A TALENTED local dance teacher joined Hugh Jackman on stage at the O2 as part of a surprise 20th anniversary reunion performance of Okalahoma!

Helen Read, co-founder of Reading-based Theatre School READ College, performed on stage as part of Jackman's first world tour, which launched in May.

Called The Man. The Music. The Show, it sees him perform hit songs from The Greatest Showman, Les Misérables and other Broadway shows and films, accompanied by a live orchestra and special guests.

Read and Jackman were both members of the original cast of Oklahoma!, (directed by Trevor Nunn and choreographed by Susan Stroman) and to celebrate the 20th anniversary, Jackman invited the original cast to perform with him as part of his O2 arena show as a surprise feature in front of a packed crowd of 18,500 people.

Helen said: "It was a fantastic experience to perform with Hugh again and to revisit Oklahoma!, a show that was such an important part of my career, that I hold such fond memories of.

"More importantly, it has been a great inspiration for our current students at READ College who have desires to work in the musical theatre industry as performers."

READ College offers one and two year foundation courses in musical theatre in acting, based in Reading and hold a 97% success rate in developing their students into achieving successful placements at top flight 3 year Drama and Dance schools.