Stan Graham's Leisure Guide for North and West Yorkshire
At last, I get to see The Nutcracker from Northern Ballet, in fact it is the first time I have seen it performed by anyone. My appetite was whetted three years ago when I was fortunate enough to visit the home of the dance company to watch them rehearse for the 2022 version and write…
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Sunday, 23rd November saw the final concert from Leeds Baroque Chorus & Orchestra in their 25th Anniversary Season, and what a way to finish it off. As with the first presentation of the year, we were at Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall in Leeds University and the whole ensemble was present. St Cecilia, whose Feast Day…
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So, there I was, in Leeds on a November evening with the temperature hovering around freezing, dressed up like one of Ernest Shackleton’s crew members and heading to Howard Assembly Room to see a musical ensemble whose instruments were made out of ice. The concept of the Ice Quartet was inspired by the sounds of…
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After the success of last year’s The Big Opera Adventure, comes The Big Opera Mystery. Once again all the stops had been pulled out and we (me and the other kids) were treated to an hour of crime busting, to detect who the villain was in a spate of thefts. It was obvious from the…
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Now, here’s another first – and second. This is the first time I have ever been to an event and my notebook remained unused, the main reason was because it was the second time I have seen this production of La bohème and I thought that I would sit and watch it in the same…
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I say, I say, I say. What’s the difference between an opera and an oratorio? I don’t know; what is the difference between an opera and an oratorio? A boat load of money! Back in the early 1700s when Handel was nobbut a lad, operas were the telling of stories through music with extravagant settings…
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I do love a good launch presentation, and I have been to a few just lately, what with the Transform and African Arts Festivals, I have met some really interesting people and got the inside track on what was to come. The downside is that the interesting people had to put up with me, but,…
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I am beginning to think that the creatives behind the various arts organisations in Leeds know something I don’t. This is the fourth production I have been to in the last three months which highlights their youth sections. Have they got access to information suggesting that they had better invite me to see the actors…
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This past six weeks or so have been a case of feast or famine insofar as the world of theatre is concerned. August was definitely a famine – and drought – with only one engagement in the whole month; September, however, brings the feast – and the rain! When it comes to feasts there can…
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It was interesting to get back to Farsley as, between 1978 and 1982, I lived just around the corner from Sunny Bank Mill when it was still, well, a mill. Like the rest of the area it has now been gentrified – everywhere seems to go upmarket when I leave – and is home to…
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Tyke It To The Limit 