June 2025: Best shows to see in Leeds

June owe something I don’t? Everybody in the theatrical business seems to have started their summer holidays early this year. Still, those who are working have a few treats lined up for us.

Suspender belts at the ready boys and girls, the first offering for the month at Leeds Grand Theatre is Richard O’Bien’s Rocky Horror Show. It stars Jason Donovan as Frank-n-Furter, this is his second appearance here in recent months, he must be on a roll! He knows his onions and is definitely mustard, so ketchup with him from 2nd to 7th June.

From one extreme to the other on 10th to 14th with Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women featuring Belinda Lang and Honeysuckle Weeks in a classic tale of four sisters during the American Civil War. I think that the dress code will be a little more restrained for this one.

The final play for the month, yes, only the three, is another where more formal attire is the order of the day, as it is By Royal Appointment. This has a great cast: Anne Reid as Queen Elizabeth II, Caroline Quentin, her dresser, James Dreyfus, her miliner and James Wilby, her designer. Her Majesty was famous for keeping quiet about her opinions but she made her feelings clear in her choice of clothing. To crack the code get down to the Grand between 24th and 28th.

On 14th June at City Varieties there is one of their National Theatre Live Screenings, with Gillian Anderson, Vanessa Kirby and Ben Foster in the Tennessee Williams classic, A Streetcar Named Desire. I’d better take my bus pass!

Click for details of everything at Leeds Heritage Theatres.

Leeds Playhouse begins with A Thousand Splendid Suns, previewed last month, running over from May until 14th June. I have a feeling that tears may be jerked.

On 12th and 13th June we have Sunny Side, a story of K who is 18 and lives in a small town in the bottom of a Yorkshire valley, which is being gentrified so losing its identity, as is he. The piece has been created by drawing on the experiences of 750 young people from across the UK, and combines contemporary dance, theatre and spoken word. What, no juggler?

There is certainly no juggler in Northern Ballet’s Romeo & Juliet, which returns from 18th to 21st. I also doubt that the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh will be there either, as they saw it last March at the Grand with me – and a few hundred others! Putting it on at Leeds Playhouse will obviously change the experience somewhat as it is in Quarry, so not on a raised stage, and the music is recorded, so why not go again to compare and contrast. 

The final item on the agenda for June is Through It All Together, a love letter to Marcelo Bielsa, from 23rd to 28th. It is about Howard and Sue, die hard Leeds United fans who are having to come to terms with living with dementia. Can they, and the Peacocks, get through it all together? Don’t worry, the seats will not be taken out so you won’t need to sit on an upturned bucket.

Click for a full list of Playhouse treats 

The Carriageworks starts and finishes June with a couple of musicals. Chess, which started on 30th May, so was previewed last month, continues until 6th. It is set in the Cold War era so wrap up warm.

A couple for the kids next, beginning with Robyn Hood for the 3-7 year-olds on 7th and 8th. Robyn is a little girl in a big city and has built a den on a green  patch where she can dream of woodland adventures and leading a brave band of outlaws. It contains storytelling, original songs and friendly audience participation, but you rich folk had better check your belongings before you leave in case your wealth has been redistributed amongst the poor.

The following Saturday and Sunday, 14th and 15th the 3+ have more fun, with The Worst Princess, a show for pop princesses and naughty knights, that’s knights, not nights – do behave. There will be comedy, puppets, sing-along pop anthems and a dragon. 

From 25th to 28th June we have Daisy Pulls It Off. Look, I won’t tell you again! It relates the tale of – you guessed it – Daisy, a scholarship girl, so obviously set in a bygone era, who has trouble blending in with the rich snobby lasses at Grangewood School for Girls. Plenty of jolly hockey sticks and tuck shops then. It is suitable for all ages.

On the same dates, 25th to 28th, we have our second musical banger, Sister Act. Doloris, the disco diva, is placed in protective custody after witnessing a murder, and where better to hide a good time girl on the run from gangsters, than in a convent. She stays sane by forming a gospel choir so there are plenty of brilliant songs. Trouble is, she gets rumbled and a chase ensues. I thought everyone was chaste in a convent. Anyway, for a night of song and dance, this is for you.

Click for all things Carriageworks

To end, something a little different. Just a short step out of town at the bottom of Chapeltown Road, is Northern School of Contemporary Dance, which is putting on a show called EMERGENCE 25, in its Riley Theatre, highlighting the skills of recently graduated modern dancers from Joss Arnott Dance and the University of Salford. For once, I can recommend it personally as I saw the Harrogate leg of the tour and it was amazing. 

For details and bookings go to here.

For my reviews please go to Tyke it to the limit.