And now the Garelochhead native is waiting on the curtain to rise on his homecoming performance as Don Lockwood in Singin’ in the Rain at Glasgow’s Theatre Royal.

The 33-year-old will perform tonight (Thursday) Saturday, August 16, Monday, August 18 and Saturday matinee, August 23 in the iconic Gene Kelly role.

Matthew found his love for dancing when he joined Ian MacLeod Theatre School in Helensburgh at the age of seven, after begging his mum to let him take lessons.

He told the Advertiser: “I, like lots of other young boys out there, wanted to be able to dance like Michael Jackson and I bugged my mum to send me to lessons.

“My mum worked with Ian’s mum at a nursing home and she told her to send me along, eventually she did and I never looked back.

“Ian was brilliant, it was good to be taught by a male and it meant there were several other boys at the school, it wasn’t totally female dominated.

“He took time and effort teaching me, he made me do extra lessons and really pushed me by putting me into classes with older students so I would perform at a higher level.

“I remember being eight or nine and he put me in with 14-year-old girls, it was daunting but it really helped.

“If it wasn’t for Ian I wouldn’t have achieved anything, he brought in junior associates from Scottish Ballet and I eventually moved on to board at the Dance School of Scotland.” The musical star has performed in several shows in London’s West End, including Chicago, Beauty and the Beast, Edward Scissorhands, and he was in the original cast for Matilda which opened in 2011 and won seven Olivier awards in 2012.

Matthew’s parents owned the Green Kettle Inn near Garelochhead and he spent his primary years at Garelochhead Primary before moving to London at 18.

Singin’ in the Rain’s UK and Ireland Tour ends in November and Matthew doesn’t know what the future holds beyond then.

He added: “When you’re working it’s the best job in the world, but when a show finishes you don’t know what your next job will be.” “I have never really known anything else, I am used to it.”