What do you get when you cross High School Musical with Scream? Find out next week when a fun, if more than a little scary production comes to the Queen’s Theatre in Hornchurch.

Camp Horror is a musical comedy that features a young cast, a stunning, sinister set and 14 original rock ‘n’ roll songs, and it marks a lively season finale for the theatre.

The show is set in a creepy old theatre, on a dark, deserted island, a place where, in the best traditions of horror, no one can hear you scream.

A group of high school kids are preparing their summer musical thriller, but rehearsals are not going well. With a long night ahead, events take a freaky twist when real life starts to mirror the play.

The van won’t start, the bridge has been washed away and their mobile phones will not pick up a signal.

Unfortunately for the group, there is also a hooded killer on the loose – a murderer with a trademark stutter.

Alex Marshall, who plays one of the school pupils, Eddie, says the two-act show is an exciting project to work on.

“The first act is very jokey and about getting to know the characters, and the second is more like a horror movie,” he says. “The first act contrasts the second musically. The audience will get completely drawn into it.”

Alex says Camp Horror features elements of films such as Grease, High School Musical, Glee, Scream and Nightmare on Elm Street.

“There are all the stock characters you find in Glee and High School Musical that make it accessible for younger audiences,” he adds.

Alex’s character Eddie is a moody teenager who is annoyed not to get cast in the school play.

“He’s an 18-year-old high school American football player who’s a bit grumpy,” says Alex. “He gets put in the lighting box because the teacher thinks he’s not good enough. He’s not like me – I’m quite friendly.”

The show, directed by Bob Carlton, is the latest work by the Heather Brothers, three renowned musicians who have produced a number of successful musicals, including the West End hit, A Slice of Saturday Night, which toured Europe and Japan; Lust, which also enjoyed a successful West End run and Big Sin City, which toured the UK.

Their other productions include The Comeback, Blood Money, Sin and Salvation, and Oz and The Pom.

So does Alex think this teen slasher musical can be another West End hit for its creators?

“I do, mainly for the reason that this is a genre that hasn’t really been attempted before,” he says. “The Heather Brothers have had a strong track record.”

The production stars members of cut to the chase..., the Queen’s Theatre’s professional resident company of actor-musicians.

There is a relatively young cast of actors under 30, who play the high school pupils, while only the actor playing their teacher is older.

Alex, 26, is among four actors making their debut with cut to the chase… in this production.

He brings with him a wealth of experience in stage and TV roles, including Tosca and The Magic Flute (English National Opera), The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Wind in the Willows (National Theatre), and Fedora (Royal Opera House).

He says he is very excited to be working with the company at the Queen’s Theatre.

“It’s going really well and I hope to work with them again after this,” he says. “It’s a lovely venue. I didn’t really know anything about it, apart from through a friend who worked there. I think it’s a very beautiful venue.”

Camp Horror is at the Queen’s Theatre, Billet Lane, Hornchurch, from May 21 until June 12. Details: 01708 443333, www.queens-theatre.co.uk