Stan Graham's Leisure Guide for North and West Yorkshire
During the Noughties I lived in Sowerby Bridge and on the last Friday of the month would get the bus to a pub called Stubbing Wharf at Hebden Bridge with my boozing buddy for their Story Night. It was held in an upstairs room where a professional storyteller did their thing and, after a break…
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When anyone mentions the name, The Drifters, two people spring to mind, no, not Johnny Moore, the longest serving member, or even Ben E. King, the most famous one, but Cliff Richard and Trigger from Only Fools and Horses. The reason is that the Shadows, the Peter Pan of Pop’s backing group, were originally called…
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This was a night to remember in so many different ways. First, I finally broke my duck, insofar as full-length ballets are concerned, after three hospital confinements coincided exactly with previous invitations from Northern Ballet to their productions of Nutcracker (twice) and The Great Gatsby. Thank you for sticking with me. Second, I met some…
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If you need any proof that David Souchet is one of the country’s finest actors , then you should get a ticket for this show to see his play, performed at Leeds Playhouse as part of a national tour. It is mostly written as a conversation between the actor and his close friend, Geoffrey Wansell,…
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Since its premier in February 1991, this production of Romeo and Juliet, directed by Christopher Gable CBE and choreographed by Massimo Moricone, to the score by Prokofiev, has had more than its fair share of ups and downs, to say the least. On the up side it has become Northern Ballet’s greatest success, being performed…
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Why, I asked myself, would anybody want to organise a bear hunt in Leeds City Centre, where there seems to be a distinct lack of the creatures. It then struck me that this could probably prove how successful the pursuit has proven to be. It was then that the conspiracy theorist in me kicked in,…
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At a running time of an hour and twenty minutes, it has taken me longer to type the heading than to watch the show! I’m not complaining, mind, as this was an action-packed evening celebrating the achievements of some truly remarkable women who changed the world by varying degrees, some are household names, whilst others…
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In the words of that esteemed philosopher and New York Yankees baseball catcher in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, Yogi Berra, ‘It’s like déjà vu all over again.’ My last visit to a lunchtime concert at Dewsbury Town Hall was to see ‘Baritone, Soprano and Piano’ during which we were treated to a vocal version…
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I am often astounded by where artists get ideas for their work but this exhibition had even me surprised. The name for the branch in question is Bioart and is a marriage between art and science, with, as its name suggests, a leaning towards biology. As Edward Appleyard, Chief Executive of Thackray Museum of Medicine,…
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As I have said before, dance is a language that has always been a mystery to me. When the beat hits my feet I am always the first on the floor and the last one off it, but that is a more primitive version of physical expression than the amazing performances I witnessed in this…
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Tyke It To The Limit 