The Second Theatre Royal, Covent Garden

In 1728, John Rich, actor-manager of the Duke's Company at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, commissioned The Beggar's Opera from John Gay. The success of this venture provided him with the capital to build the Theatre Royal at the site of an ancient convent garden, part of which had been developed by Inigo Jones in the 1630s with a piazza and church. At its opening on 7 December 1732, Rich was carried by his actors in processional triumph into the theatre for its opening production of William Congreve's The Way of the World. George Frideric Handel was named musical director of the company and his first season of opera at Covent Garden was in 1734. He bequeathed his organ, and it was placed in a prominent position on the stage, but was among many valuable items lost in a fire that destroyed the theatre in 1808.
Rebuilding began in December 1808, and the second Theatre Royal, Covent Garden (designed by Robert Smirke) opened on 18 September 1809 with a performance of Macbeth, with Sarah Siddons as the Lady. The actor-manager John Philip Kemble had raised seat prices to help recoup the cost of rebuilding, but the move was so unpopular that audiences disrupted performances by beating sticks, hissing, booing and dancing. The Old Price Riots lasted over two months, and the management was finally forced to accede to the audience's demands.


The nearest tube is Covent Gadren, of course.