Connie's understudy makes sweet Music

The actress who has been standing in for Connie Fisher in the Sound of Music has won the hearts of theatregoers.

Sophie Bould has stepped up from her role as the eldest Von Trapp daughter Liesl to play Maria because Fisher has pulled out of 12 performances over the past seven weeks.

Fans who had booked their tickets months in advance after seeing Fisher get the role on the BBC reality show have found 24-year-old Bould, from Shropshire playing Maria. But most have been very happy with the understudy.

After the Palladium performance, Camilla Lea, 16, a student from Chester, said: "I thought the girl who played Maria was brilliant." Her mother Jill Lea, 47, a company director, said: "We travelled a long way to see Connie. The actress playing Maria was definitely up to the task."

Laura Fraylich, 17, a photography student from Peterborough, said: "You couldn't tell Maria was an understudy. I would come again to see Connie if it wasn't so expensive."

Wynne Henry, from Macclesfield, said: "Overall it was good. But I feel let down. We paid £55 a ticket and there were seven of us who came to London especially."

Granddaughter Collette Black, 14, said: "Maria was good. We would have preferred to see Connie."

Bould, who trained at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, made her professional debut as the lead in Cinderella at Bristol Old Vic.

She has been acclaimed in A Midsummer Night's Dream in Regent's Park and Coram Boy at the National.