Bad Girls and Emmerdale actress Nicole Faraday was so overwhelmed that she cried when she was first cast as legendary singer Eva Cassidy.

Faraday, best known as a prison inmate in Bad Girls, is playing the very different role of Cassidy in the 10th anniversary tour of musical Over the Rainbow: The Eva Cassidy Story.

Ahead of the show in Epsom, Faraday says: "I remember the first time I was cast as Eva I was actually in tears at the enormity of the challenge because she had such an amazing voice and she’s so well-loved."

Having already starred in two previous UK tours of the show, Faraday is well aware of the responsibilities associated with her performance.

When Cassidy died of skin cancer at the age of 33 in 1996, she was unknown outside of her hometown Washington DC.

But Terry Wogan discovered her haunting interpretation of Somewhere Over the Rainbow and played the song on BBC Radio 2.

A camcorder recording of Cassidy singing at a jazz club in Washington was shown on Top of the Pops 2 and sales of her album sky-rocketed.

Faraday says: "I’ve now sung Songbird at four different friends’ weddings which was, obviously, the most important day of their lives.

"People have such an emotional response to Eva’s music that you absolutely need to get it right. She had such a distinctive voice and made classics out of so many well-known songs."

Other cast members of the show will include Tom Vaughan, who has starred in Hollyoaks, Rose-Marie, who has performed in musical Blood Brothers, and Robert Grose, who starred in musical the Lion King.

Over the Rainbow: The Eva Cassidy Story; Epsom Playhouse, Ashley Avenue, Epsom; Monday, November 17; 7.30pm; from £17.50; call 01372 742555; visit www.epsomplayhouse.co.uk