HUGO is set to be the star of the show at The Brindley.

The cute little chihuahua makes his stage debut as Bruiser Woods, the faithful pet of Elle Woods, in The Zodiac Musical Theatre Society's production of Legally Blonde.

The three-year-old dog is owned by Olivia McDonald and Deklan Gibbons, from Runcorn.

The couple heard that The Zodiac were looking for a dog to play Bruiser and jumped at the chance to let Hugo have his time to shine.

“We’re trying to not let the fame go to his head”, said Olivia. “He is already a bit of a diva.”

Although not theatre trained, Hugo has attended lots of rehearsals to get accustomed to the cast and will tread the boards next week alongside another dog, bulldog Bodge.

The show follows obsessed-about-pink Elle Woods as she moves across the country to Harvard Law School to follow ex-boyfriend Warner. Despite not being taken seriously as during the trial of the century, she learns that she can be both brainy and fashionable.

The show is based on the smash hit 2001 movie of the same name starring Reese Wetherspoon.

This year marks the society’s 50th anniversary and chairman Jude Kenyon believes they have something special with Legally Blonde.

Jude said: “The society works incredibly hard to bring the audience shows that we hope have the wow-factor and this year is no exception.

"Ciera has such a wonderful voice, but along with the rest of the cast, they all have a show that we can be proud of in our 50th year.”

Legally Blonde is being performed at The Brindley theatre in Runcorn from Monday, April 24 to Saturday, April 28.

Tickets for the first three nights are £11.

To book call the box office on 0151 907 8360 or visit thebrindley.org.uk.