Stan Graham's Leisure Guide for North and West Yorkshire
To take us through the spring Opera North have a varied selection of events throughout the county catering for all ages and tastes. First up is Street Scene which continues at the Leeds Grand Theatre until 28th February when it moves to Theatre Royal Newcastle, The Lowry at Salford Quays and ends at Theatre Royal…
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A governess is hired to look after mischievous brother and sister by their rich father, no, not Mary Poppins but Turn of the Screw. It would take more than a spoonful of sugar to make this opera go down in a most delightful way. That is not to say that it was bad, far from…
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There is an old saying that a second marriage is the triumph of hope over experience. If that is true I must be an incurable optimist as on Friday I had my second marriage in less than a week. After seeing The Marriage of Figaro by Opera North at the Grand Theatre on 1st February…
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At my time of life the only invitations I receive to social events are retirement parties, birthday bashes when someone has hit a year with a zero at the end and an unfeasibly large first digit, or funerals. Imagine my delight, therefore, when I was asked if I would like to go to a wedding.…
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Green Eggs and Ham. No, not the latest environmentally friendly brunch fad but Opera North’s performance for all the family based on the Dr Seuss book of the same name. The performance lasts for 45 minutes and will be staged at Room 700, Leeds Central Library on 15th February at 11.00am and 2.00pm. The piece,…
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For some reason the radio reception in my bathroom limits my listening choice to Radio 2, Stray FM or Classic FM. The first two are rather frenetic for first thing in the morning so my ablutions are usually carried out to the strains of the more well known pieces of the classical canon. I do…
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Street Scene is described in the Daily Telegraph’s preview as being a musical but Kurt Weill insisted it was an opera. This production at the Leeds Grand Theatre treated it as being the latter. It is my humble opinion that this was a mistake. The work is based on Elmer Rice’s play of the same…
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Now that Christmas and New Year are over and most of us are back at work I am sure that we would love something to look forward to to take our minds off a dull January and give a warm glow. What is this I see? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No!…
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Having been through the gamut of Christmas events on offer in Leeds it was time to indulge in the New Year Festivities, albeit a couple of days early. I never turn down an invitation to see and hear the wonderful Orchestra of Opera North, if I am totally honest I rarely turn down any invitation,…
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On Sunday I went to the Relaxed Performance of Peter and the Wolf and The Snowman. Normally this would have been my idea of torture but I loved every minute of it. I had kindly been invited by Opera North to see the programme and decided that the 4.30pm conventional performance would be just the…
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Tyke It To The Limit 