In 1830, Harris retired from the theatre and a Mr Calcraft took on the lease. This theatre attracted a number of famous performers, including Paganini, Jenny Lind, Tyrone Power and Barry Sullivan. By 1851, the theatre was experiencing financial problems and closed briefly. It reopened in December under John Harris, who had been manager of the rival Queen's Theatre. The first production under Harris was a play by Dion Boucicault. Boucicault and his wife were to make their first Dublin personal appearances in the Royal in 1861 in his "The Colleen Bawn". The first performance of Boucicault's play "Arrah-na-Pogue" was held at the theatre in 1864, with Boucicault, Samuel Johnson, John Brougham and Samuel Anderson Emery in the cast.