Smash-hit comedy musical The Book of Mormon is making its way back to Leeds this November.
Known and loved for being one of the best musicals of the 21st Century, scooping up dozens of coveted awards both in the US and here in the UK along the way after it first debuted on Broadway back in 2011 and then went on to take the West End by storm in 2013, The Book of Mormon is heading out on another UK tour in 2025.
And, of course, the Elders will be paying us a visit here in Leeds.
The hilarious musical production will take to the stage at the Leeds Grand Theatre in mid-November from Tuesday 11 to Saturday 29.
Image: The Book Of Mormon
Unfamiliar with the show? The Book of Mormon follows a pair of Mormon boys who are sent on a mission to a place that’s a long way from their home in Salt Lake City.
The multi-award-winning production is the work of South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
It was also co-created alongside revered stage songwriter Robert Lopez, who is the first and only double ‘EGOT’ winner, so you just know it’s a good show.
Since making its world premiere in 2011 on Broadway, The Book of Mormon has been performed on three continents, and has smashed all sorts of long-standing box office records in New York, London, Melbourne, Sydney, and cities across the US along the way.
Image: The Book Of Mormon
It’s also won a whopping nine Tony Awards, and over 30 international awards too.
When it first took to the stage in the West End back in February 2013, the London production set the record for the highest single day of sales in West End history, and then went on to scoop four Olivier Awards – including for ‘Best New Musical’.
Early ticket access is available from midday on Thursday 30 January to 10am on Friday 7 February, sign up here so you don't miss out.
The tiramisu hype lives on, and this time it's coming to Leeds.
It really does feel like the traditional Italian dessert has taken the world by storm as of late.
Everything from tiramisu cups and tiramisu coffees have been popping up all over our feed, and now tiramisu in drawer form is popping up in the city centre.
Misu Tiramisu is an independent business that began at Manchester's Christmas Markets and quickly became one of the most popular operators, all thanks to its miniature tiramisu ‘drawers’.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
The individually portioned and colourfully packaged desserts quickly became one of town’s top puddings, and owners Aleem and Aishah went on to launch a stand inside the Manchester Arndale too.
And now they’re branching out again in Leeds inside Trinity shopping centre for a two month residency.
You’ll find all their delicious flavours of handmade tiramisu, including classic, pistachio, chocolate, Biscoff, mango, and lemon - they'll also have some gluten-free tiramisu on offer as well, so no one has to miss out.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Misu Tiramisu owners Aleem and Aishah spent a year refining the recipe for their tiramisus after a trip to Milan, first launching with their first market stall in Sale.
Misu Tiramisu is now open inside Trinity shopping centre opposite Boots Opticians and Pop Specs.
They're open every day of the week for you to get your tiramisu fix, from 9am to 8pm Monday to Saturday and from 11am to 5pm on a Sunday.
And trust us Leeds, they're just as delicious as they are adorable.
Fossilised 320-million-year-old fish found in Leeds’ Roundhay Park
Clementine Hall
A prehistoric fish fossil has been unearthed at Roundhay Park in Leeds.
The fascinating prehistoric skull bone of a coelacanth fish was discovered by a geologist at Roundhay Park earlier this year.
It is thought the creature was frozen in time aeons ago, during an era when the park was submerged under a vast tropical lagoon.
The remarkable discovery has now been kindly donated to Leeds Museums and Galleries and added to the natural sciences collection at Leeds Discovery Centre.
Image: Leeds City Council
The Leeds fossil was found by Ru Smith of the Yorkshire Geological Society during a reconnaissance walk he was carrying out ahead of a planned field excursion in the north Leeds park.
Describing the moment he made the discovery, Ru said: “There’s a layer of rock in the park which dates from around 320 million years ago, from a time before the breakup of the continents, when what is now the park would have been situated close the Equator and under the warm waters of a tropical lagoon. West Central Africa would be a good place to find similar environments in the present.
“There’s a bed of freshwater mussels called Carbonicola at one level in the rock, and opening a piece of shale from this bed in my hands I saw something unusual – a distinctive skull bone of a large fish. I knew straight away this was something different and very rare."
The bone was verified byexperts as belonging to a coelacanth older than those found elsewhere in Yorkshire, making it the oldest fossil coelacanth discovered in the region.
Ru added: “Coelacanths are pretty amazing fish and it’s just very cool to think that at one time, you could have been standing in Leeds and watching them swim around above a bed of mussels in Roundhay Park.
“That’s really the wonder of geology, looking at the rock and time travelling in the imagination to what was a very different world.”
Emily Sergeant -
21st January 2025 
