Editing Covent Garden (section)

===Royal Opera House===
{{Main|Royal Opera House}}
[[File:Royal Opera House-Covent Garden-London crop.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|[[Edward Middleton Barry|Edward Barry's]] 1858 façade of the Royal Opera House]]

The Royal Opera House, known as "Covent Garden",<ref name=simply>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Y1_AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA46 |page=46 |title=A Dictionary for the Modern Singer |author=Matthew Hoch |publisher=Scarecrow Press |date=28 Apr 2014 |isbn=9780810886568 |access-date=23 September 2020 |archive-date=3 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103175430/https://books.google.com/books?id=1Y1_AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA46 |url-status=live}}</ref> was constructed as the "Theatre Royal" in 1732 to a design by [[Edward Shepherd]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V2d12iZkgOwC&pg=PA407 |title=Merriam-Webster's collegiate encyclopedia |page=407 |publisher=Merriam-Webster |year=2000 |isbn=0-87779-017-5 |access-date=25 October 2015 |archive-date=29 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729182149/https://books.google.com/books?id=V2d12iZkgOwC&pg=PA407 |url-status=live}}</ref> During the first hundred years or so of its history, the theatre was primarily a playhouse, with the [[Letters Patent]] granted by Charles II giving Covent Garden and Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, exclusive rights to present spoken drama in London. In 1734, the first ballet was presented; a year later [[Handel]]'s first season of operas began. Many of his operas and [[oratorio]]s were specifically written for Covent Garden and had their premières here.<ref>{{cite book |author=Winton Dean |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ekWgum0Vr0QC&pg=PA274 |title=Handel's operas, 1726–1741 |pages=274–285 |publisher=Boydell Press |year=2006 |isbn=1-84383-268-2 |access-date=25 October 2015 |archive-date=29 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729220206/https://books.google.com/books?id=ekWgum0Vr0QC&pg=PA274 |url-status=live}}</ref> It has been the home of [[Royal Opera, London|The Royal Opera]] since 1945, and the [[Royal Ballet, London|Royal Ballet]] since 1946.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rohcollections.org.uk/CollectionPersDeValois.aspx |title=Ninette de Valois Bequest and Papers |publisher=Royal Opera House Collections Online |access-date=27 July 2010 |archive-date=7 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120407002011/http://www.rohcollections.org.uk/CollectionPersDeValois.aspx |url-status=live}}</ref>

The current building is the third theatre on the site following destructive fires in 1808 and 1857. The façade, foyer and auditorium were designed by [[Edward Middleton Barry|Edward Barry]], and date from 1858, but almost every other element of the present complex dates from an extensive £178&nbsp;million reconstruction in the 1990s.<ref name=roh/> The main auditorium is a [[Listed building#Categories of listed building|Grade I listed building]]. The inclusion of the adjacent old Floral Hall, previously a part of the old Covent Garden Market, created a large new public gathering place.<ref name=roh>{{cite web |url=http://www.roh.org.uk/about/royal-opera-house/history |title=History |publisher=Royal Opera House |access-date=17 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407064033/http://www.roh.org.uk/about/royal-opera-house/history |archive-date=7 April 2014}}</ref> In 1779 the pavement outside the playhouse was the scene of the murder of [[Martha Ray]], mistress of the [[John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich|Earl of Sandwich]], by her admirer the Rev. [[James Hackman]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |author=Philip Rawlings |author-link1=Philip Rawlings |encyclopedia=[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]] |title=Hackman, James (bap. 1752, d. 1779) |year=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Walter Thornbury |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45151 |title=Old and New London: Volume 3 |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |access-date=10 September 2010 |pages=255–269 |year=1878 |archive-date=25 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525194945/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45151 |url-status=live}}</ref>