Leeds City Varieties Archives - North West End UK

Robin Hood: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto – Leeds City Varieties

3Dec

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Robin Hood: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto – Leeds City Varieties

After a long year of often serious shows, and the world in chaos, it’s just nice to sit back in a historic theatre to watch a show as comfortable as a pair of old slippers. The Rock ‘n’ Roll brand is pretty much bombproof from criticism combining a perfunctory attempt at a classic story - which is just an excuse for classic panto madness - while a gang of actor-musicians swap instruments knocking out hits for the young and old. Only in panto could you get covers of The Clash and Taylor Swift songs, that all have tenuous links to the ‘narrative’, and no-one bats an eyelid. This year poor old Robin Hood got the Peter Rowe treatment as this master of the most British of theatrical traditions weaves in sight gags, puppets, pratfalls, fart gags, corpsing, all the classic call and response...

Beauty and the Beast – Leeds City Varieties

I say it every year - oh yes, I do - that the success of any panto depends on how good their Dame is and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto has one of the best purveyors of that quintessentially British mix of laughs and seasonal smut in Simon Nock. This is his fourth year at this historic city centre home of light entertainment and his Dame Bessie Bigbreaths - see what they did there - is a glorious mix of spraying out corny laughs for the children and some very near the knuckle gags for the not so young kids. He gets away with it - oh yes, he does - because he has charm to burn and times a gag well, combined with a wonderfully expressive raise of the eyebrow when the Dame has gone too far. This is the tenth year of the Rock ‘n’ Roll franchise in Leeds who have become the masters of integratin...

Leeds City Varieties makes early announcement of panto for 2021

Leeds City Varieties Music Hall have made a very early announcement that Beauty and the Beast will be its Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto for 2021. The historic city centre venue closed its doors on March 17th and like most venues were forced to cancel their 2020 panto which in their case is now the hugely popular Rock ‘n’ Panto where the cast do all the classic slapstick for the kids, and innuendos for the adults, but also pick up their instruments to play a lively set of classic pop tunes too. “Like so many other theatres across the country, we are absolutely devastated that this year’s panto won’t be going ahead, but we’re thrilled to be able to bring Beauty and the Beast, a brand new production from the enchanted pen of Peter Rowe, to The Varieties in 2021,” says Varieties General Manager Ia...