[M George]

Royal Opera House project lines up city centre sites - from Crains Manchester Business News

This is an interesting article but if this project came to fruition what effect would it have on the other three large Manchester Venues, the Palace, Opera House and Lowry?

The Lowry plays host to a lot of top quality Opera and Ballet. Could the regional companies who visit the lowry compete with one or maybe two major arts organisations based in Mancheser? Would this lead to a downturn in business for the Lowry?

I doubt the Palace would be hugesly affected as it rarely plays host to opera or ballet but what of the current Opera House? Would a name change be required? Would the increase in theatres result in not enough business for all the theatres to survive? If one were to close I would assume the opera House would be the most likely to go?

Or, could this project do Manchester and Salford nothing but good? The Lowry has established itself as a major successful arts venue and with continued good management and programming it could continue to attract the top quality stuff it currently attracts. The Palace Theatre, as I mentioned, could, no doubt, continue playing host to musicals and other entertainments as it currently does. Maybe the current Opera House could rejig it's programming slightly and possibly eeven branch out into gigs?

I look forward to more information on this project with some interest.