Brother and sister Julie and Stephen Short are poised to realise a life-long dream to work as full-time entertainers.

Julie, 38, is winding down her successful bookkeeping company and is selling her house in Braemore Road, Hove, enabling the pair to move to Spain to open an all-singing, all-dancing cabaret theatre.

Having performed at six venues across the South Coast over the summer, their act, called Sisters, has already proved a big hit.

Stephen, 37, who lives with Julie, said: "We're bringing back vaudeville in its truest sense - its glamour, its comedy and its musical style. We want to provide great family entertainment by breaking the mould and filling a niche."

Stephen part owns Molly Moggs bar in Soho, London, and has been a drag queen, working under the stage name Julie Paid, for the last decade.

Throughout his career in the theatre, he has dreamt of working with his sister.

He said: "I feel like the last nine or ten years in cabaret have been a rehearsal for this moment."

Growing up in Devon, the pair would entertain their family with renditions of performances by the Hollywood greats.

Julie said: "We were always a bit of a double act when we were growing up. We used to watch all the musicals and sang and danced all the time. It was the greats like Judy Garland and Marlene Dietrich who inspired us. Theirs was always a look we aspired to imitate."

About a year ago, they decided to turn their childhood dreams into a reality.

Their first show, at The Alibi in Hove a month ago, went down a storm.

Julie said: "People were peering over the walls and standing outside trying to get a look at what we were doing. Traffic had pulled over to listen and people living nearby were hanging out of their open windows. We had no idea what the reaction was going to be but in the end it was amazing.

"I think part of the appeal of the act is the whole 'is she, isn't she' element. I have had people asking me if I'm a man because they can't quite work it out, although by the end of the show its quite clear who's who."

Sisters has already taken bookings for Christmas but Julie and Stephen intend to move to Spain in the new year.

Stephen said: "No matter what England has to offer, it does not have the lifestyles we crave. It is all rush, rush, rush here. Going out to Spain has always been on the agenda.

"We intend to buy an old farmhouse and turn it into a cabaret theatre. We want it to be the sort of place that will take you back to the Thirties and Forties, with a live band, singers, dancers and comedy."

The pair have already been out to Spain to look at properties and are in discussions with holiday companies. When Julie's house is sold, they will both live with friends until they find the ideal location.

Anyone who wants to book Sisters should call 07739 945573.