Ticket prices slashed for next ROHM season: Muscat

Muscat: Royal Opera House Muscat is planning exciting new initiatives from slashing the price of tickets to a slew of new projects for toddlers and needy children this season.

Children who suffer from cancer and with special needs would be involved in ROHM programmes and performances this year, said His Highness Sayyid Kamil bin Fahad Al Said, Member, Royal Opera House Muscat Board of Directors.

Sayyid Kamil said baby-sitting service would also be introduced so that parents who want to attend the opera at night can leave their kids in safe hands until the end of shows.

Ticket sales

“We are proud to announce that last season we have witnessed 93 per cent ticket sales, a very high percentage compared to that of other opera houses around the world, which average some 71-72 per cent,” said Sayyid Kamil.

“Also, in the last season, we had participation from outside the Sultanate from 82 countries. These statistics are wonderful and we are very proud of them,” Sayyid Kamil added.

“We have done some changes in booking tickets. Now the app for booking tickets is much faster and more efficient. Patrons can book their tickets through phones, laptops, or through Google and Facebook, and the seats will be displayed in HTML,” he said.

“Also, we have reduced and uniformed our ticket prices for cleric and family shows. We have introduced a nominal price for the tickets to ensure that everyone has guaranteed seats. Before, these events used to be free but were on the basis of ‘first come first serve’, so people had to come three to four hours in advance to get a seat. Now, for a very small price you will have your seat guaranteed, so you can arrive 15-20 minutes before the actual performance starts,” he added.

“We have also paid a lot of attention to our education outreach programme. We are going to make sure that we involve a lot of children who suffer from cancer and with special needs in our programmes and performances this year,” Al Said said. “We have a wonderful initiative called BambinO, where we will have activities for children between the ages of six months and two years.”

Al Said takes great pleasure in welcoming everyone to the new season of Royal Opera House Muscat 2018-19.

“We are very proud to announce our eighth season for the ROHM 2018-19 with the title ‘Around the world with ROHM’. We are also very proud to announce two co-productions with various opera houses. This season, we will witness some of the most famous artistes from all over the world participating here in the Sultanate,” His Highness said.

“We have a very diverse and enjoyable season ahead with some wonderful operas like Prince Igor, A Night in Venice, Madama Butterfly, La traviata, and our co-production Lakmé. We have some wonderful Arabic performances from Wael Kfoury, Nawal El Kuwaitia and Kadim Alsahir,” he added.

“We also have Namaste India, which is a dance and music show, and some wonderful family performances such as The Sleeping Beauty, a puppet show and Pagagnini, and some ballets from the Tokyo Ballet, as well as a spectacular performance Opera on Ice and wonderful concerts; the list goes on. We really hope that everyone who comes to the opera house will find something for them,” His Highness concluded.