That’s a wrap! From community-wide engagement to our annual rockin’ panto, it has been a jam-packed year at Leeds Heritage Theatres. So without further ado, here’s our year in review.
Written by Ben Fletcher and Aaron Cawood
A year in review
It’s all been happening here at Leeds Heritage Theatres. And our audiences have been busy.
The Varieties celebrated its 160th birthday, Joey the horse (of War Horse fame) galloped into The Grand, and our Youth Theatre smashed through the glass ceiling with their production of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (read more here). Join us as we look back at a jam-packed year, celebrating the rich legacy of our venues as well as looking towards the future. Our reliable* Wrapped algorithm brings you the stats…
*As ever, our Wrapped algorithm is either a highly-trained supercomputer hidden in the basement, or Ben and Aaron from Comms pestering other departments for statistics and making sweeping assertions as they go. You can decide which of those is the reality.
Leeds Grand Theatre. Credit: Chris Coote
The headlines
Cocktails courtesy of Tattu! Credit: Ben Fletcher
Overall number of performances and screenings across all venues: 2,921.
And now for what you’ve all been waiting for… ice cream! Leeds Grand Theatre saw 49,269 Northern Bloc ice creams sold this year, and your most popular flavour was Ginger Caramel.
Regular partners Northern Bloc teamed up with us yet again this year, supporting our annual Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto at the Varieties, in addition to a Golden Ticket scheme, giving away freebies across our venues this wintertime. Were you a lucky winner?
Pint anyone?
This Wintertime – to celebrate the show-stopping Miss Saigon coming to Leeds – we partnered with Asian fusion restaurant Tattu for the first time, pairing up to share a seasonal set menu. As some of our audiences can attest, a performance of Cameron Mackintosh’s iconic musical was preceded with some memorable Saigon-inspired cocktails in our bar!
Kirkstall pints poured: 10,501
Kirkstall Brewery also returned as a partner, supplying all-time favourites and introducing low alcohol and alcohol-free options for audiences, too.
What would a trip to the cinema be without popcorn?
Over at Hyde Park Picture House, you enjoyed 1,905 of HPPH’s favourite tiffins!
You also munched your way through an incredible 2,432,915 popcorn kernels (give or take!)
Freshly ground coffee beans: 1.2 million.
Our favourite Leeds-based coffee roasters North Star supplied a fair few cuppas to our film fans this year.
North Star at HPPH. Credit Ben Fletcher
The LHT team was lucky enough to pay the roastery a visit in 2025, too, sampling the goods ourselves and chatting to co-founder and CEO Hols about the business – which you can read more about over on our blog!
As ever, we couldn’t have done it all without our fantastic staff and volunteers, who have made the customer experience what it is! July also saw the launch of our first Welcome Host Volunteers at The Grand.
Leeds Grand Theatre Foyer audience. Credit: Chris Coote
Active members: 3,551.
From priority access for shows going on sale to exclusive perks and offers, our members make the most of their time at our venues – and, if you’re not a member yet, 2026 is the perfect time to join!
New launches (like our public venue tours) and our biggest shows were quick to sell out in 2025, so if you missed out on bagging your favourite seats for the likes of Alan Carr or SIX, why not consider a membership to ensure you are first in the queue this year!
Our Under 30s members enjoying a pre-show drink! Credit: Ben Fletcher
Our Under 30s scheme also proved to be a success this year, now offering not only discounts in order to make tickets more affordable, but increasingly hosting exclusive members’ events, offering free drinks and social spaces.
Sign up now and look out for upcoming opportunities – such as the Under 30s event for Northern Ballet’s Merlin, where members met face to face with a magician, and a pair of ballet shoes were up for grabs
Show highlights
Our most popular genre: Comedy.
This year, our shows made you laugh and made you cry – but you laughed more.
At The Picture House, however, drama topped the charts as your top genre – closely followed by comedies, thrillers, animations and horror films!
It was often more than ‘just’ a film, too – with 114 screenings accompanied by an intro, Q&A or live performance.
Best attended show: Aladdin: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto.
Our most popular panto yet! Aside from our Leeds Grand Youth Theatre (LGYT) show, the annual pantomime is our only in-house production – so we are always incredibly proud to see that our audiences love it as much as we do, and that it has become a festive family staple! Although not quite our quickest sell-out (see below…), tickets always move fast – so book now for 2026 to not miss out!
Sylvia talking to the audience at HPPH. Credit Ben Fletcher
The cast of Aladdin: The Rock 'n' Roll Panto. Credit Ben Fletcher
LGYT's Oompah Loompahs making Augustus into fudge. Credit Chris Coote
Quickest show to sell out: Tim Key: Loganberry.
Returning fan favourite Tim Key is back at The Varieties in 2026, performing three dates back-to-back – all of which sold out within 24 hours of going on sale! It seems we can’t get enough of Key.
Check out The Picture House’s top picks of the year, where Tim Key and his beloved comedy The Ballad of Wallis Island makes an appearance.
This year we did not only welcome War Horse to our stage, coming face-to-face with Joey and the master puppeteers who brought him to life, but we also celebrated major productions like Fiddler on the Roof – which entailed putting a fiddler… on the roof!
Bat Out Of Hell roared into Leeds in April, bringing with them a motorcade of vintage bikes from St. Leger HOG to The Grand in celebration of the electrifying show.
Leeds Amateur Operatic Society (LAOS) also returned to Leeds Grand Theatre, with Les Misérables: Let the People Sing, one of a select few amateur companies authorised by Cameron Mackintosh for the first time (on the show’s 40th anniversary).
Seasons launched: 3.
2025 saw the launch of these brand-new seasons across our venues: The Stories We Tell, Rage & Reinvention and most recently, Wintertime.
We also paired with LeedsBID this year for Wonderland Awaits, including Alice in Wonderland-inspired Drama Days for LHT Unwrapped and films at The Picture House as part of city-wide celebrations.
Up, boy! War Horse at The Grand. Credit: Ant Robling
Not the worst way to arrive at the theatre... Credit: Aaron Cawood
Did you hear the people sing?
Outreach and Engagement
The cast of The Maladies. Credit: Ant Robling
2025 has been full of achievements for our Learning and Engagement team – workshops, school visits, subsidised tickets and performances, across all three venues.
Total number of engagements: 13,207.
In May, Leeds Actors in Training (LAIT) devised and performed The Riot, a Theatre in Education piece, for local primary schools – as well as performing The Maladies to audiences at Seven Arts in June.
Chocolate news of the Teavees. Credit Chris Coote
Leeds Grand Youth Theatre had another success with their summer show, Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Workshops and sessions ran: 263.
From creating The Vanishing Factory, a piece performed in Kirkgate Market, to running after-school drama clubs to help young people develop skills and access theatre, our team have been busy! And we can’t forget the By the Book book club, which was launched to accompany the touring production of Little Women.
Students in Screen 2 at The Picture House. Credit: Daniel Johnson
Subsidised tickets meant that 900 students saw the production of Dear England at The Grand.
For many, this was their first visit to a theatre. Facilitators from Leeds Heritage Theatres and the National Theatre visited seven schools across Leeds to deliver eight workshops, engaging with 240 students who had previously watched the production.
Total attendance at Pay What You Can screenings: 7,223.
Total attendance at Hyde & Seek screenings: 11,240.
In 2025, The Picture House has hosted a plethora of activity for young people. Highlights include a seasonal session of squishy sound effects at Halloween as part of LHT Unwrapped, followed by some gory special effects work, plus a range of craft activities and workshops surrounding screenings throughout the year.
Our buildings
Ruth with the mosaic of Sir Ken Dodd. Credit: Ben Fletcher
In 2025, we continued to tell 418 years worth of stories across our historic venues. Alongside maintaining our buildings and honouring our legacy, this year has seen continued development and renovation to support our sustainability aims.
So much happens in our buildings on a daily basis, but highlights have to include… tiles! From a Sir Ken Dodd mosaic installed at City Varieties Music Hall, created by the talented Yorkshire Mosaic Artist, Ruth Wilkinson, to a new installation of tiles made by young people at Hyde Park Picture House.
Tiles revealed beneath the carpet in the foyer at The Grand.
And over at The Grand, carpet work in the foyer revealed some beautiful vintage tiling – inspiring our brilliant team to adapt the covering method to maintain the art beneath the shiny new carpet!
We also launched our new buildings project: Beyond the Façade – the first phase of our developing Masterplan, which sets out an ambitious roadmap for the next decade. The project will not only tackle essential structural works but also create refreshed spaces which promise much improved experience for our audiences and team.
Young Audience Officer Sylvia speaks to a group during Heritage Open Days. Credit Ben Fletcher
This year’s Heritage Open Days celebrated the history of our buildings, and our Hyde Park team gave insightful tours of the building – from its original elements to its recent award-winning renovation work.
Over on our blogs, we looked back at the memorable appearances and iconic roles played by our historic venues in film, television and more...
As we head into 2026, why not keep an eye on what we’re getting up to at Leeds Heritage Theatres? From factual news content and interviews to image-led stories and videos, explore our News, Views and Stories.
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