Opera house

An opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building. While some venues are constructed specifically for operas, other opera houses are part of larger performing arts centers.

History

The first public opera house came into existence in 1637 as the Teatro San Cassiano in Venice, Italy, in a country where opera has been popular through the centuries among ordinary people as well as wealthy patrons; it still has a large number of working opera houses. In contrast, there was no opera house in London when Henry Purcell was composing and the first opera house in Germany was built in Hamburg in 1678. Early United States opera houses served a variety of functions in towns and cities, hosting community dances, fairs, plays, and vaudeville shows as well as operas and other musical events.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, opera houses were often financed by rulers, nobles, and wealthy people who used patronage of the arts to endorse their political ambitions and social positions or prestige. With the rise of bourgeois and capitalist social forms in the 19th century, European culture moved away from its patronage system to a publicly supported system. In the 2000s, most opera and theatre companies raise funds from a combination of government and institutional grants, ticket sales, and private donations.

Opera House (disambiguation)

An opera house is a theatre building used primarily for opera performances.

As a specific venue, Opera House may refer to:

Opera House may also refer to:

Opera House, Wellington

The Opera House is a proscenium theatre in Wellington, New Zealand, located on Manners Street opposite Te Aro Park.

History

Construction work on the building, originally known as the "Grand Opera House", began in 1911. William Pitt, the architect, was based in Melbourne, Australia, and much of the work was overseen by local architect Albert Liddy. It is a brick building, with wooden floors. The Opera House has three levels: stalls, circle and grand circle. It has fine moldings and an ornate dome. On either side of the proscenium arch are two boxes – arranged on top of each other.

In 1977, it was restored by the State Insurance company, and for many years it was known as the State Opera House. Today, it is simply called "The Opera House".

In recent years, The Opera House was operated by the same Trust which ran the nearby St James Theatre.

The Opera House was used for the theatre scenes in Peter Jackson's 2005 film King Kong.

In July 2011 Positively Wellington Venues, an integration between the Wellington Convention Centre and the St James Theatre Trust, began managing this theatre along with five other venues in the capital city.