Stan Graham's Leisure Guide for North and West Yorkshire
Since lockdown there has been a succession of musicals derived from hit films, which have ranged from OK to WTF, this one, however, is definitely an OMG! It is a romcom which, for once, lives up to both sections of the portmanteau word, in that it is both romantic and a comedy. The story is…
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Finally I get to sample a standing event at the amazing Howard Assembly Room by actually being on the floor rather than looking on enviously from the balcony. I must thank Opera North for making sure I was catered for in the seating arrangements following my various health issues over the past eighteen months or…
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Regular readers will know how much I enjoy Opera North’s lunchtime concerts at Dewsbury Town Hall – the next one is The Romantic Violin on Wednesday, 15th May – well, here we had a bonus edition at Howard Assembly Room in Leeds. The starting time was a little earlier, being 11.00am and instead of sandwiches,…
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Another week, another show about a pioneering woman. After musicals about Jennie Lee and Shirley Chisholm, who were both politicians, here we have one written by Rosie MacPherson, based in an idea from Beth Knight, who directed the piece, about Betty Beecroft an 18th Century industrialist. As with the other two, the music style was…
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This might not be the best way to begin a review, but over the past eighteen months or so, I have had some health issues which, apart from the physical aspects, have had a psychological effect on me, sapping my enthusiasm to such an extent I was seriously thinking of retiring from writing altogether. Being…
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Well, this was a surprise. Normally the lunchtime concerts at this venue comprise small groups of musicians but today the Orchestra of Opera North pulled out all the stops and fielded a team of seventeen players. I was really pleased as this is one of my favourite pieces of classical music. In fact, it was…
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Typical, you wait years for a musical about a woman politician then two come along at once. After last week’s show about Shirley Chisholm, we now have this one about Jennie Lee, who served as a Labour Member of Parliament having two terms in office; first from 1929 until 1931 and then from 1945 until…
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Here I am, back at Leeds Grand Theatre for a second tv show transfer to the stage. Unlike Drop The Dead Donkey, this is not a case of getting the band back together, rather a play based on the original idea of a group of supermarket workmates winning the lottery. Having said that, it is…
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Slung Low Warehouse is a comparatively new performance space in Holbeck, having moved from Holbeck Working Men’s Club, where they used to put on shows on a Pay What You Decide basis. This philosophy is continued here and at their other new space, Slung Low at Temple. It is very basic being – surprise, surprise…
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For some reason I never quite got into the television series of Drop The Dead Donkey. It ran from 1990 to 1998 which meant that I was in my forties and possibly a bit above the age for the target audience. I did catch a couple of episodes but they didn’t register. When I knew…
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Tyke It To The Limit 