teaching role to start a musical theatre school, in Lawford.

In a small village hall, just a few miles from her Manningtree home, Ruthie will be working alongside her husband and fellow musical theatre star Tim Howar.

They are joining forces with Debbie Millar, who runs the local dance school to start the musical theatre summer school.

She said: “I want to give kids a real chance to experience teaching from people who are in the business.”

The Millar Henshall theatre arts school gets into gear for two one-week courses from August 3 to 11 and August 17 to 21, at the Ogilvie Hall, catering for six to 22-year-olds and there will also be Wednesday evening classes for adults.

“I am taking some time off to do this,” Ruthie said.

“I love where we live and I would like to bring the arts to this area.”

There are also plans for further workshops on Saturday afternoons for the children in the autumn.

The West End and Broadway star, whose starring roles have been in such mega shows as Chicago, Cats, Miss Saigon and Crazy for You, is also planning to bring some of her West End friends down to help at the summer school.

Zoe Salmon, from Dancing On Ice and a former Blue Peter presenter, plus Ian McIntosh, who is about to go into High School Musical, will also be helping at the summer school.

“I really want this to be the real deal,” said Ruthie.

Her plans are to teach everything connected with musical theatre from singing and dancing to acting, backstage work and even make-up and set design.

“We are just going to teach them everything there is about musical theatre.”

The children need not be experienced for Ruthie says they hope to build their confidence and nurture any new talent. “I will be doing the singing and performance side. I will be trying to get the performance out of the children.”

Actor and singer Tim, who is now in Much Ado About Nothing, in Regents Park until July, will be on hand to encourage the boys and assist with teaching.

The couple, who met in the West End show Peggy Sue Got Married, ended up marrying in Mistley, in 2004, and it was when their two daughters were ready for dance lessons that Ruthie met Debbie Millar.

Lily, six, and four-year-old Dolly have ballet and tap lessons, and Ruthie said as the two women got to know each other, they realised they had both trained at Laine Theatre Arts College, in Epsom, Surrey.

“Debbie said she had this idea and I said I had too, so we decided to join together,” she explained.

Ruthie has only recently left our television screens as a judge on Dancing on Ice, and last year won critical acclaim for her leading role in the new musical Marguerite.

The summer school will give her time off with the family, though she says she will still be preparing for some big concerts at Cadogan Hall with the BBC Big Band. She is also working on her fourth album, which will be released later this year.

Ruthie says she loves her life and her home. It’s an area she has gravitated back to because she spent her teenage years with her parents in Stutton, where they still live and where her children now go to school.

Her ties also extend to Clacton, where after graduating from Laine, she joined the company for Francis Golightly’s Cascade Revue for her first professional job.

“I earnt my Equity card in the West Cliff Theatre,” she said and within months, she was in the West End in Chorus Line.

Ruthie hasn’t looked back and since the late Eighties has had her name up in lights in London, and in Broadway, chalking up an Olivier award . Now she wants to encourage the next generation.

l The Millar Henshall theatre arts school will be at the Ogilvie Hall, Wignall Street, in Lawford. Courses for children cost £145 per week. Adult classes, on Wednesdays , from 6pm to 9.30pm, cost £30.

To book, call 01206 230806.