Venue: Dubai Opera
Address: Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Blvd
Town: Dubai, AE

Dubai Opera is a 2,000-seat, multi-format, performing arts centre located within The Opera District in Downtown Dubai. It was developed by Emaar Properties to host a variety of performances and events including theatre, opera, ballet, concerts, conferences and exhibitions. Its plans were announced by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in March 2012 and it was completed in 2016. It opened on 31 August 2016 with a performance by Plácido Domingo. The first season featured Bizet's The Pearl Fishers opera and tenor José Carreras. Dubai Opera has flat floor capacity of 1,800 m2 (19,000 sq ft). This floor can be hired for weddings, gala dinners, fashion shows and exhibitions. The building is created by Atkins and principal architect Janus Rostock, allows it to transform into three modes: a theatre, a music hall, and a banquet or event hall in a 'flat floor' mode. In January 2015, Emaar named Jasper Hope as the Chief Executive of Dubai Opera. Hope was the COO of London's Royal Albert Hall. Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) was the main contractor for the development, having worked with Emaar in building the Dubai Mall. An earlier proposal to build a cultural centre on an island in the Dubai Creek designed by architect Zaha Hadid was announced in 2008 and shelved during the property crash in Dubai. This venue, located in The Lagoons, would have accommodated an opera house with a 2,500 seating capacity, an 800-seat playhouse, a 5,017 m2 (54,000 sq ft) arts gallery, a performing arts school, and a '6-star' themed hotel. The first Emirati singer to appear at Dubai Opera was Hussain Al Jassmi on 10 October 2016. Shortly after that, the award-winning hit musical Les Misérables ran for three weeks. In 2017 the venue staged the inaugural BBC Proms Dubai - just the second time ever that the United Kingdom's premier classical music series hosted events abroad in its 112-year history. Dubai Opera's longest running show was the Phantom of the Opera in late 2019. In just under 4