MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet first arrived at Covent Garden in 1965. Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn took the title roles on the opening night – MacMillan had originally created the work on Lynn Seymour and Christopher Gable. Nevertheless, Fonteyn and Nureyev’s performance had a rapturous reception, with 43 curtain calls and almost forty minutes of applause. The ballet has been at the heart of the Company’s repertory ever since, amassing more than four hundred performances. This classic production has been toured around the world and in 2011 was adapted for arena-scale performances at the O2 Arena.
Photo credit: Alice Pennefather
A lay-by allows vehicles to pull off Bow Street immediately outside the Paul Hamlyn Hall to drop off disabled passengers. The disabled parking bays on the opposite side of Bow Street and in Floral Street cater for the whole Covent Garden area, not just the Royal Opera House.
The Box Office, Royal Opera House Shop, Information Desk and Cloakroom are situated at the entrance level below the Paul Hamlyn Hall. Counter heights at the Box Office, in the bars and at some public telephone points are designed to be accessible for wheelchair users. One Box Office sales position, the Information Desk and bars have induction loops to assist customers with impaired hearing. Menus are available in large print. The Bow Street/Piazza Link Coffee Shop is also accessible to wheelchair users.
Guide dogs are welcome in the auditoria or can be looked after at the foyer cloakroom by front-of-house staff.