Royal Opera House

Royal Opera House

Bow Street frontage with Plazzotta's statue, Young Dancer, in the foreground
Royal Opera House Location within Central London Show map of Central London Royal Opera House Royal Opera House (the United Kingdom) Show map of the United Kingdom
Full name	The Royal Opera House
Former names	Theatre Royal, Covent Garden (until 1892)
Address	Bow Street
Location	London, WC2
Coordinates	51°30′46″N 0°07′20″W / 51.5129°N 0.1222°W / 51.5129; -0.1222
Public transit	Covent Garden Bus: 6, 11, 14, 26, 59, 98, 139, 168, 176
Owner	Royal Opera House Covent Garden Foundation
Designation	Grade I[1]
Type	Opera house
Genre(s)	Classical
Capacity	2,256 (main auditorium)
Construction
Built	1728–1732 (original building)
Opened	7 December 1732; 291 years ago (1732-12-07)
Architect	Edward Shepherd (original building) Edward Middleton Barry (current building)
Builder	Lucas Brothers (current building)
Tenants
The Royal Ballet The Royal Opera
Website
roh.org.uk

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. The first theatre on the site, the Theatre Royal (1732), served primarily as a playhouse for the first hundred years of its history. In 1734, the first ballet was presented. 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.

The current building is the third theatre on the site, following disastrous fires in 1808 and 1856 to previous buildings.^[2] 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 2,256 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.^[3]