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Royal Opera House

Italy

Royal Opera House

Royal Opera House, in Mumbai (Bombay), is India's only surviving opera house. Situated on Charni Road, near Girgaum Chowpatti beach, the adjective ‘Royal’ was prefixed to ‘Opera House’ to highlight that its foundation stone was laid during the British Raj in 1909, and King George V inaugurated the b

uilding in 1911 while the building was still under construction. Work on the Royal Opera House was completed in 1912, although additions were made to the building up to 1915. Gradually, the entire area near it came to be referred as "Opera House", and the building began hosting plays, dramas, music concernts and gradually, Hindi films. It became a popular venue for Bollywood film shows in the 1970s and 80s. In the 1980s, as home video players began to get popular, cinema houses in Mumbai started to register losses. In the 1990s, with the growing popularity of cable television, cinema houses in Mumbai began to close down due to a lack of clientele. In 1993, Opera house closed down. However, after years of neglect following its closure in 1993, restoration work started in 2008. The exterior restoration was completed in 2011 and restoration was completed in 2016. The area around the theatre...

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