The Sound of Music comes to Leeds Grand Theatre this summer

One of the most beloved musicals ever written is heading to Leeds, and Opera North is doing it properly. The Sound of Music lands at Leeds Grand Theatre from 9 July to 1 August, with the full Chorus and a 40-piece Orchestra of Opera North bringing Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic to life. If you only know it from the Julie Andrews film, this is your chance to hear those songs the way they were always meant to be heard, live and at full volume.

Leading the cast are two names worth knowing. Soprano Katie Bird takes on Maria, the free-spirited novice nun sent to bring some order to the von Trapp household. Leeds audiences may remember her as Eliza Doolittle in the acclaimed Opera North and Leeds Playhouse co-production of My Fair Lady back in 2024, and she’s a regular face in the Opera North Chorus, with roles spanning Mimì and Musetta in La bohème to Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly. Opposite her as Captain von Trapp is Edward Bennett, an RSC Associate Artist whose CV runs deep across stage and screen. You’ll have seen him recently in Bridgerton, SAS: Rogue Heroes and Lockerbie: A Search for Truth, and on the big screen in Ridley Scott’s Napoleon. On stage he’s played everyone from Hamlet to Alan Turing to Thomas Cromwell, so the steely captain whose heart slowly thaws is in safe hands.

There’s strength in depth across the rest of the company too. Katherine Broderick, winner of the 2007 Kathleen Ferrier Award, plays Mother Abbess, while the role of Liesl is shared between Canadian soprano Abigail Sinclair and rising star April Perrott. A host of roles go to artists from the Opera North Chorus, the company’s full time professional ensemble, including Kamil Bień as Rolf, Amy Freston as Baroness Schraeder and Nicholas Butterfield as Max Detweiler.

Behind the scenes, the production is based on Curve’s staging that opened in Leicester at the end of 2025, directed by Nikolai Foster, whose credits include Kinky Boots, My Fair Lady and A Chorus Line. He brings much of the original Curve creative team with him, including set and costume designer Michael Taylor, lighting designer Mark Henderson and choreographer Ebony Molina, with Oliver Rundell stepping up as Musical Director.

For anyone who needs a refresher, the story follows Maria as she’s sent to look after the captain’s seven rowdy children and, against his strict orders, wins them over with creativity and music. As the family falls under her spell and the captain’s reserve begins to crack, history intervenes. Called up to serve in the German navy, the von Trapps are forced to flee the Nazis and their Austrian idyll for the most dangerous journey of their lives. It’s warm, it’s familiar, and it still carries real weight underneath the singalong.

Isla Mundell-Perkins, Director of Artistic Administration at Opera North, said the company is delighted to be telling such a much-loved story in Leeds, promising “an unforgettable show for all the family” by bringing together strong acting, exceptional singing and the full orchestra.

The run is a generous one, with evening and matinee performances stretching across four weeks, plus captioned, British Sign Language interpreted and audio described performances with touch tours for accessible viewing. Opera North is also keeping it within reach: Under 30s can grab tickets for £10, and the Leeds Grand’s Secret Seats scheme offers £22 seats for anyone happy to sit wherever they’re placed. For a show of this scale, that’s a genuine bargain, and a good reason to make this the summer you finally see The Sound of Music live.