Discovering Leeds - The Theatres

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City Varieties
The City Varieties, one of the few remaining music halls in the country, continues to provide traditional music hall entertainment twice a year in April and October. The theatre also puts on a range of traditional and contemporary entertainment, including rock'n'roll musicals, light operas, folk music, hypnotists, clairvoyance shows and comedy. In fact very much the same type of entertainment that people were enjoying there in the heyday of music hall-the 'Good Old Days.'

Civic Theatre
The Civic Theatre continues to provide a venue for amateur theatre groups and small visiting companies. However it is soon to close as a theatre, to become the home of the new City Museum. There is a proposal for a new Arts Centre in Portland Chambers which will include a new Civic Theatre.

Grand Theatre
Extensive refurbishment has restored the theatre to its former glory, 125 years after it first opened in 1878. Opera North now have Autumn, Winter and Spring seasons there. There are also shows, and performances by the Northern Ballet Theatre, and other ballet companies like the Moscow City Ballet which is due to perform there in November 2003.

The West Yorkshire Playhouse.
The theatre continues to stage both traditional and new drama, in the Courtyard and the Quarry theatre. It is now 50% self-funded, the rest of its income coming from Yorkshire Arts, Leeds City Council and West Yorkshire Grants.

The West Yorkshire Playhouse is not just a theatre; it also runs the Arts Development Unit which provides arts education and activities for both adults and children. Their Community Network supports inner-city community groups, and the Playhouse’s Schools Theatre works in partnership with local schools.

Click images to enlarge

City Varieties, 1999

Civic Theatre, entrance, 2003

Part of the building which will house the new Civic Theatre, 2003

The Grand Theatre, 2003

West Yorkshire Playhouse, 1999