Redevelopment of the Royal Opera House

Question A – Then and Now

The Redevelopment project of the Royal was regarded as a mixture of success and failure. Seven years after the completion of the project, the operation of the ROH appears to be very successful. Assess what has changed between 1999 and 2007, and how the earlier problems have been resolved. Consider critically whether all is now well.

Introduction

The problems and issues surrounding the Royal Opera House are complex in nature. This report aims to put some sense into this complexity and critically evaluate to what extent the redevelopment in the late 1990’s was a success or failure. We will first systematically look at the recent history of the ROH and its problems, then we will look at how these problems were viewed and solved by major stakeholders, finally we will assess critically how successful the changes have been.

Reavill’s work will be used where a total of 4 reports that were published during and after development work at the ROH. Of significant interest are the following papers:

• �The Problems of the Lyric theatres in London – A Stakeholder view’

• �The Management problems of London’s Royal Opera House- The Final Act’

The 1st was published just before the opening while the 2nd only two seasons after.

Along with His work general information regarding the ROH available publicly on the Internet or in Journals will be used extensively.

This report is not an avenue to merely provide facts and information, rather is will analyse and evaluate ROH’s problems and whether they were ultimately solved or not albeit within a limited framework.

Difficulty or Mess?

Were the Problems associated with the ROH and in particular it’s construction difficulties or was it a mess. The difference between difficulties and messes are outlined below and as they are different in nature, they require different approaches and will provide different results.

Difficulty Mess

Bounded Unbounded

Limited Timescale Long, uncertain timescale

Priorities Clear Priorities called in question

Limited Applications Uncertain but greater implications

Can be treated as separate entity Can’t be disentangled from it’s context

Limited number of people involved More people involved

Know what needs to be known Don’t know what needs to be known

Know what the problem is Not sure what problem is

Know what would be a solution No solutions

Difficulties are generally solvable to a certain degree. Messes cannot be unless they are first bounded into solvable problems.

There are 3 types of categories of potential problems at the ROH; these are interlinked and also susceptible to external forces.

1. Artistic

2. Financial

3. Administrative

Artistically the ROH has performed well and has been able to attract the top performers from around the world. It is part of the elite club of opera houses around the world that includes the Paris Opera Ballet, Bolshoi Kirov and New York City Ballet. Although successful the ROH needs to continually provide performers with the best facilities and recognition. When the terms offered to Artists were unfair 5 resigned from the Royal Ballet, subsequently they were replaced and the situation resolved. For this report we will only look at the Financial and Administrative �Problems’ and how far they have been rectified.

The benchmarks against which the problems will be measured are the �Aims and Aspirations’ defined in their literature of 1996:

• To present high-quality opera and ballet to the highest possible standard

• To offer a wide range of repertory

• To