On 7 December 2009, the 81st Royal Variety Performance was again staged at the theatre in the presence of The Queen, and compèred by Peter Kay. Performers included Arthur Askey, Morecambe and Wise, The Crazy Gang, Reginald Dixon at the Wurlitzer organ, Joan Regan, Alma Cogan, George Formby, Beryl Grey, John Field, Flanagan and Allen and Charlie Cairoli. Compèred by Jack Hylton and held in the presence of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. The first Royal Variety Performance to be held outside London was staged at the Opera House on 13 April 1955. The first performance followed – the revue Turned Out Nice Again, starring George Formby. The new Opera House was opened on 14 July 1939 by actress Jessie Matthews and her husband, actor and director Sonnie Hale. It was the last new Wurlitzer organ to be installed in the UK and it is still in regular use today. A Wurlitzer organ was installed to the design of Horace Finch and he and Reginald Dixon played on the opening night.

It was designed in a modernist style with a sweepingly curved proscenium. However, in 1938 the second Opera House was demolished and the present 3,000-seat theatre opened in 1939.

The new and larger building, by architects Mangnall and Littlewood, formally opened just nine months later. The theatre's seating capacity was soon considered insufficient and in November 1910 was closed for reconstruction.

The first performance at the theatre was Gilbert and Sullivan's new Savoy opera, The Yeomen of the Guard on 10 June 1889. It had 2,500 seats, and was named Her Majesty’s Opera House. The original building, completed in 1889, at a cost of £9,098 was designed by the theatre architect Frank Matcham, who also designed the nearby Grand Theatre and the Tower Ballroom. The present theatre is the third such structure to have been built on the site. The Opera House Theatre is one of the largest theatres in the United Kingdom.

Opera tower address