Leeds Grand Theatre Archives - Page 3 of 3

5Apr

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

School of Rock – Leeds Grand Theatre

There can always be the danger when a classic movie turns into a stage show that you just can’t get the original star out of your mind. Well, don’t worry as there wasn’t a moment you thought of Jack Black as gifted physical comic Jake Sharp’s big voice and easy charm was perfect for broke wannabe rock god Dewey Finn who pretends to be a substitute teacher in a posh elementary school. In the absence of any teaching ability - or qualification – he focuses on his undying belief in the redemptive powers of rock and roll to form a group to take part in an adult battle of the bands. The gag is that the band is his class of privileged kids who are having their very souls sucked out of them. Step forward the kids in the band who proved to be quite the most talented group of young perform...

Bedknobs and Broomsticks – Leeds Grand Theatre

17Dec

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Bedknobs and Broomsticks – Leeds Grand Theatre

Every year people gather round their TVs after stuffing their faces to watch the festive classics, and eternally popular among them is Disney’s Bedknobs and Broomsticks offering a quirky mix of live action and animation starring theatre legend Angela Lansbury as yuletide fun for all the family. It’s the story of the grieving Rawlins orphans - Charlie, Paul and Carrie - who are evacuated from bombed out London to a village where they are taken under the wing of local eccentric and trainee witch Eglantine Price. They join Eglantine and dodgy magician Emelius Browne on a series of magical adventures before taking on a dark threat to the village. It is such a familiar fixture on our idiot boxes that it seems natural that the catchy Sherman Brothers tunes would eventually make its way to...

1Dec

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Grease – Leeds Grand Theatre

It’s great that this production carries on the classic movie’s proud tradition of having twentysomethings playing teenagers about to leave Rydell High School for the real world. It’s a bit odd the thick American accents the relatively inexperienced cast deploy seem to be from Brooklyn rather than the tough working-class area of Chicago the original theatre production was set in. The voice coach should have dialled it down a bit which would have helped with the sometimes wayward diction. It’s probably fair to say most of the audience were looking for a scene by scene recreation of the beloved movie, and to that extent they do get well staged versions of all songs they had grown up loving. But the producers claim to have retained the darker elements of the rawer early 1970s scri...

Peter Andre talks about being Teen Angel at Leeds Grand Theatre

31Oct

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Interviews

Peter Andre talks about being Teen Angel at Leeds Grand Theatre

Once upon a time amiable Aussie Peter Andre was best known for his rippling six pack and being married to a controversial model. Since then, high profile appearances on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! And Strictly Come Dancing showed Peter to be a genuinely nice guy winning him many new fans. Peter is now turning his hand to musical theatre and is back on the road in Grease, which is back at Leeds Grand Theatre from Monday 29th November. You played Teen Angel on the 2019 Grease tour and now you’re also doing double duty as Vince Fontaine. What are the logistics of playing dual roles? I may even be doing a third role, namely a police officer, depending on whether or not I can get changed on time. The more characters the better for me. Each one of them has a different accent, s...

Layton Williams comes back north in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie at Leeds Grand

29Sep

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Interviews

Layton Williams comes back north in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie at Leeds Grand

Bury lad Layton Williams kicked off his stage career travelling down the M62 to join the Billy Elliott training academy in Leeds before graduating aged 12 to take on the lead role in the West End. He went onto play young Michael Jackson in Thriller – Live and as an adult won critical acclaim playing Angel in the 20th anniversary tour of Rent. Now he’s back up north at Leeds Grand Theatre playing Jamie New in uplifting musical Everyone’s Talking About Jamie which has just been made into an Amazon Prime movie. For people who are new to Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, how would you sum up the storyline? Jamie is based on a real character who was the subject of a documentary on BBC Three. I remember watching it years ago and it was about him wanting to be a drag queen and wanting...

7Sep

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Looking Good Dead – Leeds Grand Theatre

When crime authors like Ian Rankin and Val McDermid sell squillions of books it seems odd producers insist on sending out creaky old stage versions of novels written in the middle of the last century. So, thank God for Peter James who is another of those crime superstars - selling 21 million books of his Roy Grace novels worldwide - who has worked out there is an appetite for stage versions featuring the troubled south coast detective. This time Grace is investigating a couple of bizarre murders that seem to be linked to the suburban Bryce family. It all starts when Father Tom brings home a memory stick he says he found on a train, which proves to contain something gruesome that puts his wife Kellie and teenage son Max in danger, and it’s up to Grace to solve it. James acts as p...

Northern Ballet are back with three Yorkshire shows

22Aug

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

NEWS

Northern Ballet are back with three Yorkshire shows

Northern Ballet are back with a trio of shows including a brand-new production of Merlin, the return of David Nixon’s bodice ripping Dangerous Liaisons and the world première of a new children's ballet Pinocchio. Merlin will be one of the first productions created during the pandemic to visit theatres across the country. Following its world première in Nottingham in September, Merlin tours to Hull New Theatre, Sheffield Lyceum Theatre, Leeds Grand Theatre. Created by the British choreographer Drew McOnie, Merlin tells the tale of a young and inexperienced sorcerer mastering his magic to unite a warring kingdom. The ballet explores Merlin’s teenage impulses and his quest for acceptance set against a backdrop of conflict and divide. For Olivier winne...

Heathers the Musical announces West End return and UK Tour

10Apr

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Heathers the Musical announces West End return and UK Tour

Heathers the Musical (WhatsOnStage 2019 award for Best New Musical) returns to the stage with a double announcement. The hit show will make its return to the West End’s Theatre Royal Haymarket from 21st June for a strictly limited 12 week run, while simultaneously launching its new touring production from 28th July, opening at Leeds Grand Theatre for three weeks, before spreading corn nuts throughout the UK. Produced by Bill Kenwright and Paul Taylor-Mills, this high-octane black-comedy rock musical, based on one of the greatest cult teen films of all time, starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater, is back with a bang! Westerberg High’s Veronica Sawyer is just another nobody dreaming of a better day. But when she joins the beautif...

Free masterclasses for young actors In Leeds

8Mar

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Free masterclasses for young actors In Leeds

Leeds Actors in Training (LAIT) is offering free online masterclasses for young adults aged 18-25 who are serious about an acting career throughout March 2021. In anticipation of theatres reopening LAIT Intensive is a series of five evening sessions run in collaboration with Leeds Grand Theatre over three weeks by professional artists, and overseen by LAIT with Leeds Grand Youth Theatre Director Lizi Patch. Running from 6-8pm on Tue 16th, Wed 17th, Tue 23rd, Wed 24th and Tue 30th March, the sessions will cover everything from physical and vocal health and flexibility, to clowning and presenting their talents at an audition. Guest artists include Dawn Holgate, Course Leader Foundation Dance Degree, Leeds City College, writer, composer, teacher Sam Kenyon, Clown Space’s James Lewis...

Investing in our theatres is not a handout

23May

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

Blogs

Investing in our theatres is not a handout

Our Yorkshire Editor Paul Clarke welcomes the theatre world asking for short term government support, not handouts. The news that Leicester Haymarket is the latest venue forced into liquidation, and a stark warning from legendary producer Sonia Friedman writing in the Telegraph that British theatre is on the ‘brink of total collapse’ has forced the industry to unite in calling for short term government support. Thankfully the narrative from the theatres is they’re not asking for a bailout, and instead calling for significant investment in a key part of our nation’s cultural offer that normally generates billions in tax revenues. Friedman points out that more than 1000 of our theatres of varying sizes may permanently close their doors as it may be this time next year before they c...