More than 1 million visitors passed through the doors of the Royal Opera House (ROH) in the year following the venue’s relaunch in September 2018, the London-based opera house has announced.
The three-year renovation project, costing £50 million, was part of the venue’s Open Up project. The idea behind this scheme is to make opera and the opera house itself more open, accessible and inclusive. It involved making a number of key enhancements to the building. These include improved and new eating and drinking areas, an enhanced shop and a massive redevelopment of the front of house spaces.
One of the biggest improvements was a complete redesign of the Linbury Theatre. This intimate stage opened earlier this year and has already held performances of exciting new productions.
The relaunch has given the opera house a new opportunity to host a programme of daytime events and activities that give visitors an insight into ballet, opera and theatre craft. Taster and full-length live performances now take place in front-of-house areas, as well as workshops and interactive digital content.
More than 34,000 people have attended a daytime event at the ROH since September 2018, while some 5,000 people attended a free performance in the 2018-19 season. The new 2019-20 season presents 176 new daytime events, festivals and activities.
Alex Beard, chief executive of the Royal Opera House, commented: “We are delighted to showcase the artistry, craft and dedication that underpins every one of our performances at the ROH through a year-round programme of tours, events, festivals and free exhibitions. More than 1 million people visited the Royal Opera House last year, and we look forward to welcoming many more over the year ahead with inspiring insights into the extraordinary worlds of ballet, opera and theatrecraft.”
The range of events include Family Sundays with creative activities for all the family, while three-month to five-year-olds can take their first opera and ballet steps in specially curated Ballet Dots and Opera Dots workshops.
Adults can enjoy Live at Lunch performances by professional musicians, opera singers and dancers, as well as Recitals at Lunch featuring leading operatic talent and the Jette Parker Young Artists. Aspiring dancers and opera singers can brush up their skills in the Dance with the Royal Ballet and Sing at the Royal Opera House workshops.
For details of these and many more events, see the Royal Opera House’s Events pages.
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Opera Dots allows youngsters to take their first steps in opera (ROH 2018. James Bellorini).