YORK Musical Theatre Company is to present a special show from April 13 to 16 to mark Her Majesty The Queen’s 90th birthday.

Devised and directed by musical director Paul Laidlaw, Happy & Glorious celebrates 90 years of musicals, from the early shows of the 1920s, such as Show Boat, through to the new musicals of the past decade, such as Ghost and Matilda, The Musical.

"After our success with the fun wartime show When The Lights Go On Again last October, it was important to the company that the celebration of The Queen’s 90th year was marked in an appropriate way," says Paul. "What better for us than through the world of musicals, as songs from Oklahoma! are a special favourite of The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh."

Laidlaw's non-stop show at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre will look back to the musicals of Cole Porter and Rodgers and Hammerstein and covers shows such as Annie Get Your Gun, The King And I, My Fair Lady and The Sound Of Music. West End hits of today will feature too, among them Miss Saigon, Les Miserables, Sunset Boulevard, Hairspray and Wicked, and the company will showcase lesser known, rarely performed earlier musicals, including The Physician, Phill The Fluter and Mr Cinders.

"We received such a wonderful reaction to When The Lights Go On Again, we were keen to give audiences who come to see this show the same sense of fun and nostalgia, while covering lots of shows that younger audiences will know and enjoy too," says Paul. "There really is something in it for all ages, both for the range of ages in the company on stage and for the audience.”

Happy & Glorious will feature Paul Laidlaw playing piano on stage, accompanying a cast of more than 25, including two groups of York schoolchildren. Tickets cost £14, under 16s £11, at thelittleboxoffice.com/ymtc/