Stan Graham's Leisure Guide for North and West Yorkshire
The backend of November seemed like a strange time to stage a concert with ‘spring’ in the title but all became clear when the featured works were by those two giants of American music, Aaron Copeland and Leonard Bernstein and it was performed on the eve of Thanksgiving. The concert was split into two sections,…
Read More
Tuesday, 2nd November was Purple Tuesday, a day when shoppers and browsers with disabilities were catered for even more than usual. To add a cherry to the icing on the cake, Opera North performed their abridged version of Mozart’s The Magic Flute to entertain passers by in the Victoria Quarter. The setting was stupendous with…
Read More
Purple Tuesday is not a celebration of the life and works of Prince, but an initiative designed to improve the customer experience for disabled shoppers. Shops and stores go beyond their normal practice regarding disabled shoppers, and their specific needs are highlighted to the less aware traders as well as we fellow bargain hunters. To…
Read MoreAny of you who have been paying attention will know from the Leeds Heritage Theatre Preview about the Opera North productions being staged at Leeds Grand Theatre but there is lots of other stuff going on as well so here is a summary. The main operas in the winter season are Carmen, Bernstein Double Bill…
Read More
Whoever is curating the programme for this first post-pandemic season at Opera North is playing a blinder. They are making it so easy for those new to the genre, and also hardened opera buffs, to slide effortlessly back into ‘normal’ life. In addition this production is the perfect opportunity for an audience to experience modern…
Read MoreLeeds Heritage Theatres is the new umbrella term for Leeds Grand Theatre, Leeds City Varieties Music Hall and Hyde Park Picture House. In the past I have done previews of the two live venues separately but now that their website is a comprehensive list of everything on offer it seems logical to treat them as…
Read More
What a great way to kick off the first Opera North Season since lockdown. Carmen is one of those operas where everyone knows at least two of the arias even if only from adverts or film scores. Before the curtain opened the audience was given a brief welcome back by Richard Mantle, Opera North’s General…
Read More
After more than 600 days, live classical music has returned to Huddersfield Town Hall with the launch of a new season of events, and it couldn’t have started with a better curated programme. The title of this first concert says it all, the pieces starting with a choice from the darker side and ending in…
Read More
Well, now that we are past Midsummer’s Day, the nights have started drawing in so it is time to look forward to the offerings from Leeds Playhouse to cheer us up and divert us from watching the digits on our smart meters increase quicker than the altimeter on Sir Richard Branson’s spaceship. Fear not, there…
Read More
I have been sitting on this information for a while now because I was getting pretty depressed having to pass on the news of scheduled performances by various organisations being cancelled or postponed over the past eighteen months. Some have been postponed and then cancelled. With the proposed lifting of restrictions and the vaccine roll-out…
Read More
Tyke It To The Limit 