Keighley Amateurs will present the stage musical version of Whistle Down the Wind this autumn.

Tickets are now on sale for the show – Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jim Steinman’s version of the much-loved tale of a group of children who hide a man they believe to be Jesus, unaware that he’s a fugitive.

Whistle Down the Wind started life as a 1961 film, starring Hayley Mills and Alan Bates.

The musical transfers the action from rural Lancashire to the American Deep South, where a teenage farm girl called Swallow discovers a mysterious man hiding in her family's barn. When asked who he is, he utters the words “Jesus Christ” and, for a girl grieving the death of her mother, it’s as though her prayers have been answered.

While an angry, pitchfork-wielding mob of townsfolk search for a fugitive escaped from jail, Swallow gathers local children who vow to protect their new-found saviour from the cruelties of the outside world.

The show, which includes the Boyzone hit No Matter What, highlights the contrast between the children’s innocence and the prejudice and violence of the local adults.

The show runs at Keighley’s Victoria Hall from October 22-26 at 7.15pm with a Saturday matinee at 2.15pm. Tickets are available at keighleyamateurs.com, at the Copy Shop, High Street, Keighley, or by ringing 08456 252550.