There's a rare after-dark Royal Opera House tour now booking

an image of a talk happening in front of a crowd inside the Royal Opera House — (Image credit: Royal Opera House)

It may sit in the mind alongside the eras of impressionist paintings and romantic poetry, but London’s Royal Opera House is both a historic institution and modern icon. Always changing with the times, the conservatory-cum-Gallerie-Lafeyette looking building has hosted some incredible performances from royal-attended operas to free lunchtime concerts. Now, it’s time for something a little different as it opens up for a series of exclusive after hours tours.

Covent Garden’s Royal Opera House will be hosting new late-night experiences which will feature talks, tours, demonstrations, installations, and other activities in a first-of-its-kind project. The evenings will finish with a silent disco in the Paul Hamlyn Hall – although presumably the playlist is more pop anthems than Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Who knows though, maybe you’ll be throwing shapes to Mozart’s greatest hits.

An image of the concert hall in the Royal Opera House, which features in The Fifth Element (1997).

Currently it’s a one-night only kind of event, which will take place on 21st August, where, similar to the usual day-time tours, you’ll be invited to step behind the scenes, exploring rehearsal studios, costumes, and production workshops which are usually off limits to the public. The evening will kick off at 5.30pm, running until 11.30pm where you’ll take in the historic wanders of the space. The evening will be split into four separate pillars: stories, stage, screen, and style. Guests will be treated to a programme of different snippets from the Opera’s history, including: a fight choreography demo, live music score performances, a discussion on ballet’s influence on fashion and a demonstration of how iconic costumes are maintained, restored and reused.

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There is also a pretty incredible line-up of creatives from inside some of the Opera's recent productions. Uzma Hameed who has worked on Woolf Works and MADDADDAM will explain how she transforms literature into dance. Costume designer Esther Bialas will reveal how she comes up with costumes and brings them to life, and chorus director William Spaulding will highlight how important the ensemble is to opera productions.

Tickets cost £60 per person, which includes a welcome drink as well as access to the Hall for the disco. You’ll get to choose two of the four tours – you get to pick whether to learn about the props department, the rehearsal rooms and side stage areas, the costume and jewellery department or the sound and broadcast department.

You can book tickets and find out more here.

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Hermione Blandford is the Content Editor for Shortlist’s social media which means you can usually find her scrolling through Instagram and calling it work, or stopping random people in the street and accosting them with a mini mic. She has previously worked in food and drink PR for brands including Johnnie Walker, Tanqueray, Gordon's, The Singleton, Lagavulin and Don Julio which means she is a self confessed expert in spicy margaritas and pints, regularly popping into the pub in the name of research.