Opera house Opera house An opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building. While some venues are constructed specifically for operas, other opera houses are part of larger performing arts centers. Indeed the term "opera house" itself is often used as a term of prestige for any large performing-arts center. The first public opera house was the Teatro San Cassiano in Venice, opened in 1637. Italy is a country where opera has been popular through the centuries among ordinary people as well
Grand Opera House (Manhattan) modern style. It opened August 4, 1938 with a double bill of "Having a Wonderful Time" and "Sky Giant". It closed for demolition on June 15, 1960, in order to make way for the Penn South housing development, and was gutted by fire June 29. RKO Pictures later constructed a new theater called Chelsea West Cinemas in Penn South just west of the old opera house, now used by the School of Visual Arts as the SVA Theater. Notes Sources Grand Opera House (Manhattan) Pike's Opera House, later renamed the Grand Opera House, was a theater in New York City