The Telegraph reports that the Royal Opera House is in talks to create a new £250m opera house oop north. The location is East Manchester, the setting of the TV series Shameless and the home of Manchester City.
Tony Hall, the ROH's chief executive, said he was "excited about how this might progress our programme of getting the work of the Royal Opera House to as wide an audience as possible". Spreading Covent Garden production costs and fulfilling the diversity remit wouldn't hurt either.
Ongoing financing isn't mentioned - though it should be pointed out that ticket income only covers a third of the Royal Opera House's costs, even at £210 a pop . The battle may be not simply to get a new house built, but to secure further funding, adequate to ensure it has a viable future.
