The Grand Theatre, also known as Leeds Grand Theatre and Leeds Grand Theatre and Opera House, is a

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

and

opera house An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets. While some venues are constructed specifically fo ...

in Briggate, Leeds,

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It seats approximately 1,500 people.

Building

It was designed by James Robinson Watson, chief assistant in the office of Leeds-based architect George Corson, and opened on 18 November 1878. It was built as a complex in three parts: the theatre, a set of six shops and

Assembly Rooms In Great Britain and Ireland, especially in the 18th century Britain, 18th and 19th centuries, assembly rooms were gathering places for members of the higher social classes open to members of both sexes. At that time most entertaining was done ...

, all facing onto New Briggate, in

High Victorian High Victorian Gothic was an eclectic architectural style and movement during the mid-late 19th century. It is seen by architectural historians as either a sub-style of the broader Gothic Revival style, or a separate style in its own right. Promo ...

style of red brick with stone dressings and a slate roof, the whole being a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The exterior is in a mixture of Romanesque and

Scottish baronial Scottish baronial or Scots baronial is an architectural style of 19th century Gothic Revival which revived the forms and ornaments of historical architecture of Scotland in the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. Reminiscent of Scot ...

styles, and the interior has such Gothic motifs as fan-vaulting and clustered columns. The auditorium and assembly room ceilings are by

John Wormald Appleyard John Wormald Appleyard (10 September 1831 – 14 January 1894) (active 1851–1893) was a British sculptor and monumental mason based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. He was sixteen years old when his apprenticeship as a stone carver was cur ...

History

The Assembly Rooms were modified to create a cinema, which opened in 1907 as the Assembly Rooms Cinema, the name being changed to Plaza in 1958. The cinema closed in 1985 and it became rehearsal rooms. In 1970 it was bought by

Leeds City Council Leeds City Council is the local authority of the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in West Yorkshire and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of England, and provides the majority of l ...

and restored, becoming the home of

Opera North Opera North is an English opera company based in Leeds. The company's home theatre is the Leeds Grand Theatre, but it also presents regular seasons in several other cities, at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, the Lowry Centre, Salford Quays and ...

in 1978. For many years it was programmed by

Howard & Wyndham Ltd Howard & Wyndham Ltd was a theatre owning, production and management company named after John B. Howard and Frederick W. P. Wyndham, founded in Glasgow in 1895, and which became the largest of its type in Britain. The company continued well into the ...

and staged plays, musicals, pantomime and revues. The theatre closed at the end of May 2005 for a major refurbishment, ''transformation'', and it reopened on 7 October 2006 with a production of

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

's ''

Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had co ...

''. The Stalls area was completely re-seated and re-raked, the orchestra-pit enlarged, technical facilities dramatically improved, and improvements to Opera North to the south of the theatre, accessible via a bridge and at street-level, which includes two new stage-sized rehearsal spaces and increased office space. The cost of the refurbishment has been estimated at £31.5 million. A second phase of ''transformation'' included the restoration of the Assembly Rooms, making a second performance space, the Howard Assembly Room, which is used for recitals, concerts, chamber operas, experimental and educational work and other events for which the main theatre is unsuitable.

Present use

The theatre is a large scale receiving house and hosts touring productions of West End and Broadway musicals and plays, comedians and music. The theatre is home to

and is regularly visited by

Northern Ballet Northern Ballet, formerly Northern Ballet Theatre, is a dance company based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, with a strong repertoire in theatrical dance productions where the emphasis is on story telling as well as classical ballet. The company ...

. It has hosted many touring productions, musical artists and comedians. Since the "transformation" at the theatre, particularly after a state-of-the-art automated flying system was introduced, the theatre has been more able to host larger West End Musicals and plays. Productions at the theatre have included: ''

The Phantom Of The Opera ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a novel by French author Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serial in from 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910, and was released in volume form in late March 1910 by Pier ...

'', ''

Dirty Dancing ''Dirty Dancing'' is a 1987 American romantic drama dance film written by Eleanor Bergstein, produced by Linda Gottlieb, and directed by Emile Ardolino. Starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, it tells the story of Frances "Baby" Houseman ...

'', ''

Shrek The Musical ''Shrek The Musical'' is a musical with music by Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire. It is based on the 2001 DreamWorks Animation film ''Shrek'', along with elements of its sequels: '' Shrek 2'', ''Shrek Forever After'' ...

'', '' Oliver'', ''

We Will Rock You "We Will Rock You" is a song written by Brian May and recorded by British rock band Queen for their 1977 album ''News of the World''. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it number 330 of " The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and it placed at num ...

'' and ''

Wicked Wicked may refer to: Books * Wicked, a minor character in the ''X-Men'' universe * '' Wicked'', a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire that inspired the musical of the same name * ''Wicked'', the fifth novel in Sara Shepard's ''Pretty Little Liars'' s ...

''. Leeds Grand Theatre hosted the world stage premier of Kay Mellor's Band Of Gold in November 2019. The theatre is managed by Leeds Heritage Theatres which also manages City Varieties Music Hall and the Hyde Park Picture House. Leeds Heritage Theatres as a unifying brand was launched in August 2020. The theatre was forced to close its doors during the coronavirus pandemic from March 2020 and reopened in June 2021 with

's Swan Lake and touring productions of

Six (musical) ''Six'' (stylised in all uppercase) is a British musical comedy with book, music, and lyrics by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss. The musical is a modern retelling of the lives of the six wives of Henry VIII presented as a pop concert, as the Queen ...

Priscilla Queen of the Desert ''The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'' is a 1994 Australian road comedy film written and directed by Stephan Elliott. The plot follows two drag queens, played by Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce, and a transgender woman, played by Tere ...

and Heathers (musical).

References

* *

External links

Grand Theatre websiteHoward Assembly Room websiteLeeds City Council page on the theatre
* *
Charity Commission record
{{Authority control Theatres in Leeds Opera houses in England Grade II* listed buildings in West Yorkshire Listed buildings in Leeds Grade II* listed theatres Theatres completed in 1878 Music venues completed in 1878 Music venues in Leeds Leeds Blue Plaques

Building

History

Present use

See also

References

External links