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🎭 June Best Shows To See in Leeds
Stan Graham
Well, this isn’t going to take long, as June sees the beginning of a bit of a summer hiatus in Theatreland. The main reasons are the temporary closure of the Grand Theatre for a refurb, and community events at Leeds Playhouse which coincide with a lengthy run of a joint production with Opera North. Still, what is lacking in quantity is more than made up for in quantity.
I can make that last comment with some authority as Leeds Playhouse begins the month with Here You Come Again, which has already started its stint and continues until Saturday, 8th. I can vouch for this being a cracker as I have already seen it and was most impressed. It is set in lockdown when Kevin, who is self-isolating in his parents’ attic, receives visits from Dolly Parton to help him through the solitude, which turns out not to be as weird as it sounds. If you would like to know more then go to The Playhouse Website and why not have a look at my review.
The Playhouse link will also furnish you with details of the classic musical, My Fair Lady, based on George Bernard Shaw’s play, Pygmalion, which sees two toffs bet on whether they can turn a Covent Garden flower girl into enough of a lady that she will pass muster in high class circles. The exercise backfires somewhat as Eliza is a bit more savvy than they had appreciated. Not only are all the songs classics, but it is a co-production between Leeds Playhouse and Opera North, so they will be performed by top drawer singers and musicians.
In the Bramall Rock Void at Leeds Playhouse on 27th June is Furnace X Arts At The Arms, which is a Scratch night presenting, and discussing, new work from local artists.
1st June sees the last performances in the run of SIX, about the wives of Henry VIII, but they are both sold out. It started on 28th May, so there might be the odd ticket left for an earlier show, although even they are limited already. Try your luck just in case.
The final production to grace the Grand Theatre stage before the place goes dark for the summer, and when I say grace that is exactly what I mean, is Northern Ballet’s Beauty and the Beast. It begins on 4th June and ends on 9th. It tells the story of Beauty, a girl who goes to live in a castle with Beast, in order to appease him after he has been threatening her father. She succumbs to Stockholm Syndrome during which she discovers he has been inflicted with a curse which only true love can break, and restore his original good looks. I would try it myself but I assume you would have to have been good looking at some stage to be able to revert. Back to the moisturiser then! There are a couple of supplementary events run by Northern Ballet on 6th June but they are already sold out.
The Carriageworks has a couple of June shows, the first on 1st and 2nd for the 2-7 year-olds called You Choose, in which you do just that. Both performances will be different as the audience influences the direction of the action. Sounds like great fun for the audience but hard work for the participants!
The other one is The Next Generation School of Rock – The Musical, and runs from 12th to 15th June. This is an amateur production presented by LIDOS (Leeds Insurance Dramatic & Operatic Society) who are celebrating their 50th year, in association with Leeds Community Arts Network. If the battle of the bands is as good as it promises to be, the great licks won’t be confined to the interval ice cream. Details of both the shows can be found at here.
Let’s hope that the June weather means that we can enjoy a few alfresco evenings during the summer lull, if not we can be grateful that we didn’t have to drag ourselves out in the rain to go to the theatre!