London (Fodor's 2012) - Fodor's [175]
Fodor’s Choice | Royal Opera House.
The renowned Royal Ballet performs classical and contemporary repertoire in this spectacular theater, where the decor may be Victorian but the stagecraft behind the red velvet curtain is state-of-the-art. | Bow St., Covent Garden | WC2E 9DD | 020/7304–4000 | www.roh.org.uk | Covent Garden.
Theater
Fodor’s Choice | Donmar Warehouse.
Hollywood stars often perform here in diverse and daring new works, bold interpretations of the classics, and small-scale musicals. Under current Artistic Director Michael Grandage, who succeeded Sam Mendes, Nicole Kidman, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Ewan McGregor have all been featured. | 41 Earlham St., Covent Garden | WC2H 9LX | 0844/871–7624 | www.donmarwarehouse.com | Covent Garden.
Novello Theatre.
Dating back to 1905 and refurbished a century later, the Novello specializes in popular contemporary musicals and serves as the Royal Shakespeare Company’s London base. | Aldwych, Covent Garden | WC2B 4LD | 0844/482–5170 | www.delfontmackintosh.co.uk | Covent Garden, Temple.
Opera
The London Coliseum.
Opera is the mainstay of London’s biggest theater, along with ballet in the summer and Christmas season. A vertiable architectural extravaganza of Edwardian exoticism, the restored baroque-style theater (1904) has a magnificent auditorium and a rooftop glass dome with a bar and great views. As one of the city’s largest and most venerable theaters, the Coliseum functions mainly as the home of the English National Opera. Despite financial problems, ENO continues to produce innovative opera for lower prices than the Royal Opera House. During opera’s off-season, the house hosts a number of dance troupes, including the English National Ballet (www.ballet.org.uk). | St. Martin’s La., Covent Garden | WC2N 4ES | 020/7632–8300 | www.eno.org | Leicester Sq.
Fodor’s Choice | Royal Opera House.
Along with Milan’s La Scala, New York’s Metropolitan, and Paris’s Palais Garnier, this is one of the world’s greatest opera houses. The resident troupe has mounted famously spectacular productions in the past. As for the present, it should be noted that the current vogue for dramatic, “director-driven” concepts has led this company to economize on spectacle and mount quite a number of stark, minimalist, and modern-dress opera productions instead (even with its sky-high prices). At least the extravagant theater itself—also home to the famed Royal Ballet—delivers a full dose of opulence. Tickets range in price from £4 to £210. TIP It may be worth showing up on the morning of a performance to purchase a same-day seat, of which 67 are offered. The box office opens at 10 am, but queues for popular productions can start as early as 7 am and unsold tickets are offered at half price four hours before a performance. There are free lunchtime recitals most Mondays in the Linbury Studio Theatre or the Crush Room (arrive early to get a ticket—between 11 am and noon), and three summer concerts are broadcast live to a large screen in Covent Garden Piazza. | Bow St., Covent Garden | WC2E 9DD | 020/7304–4000 | www.royalopera.org | Covent Garden.
SOHO
Art Gallery
Photographer’s Gallery.
Britain’s first photography gallery brought world-famous photographers like André Kertesz, Jacques-Henri Lartigue, and Irving Penn to the United Kingdom, and continues to program cutting-edge and provocative photography. The prestigious annual Deutsche Börse Photography Prize is exhibited and awarded here annually. There is a print sales room, a bookstore, and a café. | 16–18 Ramillies St., off Oxford St. | WC2H 7HY | 020/7831–1772 | www.photonet.org.uk | Free | Tues., Wed., and Sat. 11 am–6 pm, Thurs. and Fri. 11 am–8 pm, Sun. noon–6 pm | Oxford Circus.
Riflemaker.
In London’s oldest public building and a former