I have just finished reading the Deborah Bull book Dancing Away which covers the same period of upheaval in the history of the Royal Opera House. This series was mentioned so I thought I would give it a go. The problem is where is it? It was shown on the BBC at the time and apparently caused uproar. It was released on VHS and an accompanying book was launched. But it has never been shown again on the BBC, never been released on DVD/BluRay and isn't available on any on demand services. It is however at the time of writing on YouTube in fairly low res.
It is worth putting up the low quality to watch this as it charts the goings on, which are mainly arguments about money in various scenarios. The fact is that places like this cannot function without hefty donations from the public and rich patrons. This is partly due to the manpower required to put on shows and the fact selling tickets to these events isn't easy. Due to high ticket prices and low interest from the public.
The other aspect is that these are seen as events for the rich and a certain percentage of the patrons want to keep it this way.
Now while the people involved in running the place may be classed as "upper society", this obviously doesn't equate to them being in the upper tier of competence. I can say this because there is quite a bit of managerial incompetence on show. Both financially and in terms of managing people. They may talk the Queens English but its obvious these people on show are no better at their jobs than the rest of us. The fact that these institutions are still running seems to be down to luck and the fact rich people want somewhere to go to feel important is keeping the lights on. Because it certainly isn't ticket sales.
Anyone with any interest in the arts will find this very interesting, it will also shatter any illusion that these individuals are in any way "superior", based on what is on show here your average supermarket manager would do a better job running this institution.
This is one series that deserves to be on iPlayer but if the management of the ROH has any input then I can't see this happening anytime soon.
Either due to ineffective lobbying or the fact that they apparently want this show buried. A follow up was commissioned which they refused to engage with....
