Grand Theatre - Leeds

Opened in 1878 with a huge seating capacity of 2600, this amazing venue, designed by James Robinson Watson, has been the beating heartbeat of the Leeds theatre scene for almost 150 years, despite nearly being demolished in the 60s!

Today the Grade II* listed old lady is run by Leeds Heritage Theatres (who also run City Varieties and Hyde Park Picture House). Thanks to its investments in state of the art tech, the Grand lures blockbuster tours – Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, Dirty Dancing, Six – alongside Opera North seasons and regular visits from Northern Ballet.

Seating is now a more manageable 1500 over Stalls, Dress Circle, Upper Circle, Balcony, Upper Balcony and some 10 Boxes. Though, with that many seats it is still one of the largest venues in the country.

The theatre boasts a beautiful Waterford Crystal chandelier with over 6000 Swarovski crystals, takes some cleaning that’s for sure, as you can see on this TikTok video

Like many older theatres, stories of ghosts abound with the Lavendar Lady and the disappearing Waiter rumoured to haunt the stalls. Checkout the Dailymotion video for more spooky goings on!

If you’d like to see this magnificent theatre then get yourself to Leeds and see one of their incredible shows… in the meantime here’s an amazing 360 Tour of all areas of The Grand

They also have a great timeline of the history of the theatre and a wealth of additional info if you’d like to know more.