From stage to screen – the Royal Opera House returns to the cinema

The Royal Opera House makes a return to cinema after sixteen months of closure

The Royal Opera House has announced the return of its cinema programme after sixteen months of closure. The international distribution will bring the theatre's productions to more than 2,000 screens worldwide. 

Details for the upcoming season, including dates and booking details, will be announced on Tuesday 7th September 2021.

During the time of closure, the Royal Opera House lost £3 out of every £5 of income and, in order to survive the impact of the pandemic it set up an emergency plan to ensure financial recovery. The ROH is the largest arts employer in the UK and to survive these difficult times it sold a David Hockney portrait of Sir David Webster, its chief executive from 1945 to 1970, which was painted to mark his retirement. It sold for £12.8 million.

Edgar Kamga-Sande, Head of Cinema and Distribution at the Royal Opera House, said,

Building on well over 10 years of successful broadcasts, this season has been specially designed to re-ignite interest in our art forms, bringing first-class performances to those wanting to experience the finest ballet and opera in the world, on their doorstep. After a challenging 16-month hiatus, we are thrilled to be back at your local cinema.

The ROH cinema programme launched in 2008 and with the 2021-2022 season – the first full ROH programme for two years – screenings will be broadcast to audiences in UK, and in more than 35 countries around the globe, beginning with The Nutcracker.

Already announced:

La bohème Screenings from Sunday 17 October 2021

The Dante Project Screenings from Tuesday 25 January 2022

Gramilano( Editor )

Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.

His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.