It's great to see the City Varieties Music Hall in Leeds open again after its multi million pounds refurb, but has it lost some of its broken down charm?

The beautiful new glass lift is wonderful, the bar a joy and, indeed, the toilets are a vast improvement on the ancient latrines which resembled something from a Dickensian novel! However, there was something quite endearing about the peeling paint on the theatre ceiling (it was so bad that the Upper Circle was closed to the public), and, I'm sure, that Danny La Rue would be turning in his grave at the loss of his grotty dressing room somewhere in the bowels of the theatre.

The City Varieties didn't have wi-fi (it probably does now!), its drapes smelt of a bygone era, and everyone watching Ken Dodd on the opening night must have felt humbled to know that Charlie Chaplin once tread the boards at the Verts.

Modernisation and refurbishment are the words of progressives and contractors. The City Varieties' future has been secured for another 100 years - and that's a great thing - but, deep down, there will still be part of me that longs for those beaten up seats, peeling paint and an administration office that was piled high with photos of 'artistes' keen to reach opening night!