September 6 — 13
Wuthering Heights, West Yorkshire Playhouse
September 6 to 10
As part of the Bronte season at the WYP Northern Ballet launches its own new season of productions with the Emily Bronte story. One of the company’s most popular works, created by artistic director David Nixon after his appointment in 2001, it has not been seen in Leeds for more than a decade. It has an original score from Miss Saigon composer Claude-Michel Schonberg.
Tickets vary in price. From wyp.org.uk or 0113 2137700.
Sue Perkins at Victoria Theatre, Halifax
Wednesday, September 7, 7.30pm.
Bake-off comedian Sue Perkins brings her Live! in Spectacles show to Yorkshire. The show takes the best bits from her new memoirs but will also offer an insight into Mary Berry and the cake-baking series that’s wowed a nation. Tickets are priced at £25.50 (and include a copy of Spectacles, her autobiography), from 01422 351158 or from www.victoriatheatre.co.uk
Snake Davis at The Keys
Friday, September 9, Byram Street, Huddersfield, 7.30pm.
The ever-popular jazz performer Snake Davis plays for Jazz at The Keys. Accompanied by the home-grown Ben Crosland Trio, the sax player brings his distinctive sound and style to a venue that hosts a wide range of musical genres and entertainment. Tickets are £17, including a pie and pea supper.
Slaithwaite Band's Proms Concert
Friday, September 9, St James’ Church, Slaithwaite, 7.30pm.
Slaithwaite Band’s annual Proms Concert has The Victory Sisters, a vintage vocal trio, as its guests. The concert will be compered by Radio Leeds’ Yorkshire Brass presenter David Hoyle. Tickets are £6.
Last Laugh Comedy Club
Friday, September 9, Penistone Paramount, 8pm.
The Last Laugh Comedy Club presents three acts compered by Toby Foster. Adult content, so over 18s only. Ticket are £12 from penistoneparamount.co.uk
Penistone Agricultural Show
Saturday, September 10, Penistone show field
From sheep shearing and vintage vehicles to cookery displays and real ale – the 144th Penistone Agricultural Show on Saturday (September 10), has them all.
Around 18,000 visitors are expected at the Show Field, making the event one of the largest of its kind in the North. There will be 200 trade stands as well as cookery demonstrations and live music. But it is the animals who are the stars of the annual show. This year will include a Shire Horse section in the Horse of the Year Show, as well as displays of cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, poultry and working dogs.
Tickets are £3 for children and £12 for adults.
Nathan Carter at the Victoria Theatre
Saturday, September 10, 7.30pm.
Irish singer/songwriter and accordion player Nathan Carter brings his six-man band to the Yorkshire stage performing a mix of country, Irish, pop and ballads for all ages. Tickets are £23.50 and £26 from www.victoriatheatre.co.uk or 01422 351158.
Jason Manford at the Lawrence Batley Theatre
Monday, September 12, 8pm.
Northern comedian Jason Manford brings a ‘best-of’ show to the town. The multi-talented performer can sing and dance as well as tell jokes. His television credits include Sunday Night at the Palladium, Live at the Apollo and Have I Got News for You. Tickets are £18.50 from 01484 430528.
Higgledy Piggledy Pie at the Lawrence Batley Theatre
Saturday, September 10, 11am and 2pm
Puppets, nursery rhymes and kitchen chaos is on the menu at the Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield when Noisy Oyster brings children’s show Higgledy Piggledy Pie to the main stage. The show is packed with original music and clowning around and offers youngsters the chance to get up close and personal with the puppets. Shows at 11am and 2pm. Tickets are £7 from www.thelbt.org.uk or 01484 430528. Suitable for ages three to eight.
September 13-20
Blackthorn at West Yorkshire Playhouse
Tuesday to Saturday, September 13 to 17.
Home-grown drama Blackthorn opens at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, the first in a series of new productions written by Yorkshire playwrights. It tells the tale of a couple who meet as children and grow up together in a small Yorkshire village. Tickets are £12.50 from wyp.org.uk or 0113 2137700.
Family Confusion at the Lawrence Batley Theatre
Saturday, September 17
Jamrock Productions, the Huddersfield-based company that brings local writer Angie Smith’s work to life, performs Family Confusion at The Lawrence Batley Theatre. This latest play is a tale of family secrets that shares the action between Jamaica and England. Comedy and family fallouts abound. Tickets for the main stage show, which starts at 7.30pm, are £10 from www.thelbt.org.uk or 01484 430528.
Sundown Swing at Kirkheaton United Church
Saturday September 17, 7.30pm
Fresh from performing at the Edinburgh Fringe, 15-piece Sundown Swing can be seen at Kirkheaton United Church in a fund-raiser for Kirkwood Hospice. The concert starts at 7.30pm and will feature a selection of well-known Glenn Miller classics as well as more recent big band items revived by Michael Buble and Robbie Williams. Tickets are £6 on the door.
Variety Show at United Reform Church, Moldgreen
September 17, 7.15pm
Huddersfield Alzheimer’s Research Support Group is staging a fund-raising variety concert at The United Reform Church in Moldgreen at 7.15pm. Tickets are £5 on the door. The show is packed with music and laughter from local singing ensembles, soloists and comedy acts. The group is the area’s only dedicated fund-raiser for the charity.
Roundhay Festival
Saturday September 17
The Roundhay Festival returns to Leeds after a 10-year absence, bringing live music, family entertainment and food to the city’s park, with headline acts James, Primal Scream and Wolf Alice. There will be cookery demonstrations by top chefs as well as street food traders.
For ticket details visit www.onroundhayfestival.com
Opera North presents Der Rosenkavalier at Leeds Grand Theatre
September 17-October 28
Opera North’s new season begins with a production of Der Rosenkavalier, the Richard Strauss opera that tells the tale of impulsive young love. The production is at Leeds Grand Theatre until Friday, October 28, before touring. The season at the Grand also includes Il tabarro/Suor Angelica and Billy Budd. Tickets and details from www.operanorth.co.uk
Tony's Last Tape at the Lawrence Batley Theatre
Tuesday and Wednesday, September 20 and 21, 8pm
The Lawrence Batley Theatre welcomes the Nottingham Playhouse production Tony’s Last Tape, a work inspired by the diaries of the late Tony Benn, one of Britain’s best-known and most divisive politicians. The play examines the struggle of a man who knows it is time to bow out but doesn’t how to let others take over the fight. Starting time 8pm. Tickets are £14 from www.thelbt.org.uk or 01484 430528.
September 20-27
Dinner with Mikron Theatre
Tuesday, September 20, to Saturday, September 24, 6pm
Mikron Theatre brings its shows Pure and Canary Girls to unusual venues in Huddersfield. The 20th sees Pure, the show about the ethics and story behind everyone’s favourite confectionery, chocolate, at the Golcar Lily from 8pm. Tickets at £25 a head include a three course meal served at 6pm. Book at www.golcarlily.co.uk or 01484 659277.
On Thursday, September 22, it’s the turn of Huddersfield Deaf Centre in Trinity Street to host Pure. Tickets £8 and £10 from 01484 843701. The show will have a British Sign Language interpreter.
Then on Saturday, September 24, Canary Girls, a tender story of two sisters who work in a munitions factory during WWI, is at the Tolson Museum on Wakefield Road. No tickets are required for this outdoor performance, which starts at 1pm, but a collection will be taken after the show.
Orchestra of Opera North at Huddersfield Town Hall
Thursday, September 22, 7.30pm
The season of orchestral concerts at Kirklees’ Town Halls begins with the Orchestra of Opera North and Fantastic Dreams and Visions. Aleksandar Markovic conducts Scriabin’s Nuances and Berlioz’s popular Symphonie Fantastique. BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist Pavel Kolesnikov performs Rachmaninov’s Variation on a Theme of Paganini. Concert starts at 7.30 in Huddersfield Town Hall, with a free Talking Music event from 6.40pm. Tickets are from £1 to £24. Visit www.kirkleestownhalls.co.uk or call 01484 225755.
Carmen at the Victoria Theatre
Thursday September 22, 7.30pm
The Russian State Opera brings Bizet’s most famous work Carmen to the Victoria Theatre in Halifax. The passionate story, set in 19th century Seville, makes a rich and colourful opera with one of the best-known arias, Toreador Song. A live, full orchestra experience, lavish costumes and vibrant production is on offer. If you’ve never seen an opera before then perhaps this should be the one. Tickets are £24 to £33 from www.victoriatheatre.co.uk or 01422 351158.
ABBA and Bee Gees tributes at Penistone Paramount
Friday, September 23, 7.30pm
Penistone Paramount is hosting Thank You For The Music, the live tribute show to ABBA and the Bee Gees. The concert, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Swedish super group’s smash hit Dancing Queen, starts at 7.30pm. Ticket details from www.penistoneparamount.co.uk The same show is at Cleckheatong Town Hall the following evening (01484 225755, kirklees.gov.uk/townhalls for tickets).
Penistone Musical Festival
Saturday, September 24, 10am-5.30pm
Penistone’s 48th annual competitive Music Festival takes place at Penistone Grammar School. There are 17 classes, ranging from piano solo to choral sections. Competitors can be heard from 10am until 5.30pm.
Villette at West Yorkshire Playhouse
Saturday, September 24, to Saturday, October 15
Villette, re-imagined with a futuristic sci-fi twist, comes to the West Yorkshire Playhouse in an adaptation of the famous Charlotte Bronte novel by Linda Marshall-Griffith. It’s always daring and a little bit dangerous to mess with the classics. Will her story of archaeologists seeking a cure for a future pandemic hit the mark? Tickets are £13.50 to £30 from wyp.org.uk or 0113 2137700. On Thursday, September 29, the theatre is hosting a event curated by Bronte biographer Juliet Barker. Tickets are £3. A Life in Letters Readings begins at 7pm.
Wakefield Lit Fest
Friday, September 23, to Sunday, October 2.
Wakefield Lit Fest celebrates its 5th anniversary with more than 60 events scattered around the city. Highlights include talks by children’s writer Annabel Pitcher (from Holmfirth) and Skulduggery author Derek Landy, as well as a spoken word evening with poet Roger Mc Gough. There are writing workshops, film screenings, history walks and even a beer tasting on offer. For details visit www.wakefieldlitfest.org.uk
Hepworth Brass Band at Dewsbury Town Hall
Sunday, September 25, 3pm
Dewsbury Town Hall presents Hepworth Brass Band in Brass ‘n’ Bloom, a first concert for young music lovers. Featuring Mr Bloom from CBeebies, the family concert also promises music from Frozen, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Incredibles, Batman and Star Wars. Children are invites to come dressed as their favourite princess, pirate or superhero and there’s a prize for the best. Have a Go Workshops start at 2.30pm, offering youngsters the chance to make music for themselves, and the concert starts at 3pm. Tickets are £5 and £10 from www.kirkleestownhalls.co.uk or 01484 225755.
Where Do All the Dead Pigeons Go? at Lawrence Batley Theatre
Monday, September 26, 7.45pm
The Lawrence Batley Theatre’s Pay What You Decide season begins with a show, Where Do All the Dead Pigeons Go? by Scott Turnbull. Described as a frolic through cartoon and comic, science fiction and parable, memoir and fairytale, it begins at 7.45pm in the Syngenta Cellar. Although no-one pays up front – being asked to make a contribution afterwards – tickets need to be booked (as above).
September 27-30
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at the Alhambra
Tuesday and Wednesday, September 27 and 28.
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater brings contemporary dance to the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford. The group’s programme includes Revelations, the most widely-seen modern dance work in the world. Tickets are £16 to £33.50 from bradford-theatres.co.uk or 01274 432000.
