Coming up:

                                                                March  22^nd   Ham House

                                                                March 27^th BBC Tour

                                                                April Windsor Town Walk

                                                                April 19^th Planning Meeting

                                                                May or June Poppy Factory Richmond

                                                                May Chiltern Open Air Museum

                                                                June 21^st Ascot Ladies Day

                                                                July Greenwich

                                                                August Reading Museums

                                                                September 8^th Heritage Day

                                                                September Avebury House & Ring

                                                                November 10^th Lord Mayor's Show

                                                                October Oxford Colleges Tour

                    Summer visits to:     Royal Military School of Music - Kneller Hall

                                                                Olympic Park

                                                                Brownsea Island

                    Autumn visits to:     Theatre

                                                                Ballet

Trip reports:

04/02/12  Royal Opera House Tour
It was a bitterly cold day with snow forecast for the evening, however 19 of us still made it to the Royal Opera House for a tour of discovery as to what goes on behind the scenes. 
We started off in the £250 seats in the auditorium having a talk about the history of the Royal Opera House. We were taken around the building and shown how it was transformed after it’s big refit  in the 1990’s. There are now numerous  practice studios, 4 rooms where costumes are designed and made, rest areas, a lovely restaurant, bar and cafe facilities and so on all squashed onto this historic site .  We were also able to view and given an explanation of how the scenery is moved from back stage to front stage at the touch of a button.

 I think the highlight for all of us was seeing 3 performers for the Royal Ballet’s production of Song of the Earth, going through a rehearsal in one of the practice studios. This was fascinating to watch and we were very privileged and lucky to see Tamara Rojo, Rupert Pennefather and Carlos Acosta practising their art so close up under the watchful gaze of Monica Mason the director of the Royal Ballet.

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