The Grand Theatre (also known as Leeds Grand Theatre and Leeds Grand Theatre and Opera House) is a Theatre and Opera house in the centre of Leeds, UK. It was designed by James Robinson Watson, chief assistant in the office of Leeds-based architect George Corson, and opened on 18 November, 1878. The exterior is in a mixture of Romanesque and Scottish baronial styles, while the interior has such Gothic motifs as fan-vaulting and clustered columns. It seats approximately 1,500 people.
The Theatre is home to Opera North and is regularly visited by Northern Ballet Theatre. It has hosted many touring productions, musical artists and comedians.
The Theatre closed at the end of May 2005 for a major refurbishment, entitled transformation, which will include re-seating the Stalls area and the installation of air-conditioning, as well as dramatically improving backstage facilities and providing a proper home for Opera North. Re-opening is scheduled for summer 2006. The refurbishment is estimated to cost £31.5m.
A second phase of transformation, for which fund-raising is now in progress, aims to restore the Assembly Rooms, a forgotten performance space on the first floor of the Theatre building with its own entrance on New Briggate. The Assembly Rooms opened in 1879 and functioned as the Plaza Cinema between 1912 and 1978 and subsequently as a rehearsal space for Opera North.
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