Royal Opera House & Bow Street
Why is it significant?
On Bow Street, step back far enough to take in the pale columns of the Royal Opera House, with the great arched iron and glass of the Floral Hall beside it. This is the third theatre on this spot, and every one of them has been at the centre of London's musical life.
Key Facts
| Place | Royal Opera House & Bow Street |
|---|---|
| Address | Bow Street, London WC2E 9DD, United Kingdom |
| Geo Coordinates | 51.51290, -0.12260 |
| Part of Walk | Curtain Up: London's West End Theatreland, from the Savoy to Covent Garden and Leicester Square |
| Generated | Generated |
On Bow Street, step back far enough to take in the pale columns of the Royal Opera House, with the great arched iron and glass of the Floral Hall beside it. This is the third theatre on this spot, and every one of them has been at the centre of London's musical life.
The first opened in 1732, and it was paid for by a hit. The manager John Rich had staged John Gay's The Beggar's Opera a few years earlier, a rowdy show about thieves and highwaymen that ran and ran. London wits said it had made Gay rich, and Rich gay. With the money, Rich built a theatre here, and soon George Frideric Handel was premiering his operas and oratorios on its stage, playing organ concertos between the acts. The first London performance of Messiah took place in this theatre in 1743.
The building burned in 1808, and when the new one opened a year later with higher ticket prices, the audience rebelled. For more than two months, crowds came every night to shout, sing, blow horns and wave placards demanding the old prices, until the management gave in. History calls them the Old Price Riots. After a second fire in 1856, the present theatre opened in 1858.
It has had some unlikely lives. During the First World War it was used as a furniture store, and during the Second World War as a dance hall, with servicemen jiving where sopranos had died of consumption. Since 1946 it has been home to the Royal Opera and the Royal Ballet, and it was here that Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev formed one of the most celebrated partnerships in the history of dance.
Across the road stands the former Bow Street Magistrates' Court, the home of the Bow Street Runners, an early force of thief-takers, and the court where Oscar Wilde was charged in 1895. Music on one side of the street, justice on the other. Walk to the bottom of Bow Street, turn left into Russell Street, and follow the long colonnade to the portico of the Theatre Royal.