The Opera House in Quay Street, Manchester, England, is a 1,920-seater commercial touring theatre that plays host to touring

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

s, ballet, concerts and a Christmas pantomime. It is a Grade II listed building. The Opera House is one of the main theatres in Manchester, England. The Opera House and its sister theatre the

Palace Theatre, Manchester The Palace Theatre, Manchester, is one of the main theatres in Manchester, England. It is situated on Oxford Street, on the north-east corner of the intersection with Whitworth Street. The Palace and its sister theatre the Opera House on Quay Str ...

on Oxford Street are operated by the same parent company, Ambassador Theatre Group.

History

The theatre opened as the New Theatre in 1912, renamed the New Queen’s Theatre in 1915 and as the Opera House in 1920 when it came under the wing of John Hart and his associates of United Theatres Ltd. In 1931 it was bought by, and prospered under, Howard & Wyndham Ltd which had been formed at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow in 1895 by Michael Simons. The group`s managing director A Stewart Cruikshank, headquartered at the group's headquarters in the King's Theatre, Edinburgh was joined on the board by Charles B Cochrane who now became a visiting producer at the Opera House, premiering numerous musicals and revues. The theatre staged the full range of plays, musicals, opera, and pantomime. It closed in 1979 and for five years was a bingo hall. The Palace Trust acquired it in 1984 and returned it to a theatre. In 1990 it was acquired by Apollo Leisure and staged large-scale musicals. It was subsequently sold to Ambassador Theatre Group in 2009. In March 2020 the theatre acquired Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) status along with the Palace Theatre.

Architecture

The theatre has a rectangular plan and is built of

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

ed brick with a slate roof. Its symmetrical fifteen-bay facade is in the Classical style with a five-bay centre with fluted Ionic columns. Above the three central bays is a relief of a horse-drawn chariot within a semi-circular arch. The gable has a moulded

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

on brackets. The entrance canopy is a 20th-century addition. The auditorium has two curved cantilevered balconies with large overhangs each holding 500 seats. Either side of the stage are stacked

boxes A box (plural: boxes) is a container used for the storage or transportation of its contents. Most boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides. Boxes can be very small (like a matchbox) or very large (like a shipping box for furniture), and can ...

between pairs of fluted Corinthian columns. The high

proscenium A proscenium ( grc-gre, προσκήνιον, ) is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor ...

arch is decorated with a circular medallion flanked by

gryphons The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail, and back ...

. The high ceiling above the auditorium takes the form of a coffered segmental tunnel vault. The stage is 42 feet deep and 37 feet wide. The orchestra pit holds 80 musicians. The theatre has 1,920 seats. The theatre was redecorated in March 2011 keeping the green and gold colour scheme of the auditorium unchanged.

Notable productions and premieres

* 1958 - European premiere of '' West Side Story'' * 1993 to 1995 - British regional premiere of

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...

's musical '' The Phantom of the Opera'' * 2005 - Demon Days Live concert by

Gorillaz Gorillaz are an English virtual band formed in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, from London. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: 2-D (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (guitar, ...

* 2011 - World premiere of '' Ghost The Musical'' * 2012 - UK premiere of Dolly Parton's musical ''

9 to 5 Working(laboring) time is the period of time that a person spends at paid Wage labour, labor. Unpaid work, Unpaid labor such as personal housework or caring for children or pets is not considered part of the working week. Many countries regula ...

'' * 2017 - World premiere of ''Bat Out of Hell: The Musical'' * 2017 - World premiere of Take That's musical ''The Band'' * 2019 - World premiere of ''

& Juliet ''& Juliet'' is a 2019 coming-of-age stage musical featuring the music of Swedish pop songwriter Max Martin, with a book by David West Read. The story focuses on a "what if" scenario, where Juliet does not die at the end of Shakespeare's '' ...

'' * 2020 - World premiere of '' Back to the Future: The Musical'' * 2022 - UK premiere of ''Mrs. Doubtfire''

References

External links

Official website

via ATG

Independent Guide
{{Authority control Theatres in Manchester Theatres completed in 1912 Grade II listed buildings in Manchester 1912 establishments in England

History

Architecture

Notable productions and premieres

See also

References

External links