The Stage

Manchester Palace Theatre’s future as northern base for ROH looks uncertain

Published Wednesday 11 November 2009 at 16:15 by Lalayn Baluch

Plans for Manchester’s Palace Theatre to become the northern outpost of the Royal Opera House face uncertainty, following the Ambassador Theatre Group’s £90 million acquisition of Live Nation’s UK theatrical venues.

Last week, ATG’s historic purchase of Live Nation’s 16 venues, including the Palace Theatre, was finalised - making the company the biggest theatre operator in Britain, with control of almost 50,000 seats around the country.

While Live Nation had provisionally agreed for the Palace Theatre to be used by Manchester City Council for the proposed ROH scheme, ATG is yet to decide on the future of the venue.

Speaking to The Stage, ATG co-founder and chief executive Rosemary Squire said the ROH’s plan to boost opera and ballet provision in the regions was “absolutely fantastic”.

However, she said a decision would not be reached until after meetings with ROH chief executive Tony Hall and MCC leader Howard Bernstein.

Squire said: “I do know it is ambitious and likely to be expensive, and, of course, at a time when everybody is tightening their belts, we need to all be sure we can find the money to do it. I’m not ruling anything out, but I’m not ruling anything in either, because I genuinely don’t know.

“Any plan to support getting the Royal Opera or Royal Ballet out of London, so more people can have access to them, I’m absolutely 100% behind it. Whether this is the right plan and one that is going to add up in this financial climate, let’s find out over the coming weeks.”

A spokeswoman for the ROH project said the organisation still intended for the Palace Theatre to become its northern base. She said MCC had been in regular dialogue with Live Nation since the sale become imminent and was “confident” the change in ownership would not prove to be a “big threat” to the plan.

“It’s quite soon after the Live Nation deal with the Ambassador Theatre Group went through, so they’ve all got discussions booked in over the next few weeks,” she added.

“Manchester City Council and [ROH chief executive] Tony Hall will be meeting with Rosemary Squire to discuss the future.”