THE Alhambra pantomime - Cinderella - has opened and this year the Sunbeams are back for the first time since before the pandemic.
The junior dance troupe was established in 1917 by Alhambra founder Francis Laidler to “bring sunshine in the dark days of war”. A hit with audiences, the Sunbeams have been part of Alhambra pantos ever wince.
Laidler (pictured with early Sunbeams ) produced pantos for half a century in his Bradford venues and his theatres in Leeds, Keighley and London. He introduced the Sunbeams at his production of Robin Hood at the Prince’s Theatre in Little Horton Lane. In 1930 the Sunbeams came to the Alhambra, when Laidler switched his pantos to the venue.
The girls, all recruited locally, had matching bobbed haircuts and had to meet strict height criteria. On stage they danced and joined in with comic capers.
* Were you an Alhambra Sunbeam? Share your memories by emailing emma.clayton@nqyne.co.uk
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