Backstage at the Royal Opera House

Yes!!! Really!!!

It's not a great photo, but it was taken at the back of the ROH stage about 15 mins before the evening's performance. Most of the floor here can move, so we all had to stand right at the back in case anything moved! We also saw the props room, which was full of scenery panels, and models of all kinds of objects, finished and unfinished. A lot of this gets taken on tour - imagine the logistics of arranging that. The detail on all of this was amazing. Everything is finished to a standard such that it looks real from close up, even though the audience are too far away to appreciate all that detail. We also saw a ballet studio and saw the class and rehearsal schedule for the Royal Ballet (and seeing the hours of class and rehearsal required made most of us feel tired).

The tour was part of a senior women in tax networking evening. I'm not much of a networker - small talk is not my thing. However, I do think these evenings are worthwhile, as I chatted to several heads of tax, not all of whom have a VAT specialist working for them. It could be very useful when I'm next looking for a job....