ROH's 24-hour Box Office Opens Today

The box office for the newly renovated Royal Opera House opens for business today, selling over 87,000 tickets, many at cut-down prices, for the homecoming season. For the first time in the history of the house, the box office will remain open all night, both tonight and tomorrow night, operating for 48 straight hours in order to accommodate the expected initial demand and to facilitate overseas booking from any time zone.

The Royal Opera and Royal Ballet have been itinerant for two years while their Covent Garden home has undergone a £218m refurbishment. It's been a difficult two years too as the house has faced bankruptcy, a Parliamentary investigation, a complete change of management and the cancellation of an entire season in an effort to save money.

The ROH was ordered by the Government to modernise and lose its elitist image by slashing its prices after its reopening. In accordance with that, half of the seats in the new season will cost £40 or less while the most expensive seats will be £150, two-thirds less than under the old regime. Restricted view seats will be available each night for just £6 while prices at ballet matinees will start at £2. A series of free lunchtime concerts will also be open to the public.

The season will start on 4 December with an opening gala featuring Placido Domingo. Other season highlights include a new production of Verdi's Falstaff starring Welsh star Bryn Terfel.

For further information, contact the box office on +44-171-304-4000.

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