Leeds Grand Theatre Archives - North West End UK

The Ballad of Johnny & June – Leeds Grand Theatre

16Sep

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Ballad of Johnny & June – Leeds Grand Theatre

The Man in Black. Very few artists are instantly identified by a simple description, but country legend Johnny Cash was one of that select group. Given the quality of his back catalogue The Man in Black was probably long overdue for a jukebox musical, so it came as no surprise that Jersey Boys director Des McAnuff was behind this show. Like that smash hit, this was a warts and all tale of Johnny’s rock and roll lifestyle where his substance abuse masks the pain of losing his beloved brother, and his tempestuous marriage to country royalty June Carter. It’s all narrated onstage by their son John Carter Cash who noted that like all fairytales there was both light and plenty of darkness as Johnny and June battled their own demons. Whilst we didn’t really learn anything new abou...

Operation Mincemeat – Leeds Grand Theatre

9Sep

By Adam CraddockNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Operation Mincemeat – Leeds Grand Theatre

Last night I had the pleasure to be invited along to the always wonderful Leeds Grand Theatre to review the latest leg of the UK tour of “Operation Mincemeat”. I was very much looking forward to this one, I’m a massive World War 2 history buff and I have always found the story of “Major William Martin” fascinating but didn’t know too much about some of the background players in the story so this was definitely right up my street. My only holdup going into it was how it was going to translate as a musical and now seeing the program littered with ex members of Mischief Theatre I have to say… it translates perfectly. The plot follows a struggling MI5 trying to come up with a plan to invade Sicily. We see various plans to kill Hitler thrown out until an unbecoming scientist pitches “O...

26Aug

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

High Society – Leeds Grand Theatre

Well, Did You Evah hear a more peerless collection of classic showtunes as High Society? Fans of other musicals will no doubt quibble with that claim, but Cole Porter composed at least three timeless songs for this reworking of double Oscar winning, The Philadelphia Story, which was also a hit movie starring Grace Kelly, Bing Crosby and Ol’ Blue Eyes. This scrumptious production of High Society was hardly Shakespeare as spoilt New England socialite Tracy Lord was about to marry boring George, and her lovelorn ex-husband Dexter equally determined to get her back. Throw in a couple of undercover reporters, and a case of mistaken identity, and you had all the ingredients for a classic light hearted musical, but with wall to wall Porter masterpieces. One of the main criticisms o...

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical – Leeds Grand Theatre

20Mar

By Phoebe Olivia Sian HobsonNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical – Leeds Grand Theatre

This show is more than good for the soul, an explosive and powerful performance was put on display last night at Leeds grand theatre, and we have Elle Ma-Kinga N’zuzi to thank for it. Completely engulfing her role as Tina/Anna Mae from her voice, accent, style, right down to her on stage presence and iconic dance moves. She had every member of the audience under her spell, thinking that they were truly in the presence of Tina herself. Photo: Johan Persson Picture this glitter, tassels, bright lights, a live band, backing dancers and an upbeat audience, a vibrant and infectious atmosphere combined with Tina turner’s number one hits. This is what it looks like on the surface, but executive producers Tina Turner herself and Erwin Bach work hard to demonstrate Anna Mae’s life on a deeper...

25Feb

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Sunny Afternoon – Leeds Grand Theatre

If you thought Liam and Noel were the most quarrelsome rock ‘n’ roll siblings, this often dark jukebox musical featuring the hits of The Kinks will make you think again. The decades-long sibling rivalry at the band’s creative heart, tortured songwriter Ray Davies and his wild guitarist sibling Dave, make the Gallagher boys look like choirboys in comparison. They were at each other’s throats from the moment they formed The Kinks in Muswell Hill with constant bickering, plus onstage fistfights, which led to them being the only UK pop act banned from America at the heart of their powers, denying them the chance to be huge across the pond. They probably wouldn’t have made it big like the Fab Four or The Who as Ray’s often bittersweet classics that are all included in the show are so quin...

Opera North & Phoenix Dance Theatre: Susanna – Leeds Grand Theatre

6Oct

By Mark HumphreysNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Opera North & Phoenix Dance Theatre: Susanna – Leeds Grand Theatre

On a night when Storm Amy lashed Leeds with wind and rain, Opera North’s Susanna offered a different kind of tempest — one of moral reckoning, emotional intensity, and artistic boldness. Handel’s oratorio, reimagined through opera and dance, became a mirror for society’s treatment of women, power, and truth. The audience, braving the elements, were rewarded with a production as courageous in its staging as it was timely in its themes. Susanna belongs to a genre born of necessity and ingenuity. During Lent, staged operas were forbidden in 18th-century England, prompting Handel — ever the commercial opportunist — to pivot to oratorios. Though unstaged, these works were operas in all but name: dramatic, character-driven, and rich in musical storytelling. Susanna (1749) is a prime example, ...

The Secret of the Black Spider – Leeds Grand Theatre

29Sep

By Mark HumphreysNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Secret of the Black Spider – Leeds Grand Theatre

Opera North opened its 2025–26 season with something quietly radical: the UK premiere of the extended Hamburg version of Dame Judith Weir’s The Secret of the Black Spider, performed not by the mainstage company but by the Opera North Youth Company—soloists, chorus, and orchestra. It was the first time an opera by a female composer had featured on the company’s main stage, and the first time its young performers had opened the season both on stage and in the pit. With the composer in attendance and a warm response from a mixed-age audience, it was a landmark evening in every sense. The opera weaves together a 19th-century gothic novella with the real-life story of a supposed curse that followed the 1980s opening of a royal tomb in Wawel Cathedral, Kraków. Weir’s score and libretto blend ...

20Aug

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

War Horse – Leeds Grand Theatre

For most of us in this country our first exposure to puppets are Mr and Mrs Punch going at it hammer and tongs on a seafront, but War Horse is a reminder that puppetry is an art form that challenges both the practitioners and the audience. There is something incredibly special watching a team of puppeteers moving in perfect synchronicity asking us to believe we are watching a thoroughbred horse in full flow. All theatre is to an extent a suspension of disbelief, but puppetry makes special demands of any audience’s imagination as we are constantly asked to make the inanimate real in our minds. Michael Morpurgo who wrote the novel said the producers ‘must be mad’ to try and stage a story about a horse who is transported from the idyllic Devon countryside to the horrors of the Great War...

Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical roars into Leeds Grand

31Mar

By NewsdeskNo Comments

NEWS

Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical roars into Leeds Grand

Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical, featuring Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf’s greatest hits, is back on the road flying into Leeds Grand Theatre. Photo: Matt Crockett Based on the mega selling album the musical follows the lost boys and girls who flee into the tunnels below a city ruled by the despotic Falco. His rebellious teenage daughter Raven locks eyes with the fearless leader of the Lost, the immortal Strat, and their love-at-first-sight-obsession threatens to destroy both of their families. Bat Out Of Hell became one of the best-selling albums in history selling over 68 million copies worldwide. Sixteen years after the release of the original album, Steinman scored another hit with Bat Out Of Hell II: Back into Hell, which contained the massive hit I Would Do Anything for Lo...

5Mar

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Calamity Jane – Leeds Grand Theatre

All musicals need at least two showstoppers, and Calamity Jane exceeds that bar with songs to spare. Show opener The Deadwood Stage (Whip-Crack-Away) would be enough on its own for any self-respecting posse of musical theatre fans, but when you throw in the Oscar winning Secret Love, plus an utterly bonkers ahistorical plot, then it’s time to saddle up for a fun night out in Dakota’s Wild West. Calamity Jane is a stagecoach driver in Deadwood where her sparring partner gunslinger Wild Bill Hickok helps keep the peace, and when a local saloon singer is unmasked as a drag act she hightails it to Chicago to persuade famed performer Adelaide Adams to come back to Deadwood. But the brash and excitable Calamity - who as the folk of Deadwood sing is Careless With The Truth - is aptly ...