Leeds Heritage Theatres is pleased to announce that City Varieties Music Hall will reopen from Monday 17 May, welcoming back audiences with its first live performance since March 2020, and an exciting new film programme presented in collaboration with sister venue Hyde Park Picture House.
Judy & Liza, a dazzling production telling the turbulent tale of Hollywood’s biggest stars against the backdrop of their infamous 1964 London Palladium concert, will run for one socially distanced performance only on Thursday 20 May, alongside some of the best live and as-live theatre performances as part of The Picture House’s On The Road programme. Upcoming highlights include:
- Nomadland: an exquisitely told story full of authenticity and humanity, and winner of this year’s Best Picture Oscar, alongside Best Director and Best Actress wins for Chloé Zhao and Frances McDormand respectively
- Sound of Metal: During a series of adrenaline-fueled one-night gigs, itinerant punk-metal drummer Ruben (Riz Ahmed) begins to experience intermittent hearing loss. Utilising startling, innovative sound design techniques, director Darius Marder takes audiences inside Ruben’s experience to vividly recreate his journey into a rarely examined world
- Wolfwalkers: The Oscar-nominated animation studio behind The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea returns with a magical masterpiece about an unlikely friendship between two girls in 17th-century Ireland
Wendy Cook, Head of Cinema, said: “The cinema’s On the Road programme was always envisioned as being a way of taking The Picture House’s programme into different spaces so we’re really excited to be returning to the City Varieties. After six months away, it’s lovely to be finding our feet again in the comfort of family.”
Chris Blythe, CEO, adds: “It is no exaggeration to say that our industry has suffered exponentially because of COVID-19 – as arts and culture venues across the country have tried and failed to recover from the impact – but it has never been more important for this sector to thrive, as people reach out to theatres, cinemas, music venues etc as spaces to escape their day-to-day pressures. Our audiences want to be entertained.”
Tickets for Judy & Liza are available at www.leedsheritagetheatres.com.
Tickets for all screenings are available at https://hydeparkpicturehouse.co.uk, where you can also find information about The Picture House’s On The Road programme.
Leeds Grand Theatre will reopen on 17 June with a socially distanced run of resident company Northern Ballet’s Swan Lake – they will follow this in November with Merlin, originally set to run over Christmas 2020 as part of their 50th year anniversary celebrations. Fellow residents, Opera North, will also return in the autumn with a season of work, including Bizet’s Carmen and Verdi’s Rigoletto, plus Bernstein’s West Side Story Symphonic Dances in collaboration with Leeds-based Phoenix Dance Theatre. And whilst some of the blockbuster musicals from this year, including The Book of Mormon and Les Misérables, have had to be moved to 2022, West End hits Heathers The Musical and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie will run alongside newly announced Priscilla Queen of the Desert and My Best Friend’s Wedding (starring Alexandre Burke) to name a few. Tickets are available at www.leedsheritagetheatres.com.