The ROYAL BALLET AND OPERA-formerly the Royal Opera House (ROH) is a historic opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London

The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden after a previous use of the site

It is the home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

In 2024-The Royal Opera House was rebranded as the Royal Ballet and Opera from the Royal Opera House to reflect the combined companies that call the physical building their home

The current building is the third theatre on the site, following disastrous fires in 1808 and 1856 to previous buildings

The façade, foyer, and auditorium date from 1858 but almost every other element of the present complex dates from an extensive reconstruction in the 1990s

The main auditorium seats 2256 people making it the third largest in London and consists of four tiers of boxes and balconies and the amphitheatre gallery

The proscenium is 14.80 metres (48 ft 7 in) wide with the stage of the same depth and 12.20 metres (40 ft 0 in) high

The main auditorium is a Grade I listed building

The somewhat involved history of the ownership and management of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden can be split up into four main categories
1.The successive physical theatre buildings
2.The managers of the various theatrical and operatic companies which played there (historically, a mixture of actor-managers and impresarios)
3.The leaseholders of the opera houses built on the land and
4.The owners of the freehold (i.e. ground landlords)

HISTORY
FIRST THEATRE
The first theatre on the site, the Theatre Royal (1732), served primarily as a playhouse for the first hundred years of its history

A year later, the first season of operas, by George Frideric Handel began

Many of his operas and oratorios were specifically written for Covent Garden and had their premieres there

In 1734-the theatre presented its first ballet, Pygmalion

SECOND THEATRE
Rebuilding began in December 1808, and the second Theatre Royal, Covent Garden (designed by Robert Smirke) opened on 18 September 1809 with a performance of Macbeth followed by a musical entertainment called The Quaker

THIRD THEATRE
Work on a third theatre, designed by Edward Middleton Barry started in 1857 and the new building which still remains as the nucleus of the present theatre was built by Lucas Brothers and opened on 15 May 1858 with a performance of Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots

The theatre became the Royal Opera House (ROH) in 1892 and the number of French and German works offered increased

Winter and summer seasons of opera and ballet were given and the building was also used for pantomime, recitals and political meetings

During the First World War-the theatre was requisitioned by the Ministry of Works for use as a furniture repository

During the Second World War-the ROH became a dance hall

The Royal Opera House reopened on 20 February 1946 with a performance of The Sleeping Beauty

Reconstruction from the 1980s forward

In 2023 members of the orchestra were selected to play at the coronation of Charles III and Camilla

PAUL HAMLYN HALL
The Paul Hamlyn Hall is a large iron and glass structure adjacent to, and with direct access to, the main opera house building

The hall now acts as the atrium and main public area of the opera house, with a champagne bar, restaurant and other hospitality services, and also providing access to the main auditorium at all levels

The building was formerly known as Floral Hall

As well as acting as a main public area for performances in the main auditorium-the Paul Hamlyn Hall is also used for hosting a number of events including private functions, dances, exhibitions, concerts and workshops

LINBURY STUDIO THATERE
The Linbury Studio Theatre is a flexible, secondary performance space, constructed below ground level within the Royal Opera House

It has retractable raked seating and a floor which can be raised or lowered to form a studio floor, a raised stage, or a stage with orchestra pit. The theatre can accommodate up to 400 patrons

HIGH HOUSE PRODUCTION PARK - PURFLEET
The Royal Opera House opened a scenery-making facility for their operas and ballets at High House, Purfleet, Essex on 6 December 2010

The Bob and Tamar Manoukian Costume Centre, also designed by Nicholas Hare Associates, opened in September 2015, and provides a costume-making facility for the Royal Opera House and a training centre for students of costume-making from South Essex College

The building also houses the Royal Opera House's collection of historically important costumes

Other elements at High House, Purfleet, include The Backstage Centre, a new technical theatre and music training centre which is currently run by the National College for Creative Industries and was formally opened by Creative & Cultural Skills in March 2013 alongside renovated farm buildings

Acme studios opened a complex of 43 artist studios in Summer 2013