FORMER members of the Alhambra Sunbeams, the panto dance troupe which has been entertaining Bradford audiences for a century, will return to the theatre's stage tonight for a glittering gala concert.

The ladies - including a 90-year-old who was a Sunbeam in the 1930s - will put on their dancing shoes for A Night of Variety, a show celebrating the Alhambra's centenary. Hosted by Michael Ball, the line-up includes Billy Pearce, The Krankies, Joe Pasquale, Lesley Joseph and Joe McElderry.

The Sunbeams were created by Francis Laidler, who founded the Alhambra in 1914. The girls, with matching bobbed haircuts, were a hit with audiences and the tradition continues today.

Laidler selected Sunbeams from open auditions. Joan Grange auditioned in 1936 but wasn't chosen at first because she didn't have the required haircut. "My aunt cut me a fringe and the next week I went for another audition. I can still see Mr Laidler in his big chair," she said. "I did the Highland Fling and sang the scales.

"We had elocution lessons and wore a uniform of green cloth coats with velvet collars, made by Verrells in Bradford."

Mrs Grange passed on her love of dancing to her daughter, who became a ballerina with a Canadian ballet company.

Anne Dowling recalled queuing around the block. "Francis Laidler didn't recruit from dance schools, he wanted ordinary local girls with no dance experience," she said. "He was a lovely man, we were treated like little VIPs."

Dianne Brewster was in 1958/59 panto Jack and the Beanstalk starring Ken Dodd, the Alhambra's longest-running panto. "For a child from a council estate plucked off the street to become a Sunbeam, it was the bees' knees," she said. "I was changed from an ordinary child to somebody special."

Pauline McHugh, who was a Sunbeam with her sister, Jackie Hanson, was in the same panto. She said: "When the cow was sold I went to the front of the stage to 'cry'. Ken Dodd whispered in my ear: 'You'll get no sweets tonight if you don't stop crying'. It was a joke but I didn't know whether to laugh or keep crying!"

Nora Hurley added: "We did eight shows a week for three months and got £2 a week. We came to the theatre straight after school and had to be out by 9pm. I was so proud to be picked from hundreds of girls. Even now, when you say you were a Sunbeam it feels special."

Tonight's concert celebrates a centenary of entertainment at the Alhambra, which brought light to Bradford during the dark years of the First World War and over the years has attracted big name stars including Laurel and Hardy, Peter Sellers, Morecambe and Wise and Victoria Wood, and shows such as Phantom Of The Opera, Miss Saigon and The Lion King.