Bradford’s Alhambra theatre will celebrate its centenary next year with a glittering line-up of hit shows including The Lion King, War Horse, One Man Two Guvnors and Singin’ in the Rain.

Violin maestro Nigel Kennedy, ice legend Robin Cousins, Downton Abbey’s countess Elizabeth McGovern and Starsky and Hutch star Paul Michael Glaser are all part of the line-up for the new Bradford Theatres season, spanning winter and spring.

It begins with Aladdin, this year’s Alhambra pantomime starring Bradford’s favourite funnyman Billy Pearce and former X Factor finalist Chico.

The Alhambra stage will be turned into a shimmering ice rink when Robin Cousins’ Ice comes to town in February. The head judge on TV’s Dancing on Ice is the director and choreographer of this new show, featuring some of the world’s greatest ice skaters gliding, soaring, flipping and flying across the stage.

“I’m excited to bring the daring and dazzling world of figure skating into an intimate theatrical setting,” said Robin. “This is a show where the choreography is driven by the music, where the movement has room to breathe and the skaters can let their blades do the talking.”

Next March The Lion King roars into the Alhambra for a seven-week run – the only Yorkshire stop for the smash hit musical. Based on the Oscar-winning animated film about Simba the lion cub, it features more than 230 masks and puppets to portray the principal characters and dozens of other animals, flora and fauna.

For Stephen Crocker, director of marketing and creative services at EMEA-Disney Theatrical Group, the show’s lasting appeal is also down to the story.

“It’s the notion of the circle of life. It’s an allegorical Prodigal Son story,” he said. “There’s no better show for a child’s first theatrical experience but it entertains audiences of all ages, it’s a simple story but layered.”

The National Theatre returns to the Alhambra with internationally acclaimed smash hit comedy One Man Two Guvnors, described by one reviewer as “the funniest play on the planet”. A mix of satire, songs, slapstick and glittering one-liners, the show was a hit both sides of the Atlantic with its original star, James Corden.

Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood directs Fiddler On The Roof starring Paul Michael Glaser, one half of iconic US cop duo Starsky and Hutch. The American actor plays Tevye, a dairyman in a small village in turn-of-the-century Russia who tries to cling to tradition in the face of a changing world.

One of the world’s best-loved musicals, its haunting score includes If I Were a Rich Man, Matchmaker Matchmaker and Sunrise Sunset.

Also coming to the Alhambra is the National Theatre’s award-winning production of War Horse on its first UK tour. Described as “an unforgettable theatrical experience”, the powerful play is based on Michael Morpurgo’s children’s book about a Devon farm horse taken to the First World War battlefields in France. His owner, a farm boy, embarks on a treacherous mission to find the horse and bring him home. The show features ground-breaking puppetry, bringing galloping horses to life.

“For me, the reason it works is that it has huge integrity and it isn’t sentimental,” said Mr Morpurgo. “It hurts, it’s emotional. It tells of the experience of war from the horse’s point of view.

“Almost as many horses as men died in that war. They died on the wire, in the mud, they were machine-gunned and died of exhaustion.”

Singin’ in the Rain is packed full of the charm, romance, comedy and Tinseltown glamour of the original Gene Kelly movie, and features songs from the glorious MGM score. Maxwell Caulfield, former star of The Colbys and Emmerdale, plays studio boss RF Simpson and Vicky Binns, who was Coronation Street’s Molly Dobbs, is the “uniquely voiced” starlet, Lina Lamont.

Brassed Off, based on the hit movie, is a big-hearted comedy drama about a colliery brass band and stars former Brookside and Waterloo Road actor John McArdle.

Returning to the Alhambra is Blood Brothers, Willy Russell’s much-loved musical about a Liverpool mother who makes a terrible decision with tragic consequences, and Matthew Bourne’s provocative take on Swan Lake featuring an all-male swan ensemble.

The Alhambra’s restaurant takes centre stage for a series of shows with a difference. Restaurant 1914 is the setting for dinner shows James Bond parody Shaken Not Stirred, an “interactive comedy dinner show” with a 007-themed quiz and songs, and Fawlty Towers, which sees diners served by Basil Fawlty, his wife Sybil and their hapless waiter, Manuel.

Over at St George’s Hall, the Hallé Orchestra celebrate the start of 2014 with a New Year Celebration concert. There’s more music from violinist Nigel Kennedy and cellist Julian Lloyd Webber, performing with his wife, Jiaxin, as well as Halfway to Paradise - The Billy Fury Story; King of Pop - The Legend Continues, celebrating the life and work of Michael Jackson; The Straits, featuring original members of Dire Straits; and Magical Mozart by Candlelight.

Mike and the Mechanics are supported by special guests Sadie and the Hotheads, fronted by Downton Abbey star Elizabeth McGovern; and there’s a tribute to rock giants Queen in The Bohemians, and concerts from The Searchers, Gerry and the Pacemakers and Abba Mania.

If it’s a racy girls’ night out you’re after, Lesley Joseph stars in Hot Flush!, described as “Sex And The City meets Birds Of A Feather”

The Chuckle Brothers will be tickling the ribs of younger theatre-goers, while other children’s shows include Postman Pat Live; the Sooty Show; The Gruffalo; Northern Ballet’s Three Little Pigs and Dinosaur Zoo, bringing awesome prehistoric creatures to the stage, from cute baby dinos to teeth-gnashing giants.

Birmingham Stage Company’s acclaimed productions of James and the Giant Peach and Horrible Histories. The Reduced Shakespeare Company’s The Bible (The Complete work of God Abridged). while the Royal Shakespeare Company performs a children’s version of The Taming of the Shrew.

There are laughs-a-plenty from Sarah Millican, Jimmy Carr, Stephen K Amos and Patrick Monahan.

Bradford Theatres general manager Adam Renton said: “We are already planning our year ahead, which will be a very special one for the Alhambra as it celebrates its 100th anniversary.”

Tickets for all shows are on (01274) 432000.