A CELEBRATORY YEAR FOR LEEDS GRAND THEATRE
As National Theatre’s Olivier and Tony Award-winning production The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time takes to the stage at Leeds Grand Theatre next week, so begins a year of celebrations, firsts and winners for the venue as it prepares to welcome a wealth of entertainment to its stage.
The theatre’s year ahead includes the World Premiere of Northern Ballet’s Casanova, the first tour forcomedian Joel Dommett since he starred in I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, the first UK tour ofNational Theatre’s Jane Eyre (it’s also the 170th anniversary of the book’s publication), the first ever UK tour of La Cage aux Folles (many will remember the 1996 film version, The Birdcage, starring Robin Williams, Nathan Lane and Gene Hackman) and the first UK tour of Nativity! The Musical which lands, with perfect timing, in December.
There’s also last year’s Strictly Come Dancing Winner Joanne Clifton in Thoroughly Modern Millie, another two Strictly winners – Caroline Flack and Tom Chambers – in Crazy For You; it is the only Yorkshire venue for the West End smash-hit Mamma Mia! and it will host the World Premiere of Leeds’ own Kay Mellor’s Fat Friends The Musical.
“It’s a very exciting programme for our audiences in 2017,” says The Grand’s General Manager Ian Sime. “We’re very proud to bring such a variety of entertainment to Yorkshire and be a part of the region’s cultural offering.”
Among the firsts and premieres, audiences can also see David Walliams’ Gangsta Granny, Evita, Count Arthur Strong, Shirley Valentine, Jon Richardson, The Play That Goes Wrong, Dirty Dancing and much more.