As a lover of performing arts, I couldn’t miss the Royal Opera House during my first time visit to London in 2018. The building dating from 1858 was extensively remodeled in the 1990s – the façade, foyer and auditorium are from the original structure, everything else is new.
It’s a nice building, although it felt a little bit cramped, reminding me of a kind of theater you’d find on Broadway, where all the space is occupied by the auditorium and there’s nowhere to just hang around. The Royal Opera House is not entirely like that, but still I wish there were more halls to walk around and benches to sit on. The Paul Hamlyn Hall adjacent to the main building provides some additional space, but mainly serves as a restaurant. If you don’t plan to order, there isn’t really anything for you to do there.
The auditorium, of course, is beautiful. And I loved the performance I was watching, the Lohengrin.
