Musing Mends The Soul: Royal Opera House Tour

On the morning before coming home I decided that instead of wandering aimlessly around even more shops, I'd indulge in another "cultural" experience. This time it was a backstage tour of The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. The informative and engaging guide started with some history of the architecture and development of the building and then a tour of the auditorium.

There was a rehearsal for Gounod's Romeo et Juliette on set beginning behind us and as we left, the opera buffs were getting excited as the calls to stage had gone out for opera star Alfie Boe, they had to be forcibly removed before he appeared.

Other than being aware of his name I didn't really know anything about Alfie Boe but it seems that he was discovered singing on the shop floor of the TVR car factory in Blackpool. He auditioned for the D'Oyly Carte and has become a huge opera star.

The tour then took us backstage to the design departments to see the process of taking an opera from page to stage. The 3D models of the sets were just magical, like those wonderful, atmospheric toy theatres much beloved by the Victorians. As we passed backstage there were racks upon racks and hampers full of the most glorious, highly detailed and extravagant costumes - and all completely hand made. How some of the dancers manage to move under the weight is amazing. It was every little girl's sequin filled dressing up fantasy fulfilled.

The highlight of the tour was the visit to the ballet studio where most of the principal dancers were being put through their punishing paces. The most eye-opening thing I learned was that dancers start their day at 10.30 am and dance through until 5.30pm on a performance day and 6.00pm on a non-performance day and on performance day the curtain will fall at 10.30 - 10.40pm. I think they should tell this to all those little girls who dream of life as a ballerina.