Bradford 2025: Alhambra Theatre to play leading role with blockbuster year celebrating UK City Of Culture

And one of Yorkshire's greatest leading ladies is waiting in the wings ready to wow record breaking audiences in her most exciting ever role, writes Graham Walker.

As the curtain rises on the year of Bradford UK City of Culture 2025, the iconic Alhambra Theatre is about to take centre stage.

Majestically towering over the city centre, this legendary venue, with its 1,400 red velvet-clad seats, sweeping balconies, gilded arches and glittering chandeliers, is the symbol of Bradford’s rich cultural heritage and its ambitious future.

A masterpiece of Edwardian grandeur, the grand old dame of theatre is more a living, breathing institution that has anchored the city’s artistic soul through 110 years of history, laughter, and tears. It is the jewel in Bradford’s cultural crown.

Now the city’s flagship entertainment venue has a a new starring role as the poster-girl to help make the city a must-visit destination in 2025.

It is leading the cultural charge to attract audiences no just locally and regionally, but from around the country and beyond with a blockbuster year of shows - full details and tickets here.

Highlights in 2025 include three huge West End touring productions - Hamilton, Mary Poppins and Matilda - plus a diverse line-up of other top shows, from Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake and Midnight Bell, to South Korean’s Eun-Me Ahn Company - Dragons.

The Alhambra, its sister venues St George's Hall, The Studio, plus King's Hall and Winter Garden, under the collective brand of Bradford Theatres, aims to welcome upwards of 450,000 visitors next year, up from a usual year of around 370,000.

The economic impact will see millions of pounds of much need and extra cash being pumped into the city’s restaurants, bars, hotels, retail and more.

The city’s flagship culture venue is up for the job as we discovered on an exclusive tour of the Alhambra to find out more about this titan of entertainment.

From glitzy, major West End musicals like Les Misérables ,The Phantom of the Opera and Wicked, to poignant dramas, star-studded performances, and countless unforgettable nights, including the city’s famous pantos, the Alhambra stage has seen it all.

It has brought world-renowned stars to Bradford, many of them now celebrated on its walls in framed, original theatre posters. Legendary names up there include Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Derek Jacobi, Dame Barbara Windsor, comedy icons Tommy Cooper, Ken Dodd and even Hollywood's greatest ever slapstick double act, Laurel and Hardy.

Earning a much deserved place alongside them is Yorkshire's modern day mad-cap comedian Billy Pearce - honoured, not least of all, as he celebrates his 24th panto season there in Pinocchio, from Dec 7, 2024, to Jan 19, 2025 - get tickets here.

The cast-list of famous faces who have graced the stage at The Alhambra fills an entire wall of fame photo display in the entrance to the theatre's plush top floor Restaurant 1914 - which also offers diners stunning views of Bradford’s evolving skyline.

The Alhambra, built for just £20,000, transforming wasteland into a showbiz palace, the Alhambra was created by theatrical impresario Francis Laidler, the so-called King of Pantomime, who also gave us the modern day panto we know today - oh yes he did.

He introduced the the Sunbeams, a juvenile troupe, giving local youngsters the chance to take part, as they are today.

Laidler started out as a Bradford industrialist who transformed his wealth from brewing and wool into a passion for the arts. The Alhambra was designed to rival London’s West End. And from day one, it delivered. With its lavish interiors, the theatre exuded sophistication. It was an opulent paradise where every seat felt like the best in the house.

Inspired by its namesake, the Moorish Alhambra palace in Granada, Spain, the theatre’s exterior boasts intricate ornamentation that sets it apart as one of Bradford’s most distinctive landmarks. Inside, the opulence continues, with plush red carpets, comfortably padded seating, and a state-of-the-art electric heating system that, over a century ago, made it as snug in winter as it was glamorous year-round.=

It opened on March 28, 1914, just five months before the outbreak of World War 1. One of its first jobs was to host recruitment for the Bradford Pals, friends who worked, lived and signed up to fight together. Many died together.

But live theatre was trumpeted as an escape from the doom and gloom of the everyday. It transported lives into worlds of music, drama, and wonder. The Alhambra quickly became the soul of Bradford’s cultural life, as it is today. It remains one of the finest theatres in the North.

Bradfordians treasure this beloved space, passing on the experience to new generations, making memories that linger long after the final curtain.

The City Of Culture is set to give it an even bigger audience.

Adam Renton, General Manager of Bradford Theatres, says the theatre's unique qualities include the ability to host West End scale productions and he praised its amazing workforce, the unsung heroes who always provide a warm Yorkshire welcome, he said it will enhance Bradford's cultural offerings and boost the local economy.

He said: "We're expecting within the theatres this year to have up to 450,000 visitors. Normally, we have good attendance anyway, of around 370,000 so we're expecting a considerable uplift.

"I think what the UK City of Culture will do for Bradford is very much put us on a platform to show everybody that doesn't know Bradford, what it has to offer. We want people to come, experience Bradford, have a wonderful time, then come back in the future.

"It will be fantastic for the economy, for tourism. We will be signposting people to the other events that are happening throughout 2025 so that people will probably make a weekend of it, or an overnight stay. Restaurants will be busier, bars will be busier. Nighttime economy will benefit dramatically."

Penny Green, the Heritage Learning Officer for Bradford Theatres, says the Alhambra symbolises Bradford's cultural heritage.

"It's a beautiful palace in the centre of Bradford. From the outside, it has its domes and its arches named after the Alhambra Palace, the Islamic palace in southern Spain, looking so beautiful and so distinctive. And then you come inside this auditorium, and it's a bit like the Palace of Versailles.

"It's got beautiful freezes, gilding, plaster work. You're in the most fabulous place. Many people come in here and they they have their breath taken away. It's been described as the most beautiful theatre in the country, and I think many people in Bradford would agree.

"It really is a unique place and something to be very proud of.

"It's got a really bright future. It survived two world wars, a pandemic, really hard times. Financially, many other theatres have gone by the wayside, but the Alhambra is still standing, still looking fabulous. 2025 is going to bring some amazing musicals and incredible occasions here, and we really hope that's going to really create a fabulous future for the venue, going way into the next century.

"If I was going to use one word to describe the Alhambra Theatre, I would say, exquisite."

Bradford UK City Of Culture 2025 is a landmark year set to deliver more than 1,000 new performances and events, including 365 artist commissions, a series of major arts festivals, and exciting national and international collaborations.

For more information about the events for Bradford 2025 and to buy tickets visit: https://bradford2025.co.uk/whats-on/