York's Grand Opera House may get a late-night licence under plans by owners Apollo Leisure.

The Grand Opera House in York: possibility of a late-night licence

York's Grand Opera House may get a late-night licence under plans by owners Apollo Leisure.

Senior executives behind the Cumberland Street venue say it will remain open as a theatre but the possibility of obtaining a late licence for the venue has been investigated.

Sam Schrouder, chief executive of Apollo's entertainment division, said the Grand Opera House had never had it so good, with three big shows lined up, including Pirates of Penzance, with TV star Paul Nicholas in the lead role.

"It is always difficult for theatres with the capacity of the Opera House to run without a subsidy," he said.

"We do not have any financial support at all, but we do get the support of the people of York, which has been magnificent.

"The Opera House is having its finest time - we have lots of big shows coming and I am absolutely thrilled that we are managing to attract productions of such high quality.

"There are two sides to Apollo's business - I head the arm which deals with theatres and arena and the other arm deals with health suites, cinemas and music bars.

"That division does look at our various properties to see if it's possible to get licences for them as a matter of course.

"That's to find out what we could do with them should their situation change - a number of our premises have been looked at in this way, including the Grand Opera House in York."

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