From Joe Brown, The Drifters and vintage tribute bands to the Sooty Show, baking star Paul Hollywood and the Russian State Ballet and Opera House, The Victoria Theatre in Halifax has a new season that certainly offers variety.

Add comedian Jimmy Carr, historian David Starkey, Handel’s Messiah and a panto and it’s clear that there’s something for just about everyone.

But the season opens on Sunday, September 7, with junior chorus auditions for the theatre’s annual panto - this year it will be Jack and the Beanstalk. Application forms for budding theatricals from the area can be downloaded from www.imaginetheatre.co.uk

Then it’s straight on with a concert by rock ‘n’ roll legend Joe Brown, on Friday, September 12, a show that was rescheduled from earlier in the year. And from Wednesday, September 17, for four nights, it’s the turn of the amateurs, as Halifax Amateur Operatic Society stages Hairspray, the 1960s-inspired musical.

Highlights of the season include David Gest’s Soul Legends Live in mid October and the West End show Bugle Boy - The Glenn Miller Story in late October.

For those with an interest in history, especially in this commemorative year, historical author Sinclair McKay will be presenting The Moment of Dunkirk and David Starkey will deliver a talk on The Tudors and Us.

In the 450th year since Shakespeare’s birth, the theatre is hosting a Shakespeare Schools Festival in November, a two-day bash, involving productions of The Bard by eight schools. It is part of a national event, in which 130 theatres are taking part.

The season ends in March with The Bootleg Beatles, a tribute band that has made six Glastonbury appearances and staged sell-out shows at the Royal Albert Hall.

For details of the programme check out www.victoriatheatre.co.uk or call the box office on 01422 351158.