The Leeds City Varieties’ Rock 'n' Roll Panto is back for the festive season at West Yorkshire's beloved Music Hall. This year'’s jukebox pantomime is a bombastic mashup of a tale between Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood, bridged by over a dozen chart-topping musical numbers.
The Rock 'n' Roll pantomime has become a welcome tradition at the intimate City Varieties theatre, capitalising on the Music Hall's cosy compactness and magical Victorian surroundings. Robin Hood and Babes in the Wood follows the same tradition of charm and punch as previous years, offering a dizzy romp with outrageously silly characters whilst underscored by superb Rock ‘n' Roll hits. Added value in this show comes from the fact that the entirety of the cast provide all of the music, exchanging instruments throughout scenes and providing a big-band sound within a pantomime landscape.
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Bill Kenwright brings Jesus Christ Superstar, the musical based on the progressive rock album by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, to Leeds Grand Theatre this week. A production which has ignited passion and fury in equal measure, the show arrives with a guarantee of provocation.
The musical follows the final days of Jesus Christ, who is betrayed by disciple Judas Iscariot and subsequently crucified under the Roman Empire. Loosely inspired by biblical texts and developed from a sensational album, the show offers an audacious interpretation of an ancient story told through progressive symphonic rock. Cast: Cory English, Jason Manford, Ross Noble, David Bedella, Tiffany Graves, Stephane Anelli
Director: Matthew White Writer: Mel Brooks & Thomas Meehan Theatre: Leeds Grand Theatre Duration: 150 minutes Start Date: June 8, 2015 In 2001 Mel Brooks adapted his hit comedy film The Producers into a hit Broadway musical. This week the Tony award-winning show arrives at Leeds Grand Theatre. The Producers is the story of Max Bialystock (Cory English), a theatre producer with a string of Broadway stinkers to his name. When accountant Leo Bloom (Jason Manford) reveals that more money can be made from a failure than a success, Bialystock sources a hideous script to be realised by an incapable director, in the hope of creating a guaranteed flop. With plans to escape with the show's investments to Brazil, the duo's hopes are dashed when Springtime For Hitler becomes an unexpected hit. Cast: Brian Conley, Linzi Hateley, Kimberly Blake, Landi Oshinowo, Mikey Jay-Heath, John Stacey, Georgie Ashford, Greg Bernstein, David Birch, Courtney-Mae-Briggs, Nick Butcher, Lucy Thatcher, Edward Wade
Director: Jean-Pierre Van Der Spuy Writer: Mark Bramble Theatre: Leeds Grand Theatre Duration: 150 minutes Start Date: April 15, 2015 End Date: April 25, 2015 The circus comes to Leeds this week as Barnum, the award-winning 1980 Broadway musical, rolls up into the Grand Theatre with pomp and ceremony. Set from 1835 through to 1880, the musical follows the story of American showman Phineas T Barnum as he sets up a museum, tours with a leading starlet and breaks into politics. Soon his successes begin to crumble and he realises that the true value of life is to be found with his unwavering wife Chairy and his original passion as ringmaster to the greatest circus in the world. Cameron Mackintosh brings a slightly revised version of Barnum to the stage some thirty-five years after its origination on Broadway. Famed for its extravagant choreography, evocative design and upbeat musical numbers, Mackintosh’s expansion includes an additional song and the producer’s exceptional West End production standards. Cast: Flavia Cacace, Vincent Simone, Faye Best, Tyman Boatwright, Callum Clack, Oliver Darley, Ivan De Freitas, Ben Harris, Teddy Kempner, Rebecca Lisewski.
Director: Karen Bruce Writer: Ed Curtis Theatre: Leeds Grand Theatre Start Date: March 30, 2015 End Date: April 4, 2015 This month Strictly Come Dancing favourites Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace quickstep into Leeds Grand Theatre in the return of hit dance show Dance ‘Til Dawn. 1940s movie star Bobby Burns is brutally murdered on the Hollywood backlots of Los Angeles. Soon trapped behind bars, Tony DeLuca (Vincent Simone) is framed by the killer. DeLuca and his lover Sadie Stauss (Flavia Cacace) make moves to attempt to unmask the real culprit and dance their way to freedom. In recent years, the popularity of Strictly Come Dancing has provided a surge of interest in dance and professional contenders Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace have rightly become household names. The spectacle of Simone and Cacace’s live performance are the major draws to this production, showcasing their exquisite dance skills in a relentless cavalcade of boundless performances to classic hits from the Forties and beyond. Cast: Gareth Bailey, Roseanna Frascona, Claire Rogers, Colin Charles, James Coombes, Mark Faith, Julia J. Nagle, Michael Remick, Wayne Smith, Alexander Wolfe, Jessie-Lou Yates, James Bennett, Sarah Cortez, Lizzi Franklin, Francis Haugen, Antony Hewitt, Verity Jones, Lewis Kirk, Robin Lake, Garry Lee, Carly Miles, Carlie Milner, Simone Mistry-Palmer, Marlon Moore, Brandon Lee Sears, Natalie Winsor.
Director: Sarah Tipple Writer: Eleanor Bergstein Theatre: Leeds Grand Theatre Duration: 150 minutes Start Date: November 11, 2014 End Date: December 6, 2014 Leeds Grand Theatre offers a parting sprinkle of summertime ahead of the festive season with Dirty Dancing, the musical based on the cult Eighties motion picture. A nostalgic romantic drama showcasing dance, drama and song, the show provides an expanded book by Eleanor Bergstein with over two dozen musical numbers, underscoring a coming-of-age love story between Frances “Baby” Houseman and holiday resort dancer Johnny Castle. A struggle between identity, revolution, and a generation gap, Dirty Dancing tells a tale beyond the romanticism of dance. Bergstein’s adaptation of her film script is tautly structured, densely factoring in contemporary musical hits and political overtones from the Sixties, giving the production a vivid sense of time and place. Capturing the zeitgeist of the era, the book acknowledges the shift in racial and gender equality, placing ethnic diversity, premarital sex and the politics of abortion at the forefront of an otherwise idealised romance. Cast: Dean Chisnall, Faye Brooks, Gerard Carey, Idriss Kargbo, Bronte Barbe Nikki Bentley, Jennifer Caldwell, Candace Furbert, Stefan Harri, Will Haswell, Mai Lincoln, Rory Maguire, Neil Moors, Jenny O'Leary, Georgina Parkinson, Ryan Reid, Leo Roberts, James Winter, Kevin Yates
Director: Nigel Harman Writer: David Lindsay-Abaire & Jeanine Tesori Theatre: The Grand Theatre & Opera House Leeds Duration: 150 minutes Shrek The Musical launches its national tour at the Leeds Grand Theatre this month. Adapted from Dreamworks’ 2001 animated movie and the novel by William Steig, it tells the tale of Shrek the ogre in search of his own princess bride. Accompanied by a posse of classic fairy tale characters and a catalogue of musical numbers, can the stage version live up to the acclaim of its silver screen inspiration? Cast: Laura Baldwin, Tobias Beer, Kit Benjamin, Adam C Booth, Amy Booth-Steel, Jenni Bowden, Ricky Butt, Matt Harrop, Oliver Izod, Rachel Knowles, Lauren Logan, Rebecca Louis, Sally Mates, Joe Maxwell, Haydn Oakley, Anthony Ray.
Director: Daniel Buckroyd Writer: Alan Bennett Theatre: West Yorkshire Playhouse Duration: 130 minutes Betty Blue Eyes transfers to the West Yorkshire Playhouse this month as part of their ongoing Alan Bennett season. Adapted by the author from his film, A Private Function, the musical tells the tale of a Yorkshire community suffering the woes of post-war rationing. When opportunities arise for the procurement of some unlicensed meat, a farce ensues with a Betty the pig at its centre. Cast: Denise Van Outen
Director: Michael Howcroft Writer: Terry Ronald & Denise Van Outen Theatre: West Yorkshire Playhouse Duration: 100 minutes Start Date: January 29, 2014 End Date: February 8, 2014 Denise Van Outen launches her one-woman musical at the West Yorkshire Playhouse this month. Some Girl I Used To Know tells the story of Stephanie, a successful businesswoman awaiting the arrival of a journalist to her hotel suite. When an old flame from the past promises to meet her in the interim, buried memories from the past are aroused and life-changing decisions are made. Some Girl I Used To Know features a number of melodic covers of Eighties and Nineties hits. Performed by Van Outen with typical West End vocal alacrity, the numbers do have something of the Lloyd Webber treatment – synth strings and all – but this is somewhat befitting for a play which eulogises the era with such warmth and fondness. Van Outen’s vocals are stirring and powerful, presenting an alternative take on pop songs such as Hold Me Now and Do You Really Want To Hurt Me. Rousing and resonating, the musical interludes are unobtrusive chapter points which agreeably compliment the story. Cast: Ella Harris
Director: Justin Audibert Writer: Boff Whalley Theatre: Leeds City Varieties Duration: 50 minutes + 60 minutes Red Ladder Theatre present Songs of Solidarity, Suffrage & Strength – a double-bill of drama and music at Leeds City Varieties. |
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