Aoife solves the problem with Maria

But, from Monday, she will take the role for two performances a week at the London Palladium.

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Aoife Mulholland

The 28-year-old will be sharing the limelight with Connie Fisher, who was selected by Lord Lloyd- Webber in the TV show How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?

Fisher, 23, has been dogged with illness since taking the part and theatre bosses have decided to scale down her performances.

Mulholland, who came fourth in the TV show and went on to land the role of Roxie Hart in Chicago, said she was thrilled to be given a second chance to appear in The Sound Of Music.

"I got this call out of the blue six weeks ago, asking me to come in because Andrew Lloyd Webber wanted to see me again," said the singer from Galway.

"A couple of days after that they told me I'd got the part. I just couldn't believe it."

Since that call she has been combining two roles. "Going back from Roxie to Maria has been tough — for the first week I was rehearsing a nun by day and performing a murderer by night.

"They're such opposites and in a lot of ways Maria is more of a challenge because she's English Received Pronunciation and Roxie, being American, is easier for an Irish girl. I'm getting there, though, and now it's about making the part my own. I'm looking forward to getting an audience."

Mulholland said she had yet to meet up with Fisher but that the pair had remained in contact: "When I got Maria she texted me to say congratulations and to call her if I needed anything."

She will be performing on Monday evenings and Wednesday matinees and filling in for Fisher when she goes on holiday in July.

"If anyone had said a year ago that I'd be in one West End show, never mind two, I'd have never believed it," she said. "This all feels like a dream."

Since joining the cast of Chicago Mulholland has had little chance to catch up with her family.

She has also split from her boyfriend because she needs to be in London but he could not bear to leave Ireland. "We were together for two years, he's from my home town and we've known each other since we were kids," said the singer.

"But neither of us was willing to move. We just decided to call it a day. It's a shame, but we're still the best of friends."

She said: "I haven't been back once and it's hard because before all this I'd be going home every two weeks. I didn't even make Christmas. But I'm loving it here and I know it's where I want to be."

Second chance: Aoife Mulholland landed the role of Roxie in Chicago after losing out to Connie Fisher, left, in Andrew Lloyd Webber's BBC TV series