Stan Graham's Leisure Guide for North and West Yorkshire
I have said it before and I’ll say it again, a lot of opera is bonkers. Pass The Spoon is an exception, in that it is not sensible enough to be bonkers. I can’t remember having seen any performance as childishly unfunny as this in my life, in fact I have been to two Christmas…
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I saw this play when it last came to Leeds and so enjoyed it that I thought I would see if it had changed over the past three years and, if so, how. It was obvious that the cast had changed, but what about the show? Having just read my original article I realised that…
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This is the day that Christmas truly arrives for me and quite a few other reviewers, as it is our version of the office party; an event when we can get together and, for those so blessed, let our hair down. It is a pantomime like no other, as it is aimed at the more…
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It is years since I spent a Saturday afternoon in a library, in fact I was probably still at primary school having just enjoyed a swim in York Road Baths before nipping next door to take out a couple of books to see me through until the following week. Ah, the memories. Today I was…
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Sunday, 23rd November saw the final concert from Leeds Baroque Chorus & Orchestra in their 25th Anniversary Season, and what a way to finish it off. As with the first presentation of the year, we were at Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall in Leeds University and the whole ensemble was present. St Cecilia, whose Feast Day…
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In the review of A Christmas Carol I expressed my, not exactly positive, view regarding classic works being gratuitously altered. I don’t wish to appear hypocritical by saying that I loved this musical, based on an opera by Puccini, Madama Butterfly, written as a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alan Boubill, but, at least they…
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Here we go with pantomime number two of the season, and this one is in Harrogate which means that like all good children, I should be home for bedtime. Are you listening, Santa! Like most pantos it is based on a fairy tale, a term coined in France by Madame d’Aulnoy in the late 17th…
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The Christmas show at Leeds Playhouse has always been one of the highlights of my theatregoing year, there have been any number of corkers, each treated with respect and presented in spectacular fashion. Sadly, this year’s effort is a let down, the annoying thing is that it needn’t have been. In my book, if you…
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Don’t look now, but it seems as though it’s nearly Christmas, and we all know what that means, yes, Pantotime! The first of this year’s offerings is Sleeping Beauty at Carriageworks, and gets things off to a great start. As you will have gathered, this show is based on the legend of Sleeping Beauty, which…
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So, there I was, in Leeds on a November evening with the temperature hovering around freezing, dressed up like one of Ernest Shackleton’s crew members and heading to Howard Assembly Room to see a musical ensemble whose instruments were made out of ice. The concept of the Ice Quartet was inspired by the sounds of…
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Tyke It To The Limit 