Welcome to this special episode with James Brining, presented by Scarlett, Vicenzo, Beth, Vanessa and Seth from Mount St Mary's Catholic High School (Richmond Hill, Leeds).

James Brining is a Director and the Artistic Director and CEO of Leeds Playhouse. Since joining in 2012, he has directed a range of shows from new plays to large scale musicals including Oliver!, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, A Little Night Music, The Wizard of Oz and into the Woods. James is currently working on My Fair Lady, produced in collaboration with Opera North and opening in June. He will also be directing 'The Magic Flute' next season.

Musical Excerpt: The Magic Flute: Duet 'Pa-pa-pa' (Papageno & Papagena) with Gavan Ring as Papageno, Amy Freston as Papagena and Orchestra of Opera North, conducted by Robert Howarth.

In this episode, multi-talented Hannabiell Sanders and Yilis del Carmen Suriel speak about their musical and activist journeys, and recall how their band, Ladies of Midnight Blue evolved over the years.

Ladies of Midnight Blue are an Afro-Latin percussion and brass duet. They create a powerful and upbeat fusion of rhythms, weaving combinations of melodic percussion, brass, vocal chants, and mbira. They have performed all over the world and in the last 12 years they have been workshop facilitators and guest artists for various projects and residencies, including Opera North’s Resonance Residency. On Saturday 23 March 2024, they will be performing their family show A Love Revolution at the Howard Assembly Room.

Musical Excerpt: Ladies of Midnight Blue playing live at the Darlo Drum Festival 2020

In this episode Divina de Campo shares her passion for performing and tell us about her love of opera and her journey as an artist.

Divina is a British drag queen and singer who has been featured on national television programmes including The Voice, All Together Now and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK. Her love of theatre led her to star in many stage productions. In 2022, she won 'Best Performance in a Musical' at the UK Theatre awards for her leading role in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Divina will be in Leeds on Saturday 10th February for an intimate solo performance at the Howard Assembly Room.

Musical excerpt: Waving Goodbye by Divina de Campo.