It was designed by James Robinson Watson, chief assistant in the office of Leeds-based architect George Corson, and opened on 18 November 1878.

It was built as a complex in three parts: the theatre, a set of six shops and Assembly Rooms, all facing onto New Briggate, in High Victorian style of red brick with stone dressings and a slate roof, the whole being a Grade II* listed building.

[1] The exterior is in a mixture of Romanesque and Scottish baronial styles, and the interior has such Gothic motifs as fan-vaulting and clustered columns.

Productions at the theatre have included: The Phantom Of The Opera, Dirty Dancing, Shrek The Musical, Oliver, We Will Rock You and Wicked.

Leeds Grand Theatre hosted the world stage premier of Kay Mellor's Band Of Gold in November 2019.