Stan Graham's Leisure Guide for North and West Yorkshire
Now here is something different, an event to celebrate the birthday of a lighthouse. Not just any lighthouse, but the Eddystone in Plymouth, which celebrated its 265th Anniversary on 16th October, 2024 when this concert was staged. The structure was built by Leeds lad John Smeaton, who was born, and died, in Austhorpe. He was…
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I’m sure that we all have pieces of music which, if not our favourites, have meant something important, so much so, that we are transported, albeit only in our minds, to a place or time. The piece might have the power to console, I have friend who would fall back on Michael MacDonald’s ‘I Can…
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Not a very appropriate title for a production staged on a wet and chilly day in mid-October, but, as they would have been struggling to coincide with any of the three summer days we have had this year, I will overlook that. I have never seen the play by Shakespeare, on which this opera by…
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The last time I spoke to Jasdeep Singh Degun at Howard Assembly Room he told me that he had been invited to perform at the 2024 Darbar Festival at The Barbican in London and was hugely honoured and excited to be doing so. It is the most prestigious event in the South Asian Music calendar,…
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This was my first visit to the amazing Howard Assembly Room since June, and I couldn’t wait. Not only to see the concert but to meet up with the people who work there with whom I have become friendly over the years. Because quite a few of the front of house staff are students, there…
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Christmas shows at Leeds Playhouse have garnered an impressive reputation, and quite rightly so. They are always spectacular, innovative and brilliantly presented with no corners cut. This year’s offering promises to live up to the high standards already set, and maybe even surpass them. The 2024 show is The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe…
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You can look at the cv of Nile Rodgers and see that he has written, produced and performed on singles that have sold over 75 million copies as well as 500 million albums worldwide. He has collaborated with artists such as Madonna, David Bowie, Dianna Ross, Sister Sledge, Duran Duran, Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger and…
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It was great to be back at Leeds Grand Theatre and Opera House, to give it its Sunday name. The place looked better for its fettling, as we say in this part of the world, having had a nip and tuck rather than the full Cher. Just as well really, as this opera provides more…
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Last Friday marked my having occupied a rather large space on this planet for three-quarters of a century, so I had a fish butty for dinner. I know how to party! I wasn’t the prettiest looking baby, in fact, the midwife picked me up by my arms and slapped my face. I had arranged to…
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Three years ago at this venue I saw one of the best pieces of drama I have ever witnessed in Jitney, the story of unlicensed taxi drivers in Pittsburgh. It had all the elements of a great work, but most of all it was a story with multilayered messages delivered in a straightforward, adult way…
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Tyke It To The Limit 