Audiences invited to rediscover Cole Porter at performance by the Tiger Lillies in Leeds

The trio will perform in Leeds, Manchester and Gateshead in October, uncovering the delight, despair and delirium that lies beneath the surface of Porter’s more romantic and mysterious works in Love for Sale.

Olivier Award-winning musicians Martyn Jacques and Adrian Stout - who make up The Tiger Lillies - return to Leeds for another Opera North Projects commission. It follows their darkly twisted Lulu - A Murder Ballad, which toured to widespread acclaim in 2014 in partnership with Warwick Arts Centre and West Yorkshire Playhouse.

In typical Tiger Lillies style, the twisted and grimy cabaret will re-imagine some of Porter’s best-loved classics including My Heart Belongs to Daddy, Love for Sale and Miss Otis Regrets as well as hits from his most famous musicals. The concert is a darkly-humorous compliment to Opera North’s upcoming production of Porter’s feverishly spirited classic musical Kiss Me, Kate which opens at Leeds Grand Theatre on Monday, September 21 before touring to Theatre Royal Newcastle, The Lowry Salford Quays and Theatre Royal Nottingham.

Opera North’s Projects Director Dominic Gray said: "I couldn’t think of a more fitting group than the other-worldly sound of The Tiger Lillies to show that behind the gaiety and glamour, there is a darker side to Porter’s music, a side of thieves and prostitutes shifting between a major and minor feeling – in fact the song ‘Love for Sale’ was banned from the radio following moral outrage. Opera North Projects celebrates all that is unique and genre-defying and we are delighted to welcome back The Tiger Lillies who embody this same ethos in their twisted cabaret."

Love For Sale will be performed at Royal Northern College of Music Manchester on October 27, the Howard Assembly Room Leeds, on October 31 and Sage Gateshead on November 20.

For the Leeds performance visit howardassemblyroom.co.uk or ring the box office on 0844 848 2727.