Manchester Opera House
Encyclopedia
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
is a 1,920 seater commercial touring theatre which plays host to touring musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
s, ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
, concerts and a Christmas pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
. It is the sister to the Palace Theatre
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 Manchester Opera House on Quay Street are operated by the same parent...
which is a similar venue in nearby Oxford Street at its junction with Whitworth Street. It is a Grade II listed building. The theatre opened its doors on Boxing Day
Boxing Day
Boxing Day is a bank or public holiday that occurs on 26 December, or the first or second weekday after Christmas Day, depending on national or regional laws. It is observed in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth nations. In Ireland, it is recognized as...
in 1912
1912 in architecture
The year 1912 in architecture involved some significant events.-Buildings:* December 26 - Manchester Opera House, in Manchester, England, opens as the New Theatre, designed by Richardson & Gill with Farquarson.-Awards:...
.
The Opera House is particularly noted for hosting the 1958 European premiere of West Side Story
West Side Story
West Side Story is an American musical with a script by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and choreographed by Jerome Robbins...
and the British regional premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
's musical The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)
The Phantom of the Opera is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux.The music was composed by Lloyd Webber, and most lyrics were written by Charles Hart, with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. Alan Jay Lerner was an early collaborator,...
with a production that opened in 1993 and ran through to 1995, an exceptional run for a regional production. The Opera House was also the venue for a stage show, Gorillaz
Gorillaz
Gorillaz is an English musical project created in 1998 by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. This project consists of Gorillaz music itself and an extensive fictional universe depicting a "virtual band" of cartoon characters...
s Demon Days Live.
Manchester Opera House also saw the premiere of Never Forget
Never Forget (musical)
Never Forget is a jukebox musical with a book written by Guy Jones and Ed Curtis, with screenwriter Danny Brocklehurst acting as story advisor, based on the 1990s songs of boyband Take That, written by Gary Barlow...
, the Take That
Take That
Take That are a British five-piece vocal pop group comprising Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Robbie Williams. Barlow acts as the lead singer and primary songwriter...
musical. The DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
of the show was also filmed there. The cast included Tim Driesen
Tim Driesen
Tim Driesen is an actor, notable for roles in both musicals, plays and television serials. He has composed a full scale musical as well as a number of pop-songs. In 2007, he created the role of Adrian Banks in the Take That musical, Never Forget...
, who played the role of Adrian Banks/Mark Owen
Mark Owen
Mark Anthony Patrick Owen , is an English singer-songwriter. He is a member of pop band Take That. The band were hugely successful during the 1990s and have enjoyed even more success since their reunion in 2005...
. The musical has had both of its UK tours premiere at the Manchester Opera House.
The world premiere of GHOST The Musical
GHOST The Musical
Ghost The Musical is a musical with book and lyrics by Bruce Joel Rubin and music and lyrics by Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard.Based on the hit 1990 romantic drama film of the same name, the musical had its world premiere at the Manchester Opera House in Manchester...
was held at the theatre on March 28, 2011, running until May 15, 2011. This was part of an out of town try out before transferring to London's West End in June 2011.
The main theatre in Greater Manchester where opera is currently performed is The Lowry
The Lowry
The Lowry is a theatre and gallery complex situated on Pier 8 at Salford Quays, in Salford, Greater Manchester, England. It is named after the early-20th century painter, L. S. Lowry, known for his paintings of industrial scenes in North West England...
in Salford, which is regularly visited by Opera North
Opera North
Opera North is an English opera company based in Leeds. The company's home theatre is the Leeds Grand Theatre, but it also presents regular seasons in several other cities, at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, the Lowry Centre, Salford Quays and the Theatre Royal, Newcastle...
. As of 2010 there is an active proposal for the Palace Theatre
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 Manchester Opera House on Quay Street are operated by the same parent...
to be converted into the "Royal Opera House, Manchester", which would be a sister of the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an 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 of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
in London.
The theatre houses 7 bars; Beecham Bar, Stalls Bar, Phantom Bar, Auditorium Bar, Circle Bar, Gallery Bar and the members only 100 Club. It has recently been redecorated (March 2011), although the green and gold colour scheme of the auditorium has not changed.
Notable Productions
- GHOST The MusicalGHOST The MusicalGhost The Musical is a musical with book and lyrics by Bruce Joel Rubin and music and lyrics by Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard.Based on the hit 1990 romantic drama film of the same name, the musical had its world premiere at the Manchester Opera House in Manchester...
- The Phantom Of The OperaThe Phantom of the OperaLe Fantôme de l'Opéra is a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serialisation in "Le Gaulois" from September 23, 1909 to January 8, 1910...
- Never ForgetNever Forget (musical)Never Forget is a jukebox musical with a book written by Guy Jones and Ed Curtis, with screenwriter Danny Brocklehurst acting as story advisor, based on the 1990s songs of boyband Take That, written by Gary Barlow...
- West Side StoryWest Side StoryWest Side Story is an American musical with a script by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and choreographed by Jerome Robbins...
- Annual Christmas PantomimePantomimePantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
- Sister Act (musical)
- Legally Blonde (musical)Legally Blonde (musical)Legally Blonde is a musical with music and lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin and book by Heather Hach. The story is based on the novel Legally Blonde by Amanda Brown and the 2001 film of the same name. It tells the story of Elle Woods, a sorority girl who enrolls at Harvard Law School to...