The musical 42nd Street has some of the most famous show tunes of all, as well as lashings of 1930s glamour and glitz, dance sequences aplenty and stylish art deco sets.

Its being brought to Huddersfield audiences by members of the town’s Light Opera Company and opens at the Lawrence Batley Theatre on Monday, April 25.

Chosen for its vintage appeal, 42nd Street will be produced by Paul Bennett, a long-serving society member more used to appearing on stage than taking charge - although he’s given himself a small cameo role.

Stage director Chris Brearley, another of HLOC’s stalwarts, says the show is big on dance content and will be an exciting challenge for the company.

He said: “We always like to try to vary the shows we do. Last year we did Sister Act. Because it was a new show it appealed to quite a different audience. This one is a dancing show and is for anyone who’s really into musicals.”

From left: Gemma Armitage as Peggy Sawyer; Louisa Le Fevre as Maggie Jones; and Zoe Clarkson as Ann Reilly in 42nd Street by Huddersfield Light Opera Company

Costing somewhere in the region of £45,000 to stage, the musical is one of the most costly ever produced by the amateur company and comes with lavish professional sets and more than 200 costumes. Some characters have up to eight or nine costume changes each and there is a cast of 29.

Because of its high dancing content, the show has a troupe of 12 fully trained dancers as well as four principals who are all experienced dancers.

Choreography for the show is by dance teacher Pam Strickland. It is her 43rd spring production as choreographer.

She explained: “The dancing is very 1930s, when tap was big. But the tap dancing was totally different to what it is now, it was higher and more frothy, like you see in the old films.”

In fact, 42nd Street was originally a 1930s movie with songs by American composer and lyricist Henry Warren. It became a stage musical in 1980 and won awards on both Broadway and London’s West End.

42nd Street by Huddersfield Light Opera Company

It is, says Paul, “like Kiss Me Kate, in that it’s a show within a show. Some of the numbers start off in rehearsal but by the end the characters are in full costume in the show within the show.

“It’s quite different and difficult to do. There are over 60 scenes, so we try to blend some of them together.”

The show, which features major hits such as Lullaby of Broadway, We’re In the Money and the eponymous Forty-Second Street, tells the story of chorus girl, Peggy Sawyer who arrives in New York to audition for a role in Pretty Lady.

When one-time star Dorothy Brock breaks her ankle, Peggy is given the chance to dance a major role in the show, but not before there’s trouble backstage and a few romantic entanglements.

Leading the cast will be Gemma Armitage (formerly Clarkson) as Peggy and Sharon Whitehead as Dorothy. The male lead, Billy Lawlor, will be played by Robin Walsh.

The company has brought in a number of its highly experienced members, including several family groups – sisters Gemma Armitage and Zoe Clarkson, and husband and wife pairings Sharon and Graham Whitehead, Robin and Alicia Walsh, and Pam Strickland and Richard Cook.

Sharon Whitehead as Dorothy Brock in 42nd Street with Huddersfield Light Opera Company

It also has a new musical director – Ian Abbott, musical director of Marsh Ladies Choir. As usual HLOC has a live orchestra and will be accompanied by Emma Binns.

With more than 100 years in musical theatre behind them the HLOC certainly knows how to stage a show and never scrimps on a production.

As Chris Brearley says: “We don’t go out to make a profit, we cover our costs with our annual panto. So we get the costumes and sets that the production needs.”

To that end the company is already planning its January 2017 panto, which will be Dick Whittington.

Tickets for the show go on sale immediately after 42nd Street.

For details of the spring show, which closes on Saturday, April 30, visit www.thelbt.org.uk or call 01484 430528. Tickets are £18.