Grand Opera House

My husband got us tickets to enjoy Joseph for our 1st Wedding anniversary. As we were quite early, we decided to get a drink. He went to the bar and brought a Coke for himself and a Rum & Coke for myself. We were sipping and looking forward to getting seated as we'd been waiting a while.

Eventually we were allowed in. When walking up the stairs, a young girl looked me up and down and said, "You're not allowed glassware in here." I was quite taken aback and I replied, "Ok, now worries, can we drop stuff off at our seats and I'll come right back out with it again?" (Note we weren't told at the bar any of this and this was our first time in 10 years going to the GOH).

She wasn't happy, stared at my drink and asked if it had alcohol in it. I said yes it was a Rum and Coke and I was happy to drink it outside but I'd like to drop my belongings off as I was carrying, coat, hand bag, snacks, etc. She again wasn't helpful and I was gradually becoming more aware this whole issue was causing a delay in 50+ getting seated behind us. I was so embarrassed, even told the girl that we'd get out of the way of the queue and again we were met with the most unhelpful stare ever.

I was so annoyed, my husband actually said about leaving to drink our drinks and get out of the employees way. When I questioned my husband he stated he was served the drinks and not told at any time about glassware or about alcohol not being permitted in the room.

I was livid to see that rows below me were quite happy to pour and drink their wine/ champagne. The girl also spent the entire show standing to our right 'keeping watch'. Really put us off entirely.

Thanks for ruining our anniversary date.

We attended here last night for the wonderful play, “In The Name Of The Son”, a stunning virtuoso performance by actor Shaun Blaney.
We took our seats in the auditorium 15 minutes before curtain up but noticed how slowly a “sell-out” performance was filling up. At curtain up time of 19.30, there still had been no announcements for the audience to take their seats, the bar outside was still full and a hive of activity!
The corollary of this was that the performance started some ten minutes late. I attribute this to poor management on behalf of the Opera House staff.
I love this venue, its history and grandeur, but hugely disappointed in the staff losing control, also watching latecomers being admitted some fifteen minutes after the play had eventually got under way.

Myself and my dad did the Theatre Tour of the GOH guided by the lovely Ellen. Ellen was so knowledgeable and approachable, answered all the groups questions and had a lovely way about. You could tell she really loves working at GOH.

I have lived in Northern Ireland all my life, been to pantomimes in early 90s and have always loved getting a chance to go to musicals as an adult.

This Tour was so good, getting to hear the history of such an iconic venue and getting to go on stage was brilliant.

I would highly recommend, it is only 1.5hours and is usually early morning on a Saturday but tickets get snapped up very quickly so book ahead if you are planning to come to Belfast.

Something nice but different to do even for someone who has lived here all their life.

Following restoration work to this iconic theatre they are now conducting tours of the facility which includes audio visual displays, timeline from 1800's to present day which includes the damage caused in the " troubles" and how it survived.
Now a listed building the decorative art work by Frank Matcham architect is fantastic.
He was responsible for several theatres including the Tower Ballroom Blackpool.
The tour also includes access to the stage and back stage and of course watch out for the ghosts.
Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and entertained us with stories of past actors, events and audiences.
Looking forward to the reopening in October.
Well worth booking a tour.

I bought my mum and myself tickets to see 'Catch me if you Can' as part of her Christmas Present. We could not of been more disappointed. An absolutely dreadful show, boring, horrendously bad acting, such a let down. Patrick Duffy was the 'star' of the show and he was simply dreadful. We left after the first half. (As did plenty of other folks!) It didnt help either that my mum could not really hear anything (not that she was missing much) but she got the gist of it and it was definitely not worth the £32.50 per ticket. Shame on you Grand Opera House for rating and showing this sad, poor production.

I was lucky to get tickets for a tour of the Grand Opera House. Our guide told us a bit of history, pointed out symbols amongst the ornate decor (we would never have noticed these) and we ended up on the stage looking out at the 'audience'! A wonderful way to spend a few hours. Would highly recommend looking out for tickets.
Thankyou to our host Anna (apologies if I got your name wrong)

We did a tour of the Opera House with Tia as our guide and found it exceptionally interesting and informative. Tia was personable, easy to listen to and provided lots of interesting details regarding the architecture, history of the building and the performers throughout the years.
We enjoyed seeing the auditorium from the stage.
Overall a good experience and value for money.

I bought my mother and her two friends tickets for maggies feg run in the Grand opera house. The show was so disgusting they had to leave half way through the show. When I purchased the tickets I explained the ladies were elderly and mobility issues. Not one was I advised how crude the show would be.

It does stated that the show has string language and adult scenes. This was not just strong language or adult scenes. This was completely inappropriate and every second word was a swear word not to mention the inappropriate behaviour taking place on stage.

The grand opera house should have a better disclaimer for these kind of shows. Personally it has completely lower the tone of the opera house in our eyes.

I will be making a formal complaint regarding this matter.

We did the tour of the Opera House and it was really interesting and informative. Our guide Ellen really made the details come to life and was incredibly friendly and helpful. It really brought the history of the place to life - I feel like I'll always look at the Opera House in a new light now.

We went to see the young people’s presentation of the musical Oliver . We were totally blown away by the standard of the singing , dancing , passion and sheer enthusiasm of these young boys and girls.
They called it amateur but , in our opinion, it was better than many professional performances we have seen over the years.
A special mention must be made of Caroline McMichael in the role of Nancy . What a voice ! One to watch for the future