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Dateline: 28th October, 2008
Palace May Be ROH Northern Base It was announced yesterday that the Royal Opera House may use Manchester's Palace Theatre as its northern base for productions by both The Royal Opera and The Royal Ballet. As we reported last month, there were rumours that the London-based opera and ballet company would create a purpose-built facility in conjunction with Manchester City Council, possibly on the site of the current BBC Manchester building on Oxford Road when the BBC moves its operations to Salford Quays in 2011. The latest release from Manchester City Council states that it is in the early stages of talks with ROH to establish a presence for them at the Palace Theatre, also in Oxford Road. Agreement has been reached in principle with the current owners of the Palace and the smaller Opera House, Live Nation. The Palace was originally built in 1891 but was extensively refurbished in the 1980s with support from the Arts Council, and it is now one of the area's leading venues for large-scale popular touring shows. Many opera and dance companies currently use the more modern theatre spaces at the Lowry in Salford Quays. According to Sir Howard Bernstein, Manchester CC's chief executive, there is still a lot of work to do on the proposal. He added, "If successful, this will be fantastic for Manchester and further enhance our strong cultural offer. Establishing a new production, training and performance base here for the Royal Opera House would deliver significant economic benefit to the city by attracting more visitors and creating new jobs for local people." Tony Hall, chief executive of The Royal Opera expressed his delight at the developments, saying, "The Palace Theatre is an iconic building in the heart of Manchester and is a perfect location for developing our relationship with cultural and educational centres in the city. Discussions are at a preliminary stage and we will be consulting with a wide range of stakeholders as we go forward." Nothing has yet been formally agreed with the Council or the DCMS, but further announcements are expected very soon. No official statement has yet been released by Live Nation. David Chadderton
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