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Dame Judi Dench marks Grand Opera House soiree with Gyles Brandreth with favourite seat dedication. A9, Dress Circle

Remembering it well: Stalwart friends Dame Judi Dench and Gyles Brandreth, revelling in stories of stage and screen on stage at the Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick, Kirkpatrick Photography

DAME Judi Dench’s return to her home city for the talk show I Remember It Well at the Grand Opera House has been marked by a seat dedication in honour of last night’s visit to the York theatre.

Dame Judi chose her preferred seat number for the first such dedication since the Cumberland Street theatre was refurbished in 2022.

The engraved gold plaque, placed on the front-row seat A9 in the Dress Circle, reads: “York’s celebrated star of stage and screen, Dame Judi Dench, performed here 10 October 2024”.

Dame Judi, 89, was joined on stage at the sold-out 7.30pm event by television presenter, theatre producer, journalist, author, publisher and former Conservative MP for the City of Chester Gyles Brandreth.

Dame Judi Dench’s commemorative plaque on her chosen seat: A9, Dress Circle

Together they presented their hit West End and Royal Albert Hall reminiscence, I Remember It Well, wherein Dame Judi and her friend Gyles undertook a roller-coaster trip down memory lane as they explored the story of her extraordinary life, from her childhood in Heworth, York, in the 1930s to her latest Oscar nomination – for Best Supporting actress in Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast – in 2022.

The packed auditorium, “filled with excited locals and far-afield visitors”, was entertained with anecdotes aplenty – stories, Shakespeare sonnets, songs and surprises – in a “two-hour party of lifetime”.

Audience member Alison (no surname provided), who watched from the Ambassador Box, said: “She is such an amazing lady.  A true legend and a night to remember. Judi and Gyles are so natural and comfortable together with such warmth.  We felt very honoured and lucky to be here.”

The poster for Dame Judi Dench and Gyles Brandreth’s Grand Opera House soiree, I Remember It Well

 The 2022 refurbishment included the replacement of 269 seats in the Dress Circle. Under the Dedicate A Seat scheme, “you could dedicate a seat to a loved one as an original gift, to your favourite Grand Opera House star or create a lasting legacy for someone who loved the theatre,” says the Grand Opera House website.

“For £250 per seat, an engraved plaque will be placed on the seat of your choice and you will receive a commemorative certificate. Your seat will then be dedicated for a minimum of three year.”

For full details, go to: https://www.atgtickets.com/gifts/seat-dedication/grand-opera-house-york/. “Choose your seat via the link and a member of the Grand Opera House team will be in touch shortly after purchase to discuss the inscription,” the site advises.

A touching moment in Dame Judi Dench and Gyles Brandreth’s show at the Grand Opera House last night. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick, Kirkpatrick Photography
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Dame Judi Dench to return home to York for I Remember It Well in conversation with Gyles Brandreth at Grand Opera House

The poster for Dame Judi Dench and Gyles Brandreth’s night of stories, sonnets and surprises at the Grand Opera House, York, on October 10

DAME Judi Dench is heading home to York for one night only in a special performance at the Grand Opera House on October 10.

Stage, film and television actress Dame Judi, 89, will be joined on stage at 7.30pm by television presenter, theatre producer, journalist, author, publisher and former Conservative MP for the City of Chester Gyles Brandreth.

Together they will present their sell-out West End and Royal Albert Hall show, I Remember It Well with Judi Dench & Gyles Brandreth. Tickets go on general sale at 10am on August 2 at atgtickets.com/york, preceded by ATG+ members 24 hours earlier.

Dame Judi joins her friend Gyles on a roller-coaster trip down memory lane as they explore the story of her extraordinary life, from her childhood in Heworth, York, in the 1930s to her latest Oscar nomination – for Best Supporting actress in Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast – in  2022. Expect moments from Shakespeare and anecdotes aplenty – stories, sonnets and surprises – in a “two-hour party of lifetime”.

Educated at The Mount School, and later briefly at the York School of Art, Dame Judi played a “forgetful angel” in the 1951 York Mystery Plays, staged by the St Mary’s Abbey ruins in the York Museum Gardens in the first revival since their suppression in 1569.

This was followed by her roles as a “young man in white clothing” in the 1954 production and the Virgin Mary in 1957, after completing her studies at the Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art. That year she made her professional theatrical debut as Ophelia in Hamlet at the Old Vic, London.

Her stage and screen career has taken in the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre; the television series A Fine Romance and As Time Goes By; the role of M in the James Bond franchise from 1995’s GoldenEye to M’s death in 2012’s Skyfall, and an Oscar win, among eight nominations from 1997 to 2022, for Best Supporting Actress in Shakespeare In Love in 1998.

Six film BAFTAs, three television BAFTAs, two Golden Globes, two Screen Actors’ Guild awards, seven Oliviers, one Tony award and three Evening Standard Theatre awards have come her way too.

Here in York, Dame Judi received receive the honour of Millennium Person of the Present award at York Mansion House in 2000, was made an Honorary Freeman of the City of York in 2002 and has had a riverside walkway, Dame Judi Dench Walk, named after her.

On the theatre front, although Dami Judi will be appearing at the Grand Opera House this autumn, she is a patron of York Theatre Royal.