Report of an interview of Tony Hall by David Bain
Swedenborg Hall, London
19 September 2002
Tony Hall was born in Birkenhead and spent much of his childhood on the move
around England. He attended Oxford University and was employed by the BBC
as a journalist, working first of all in Belfast. He described this as a challenge,
to ensure that he was reporting the news, rather than creating it. Subsequently
he worked on the radio with the Today programme and then the World at One
with Sir Robin Day. Later he moved to TV, working on Newsnight and the Six
O'Clock News. John Birt promoted him to Chief Executive of TV News and Current
Affairs, a job he held under a number of different titles. In this role, he
oversaw the introduction of Radio Five Live and News 24.
He has been attending performances at the Royal Opera House since he was a
student and he has gradually moved seats down the House. The building houses
passionate people, who believe in what they are doing. That very day, he had
seen the dancers rehearsing waltzes from Mayerling in the Ballet Studio, Keith
Warner directing the little boy in Wozzeck, the props department working on
The Sleeping Beauty and the stage crew setting up for Turandot. In the words
of the new Director of the Opera, Tony Pappano, the difficulty is going home.
Tony explained the job of the Executive Director. It is to provide freedom
and resources to the artistic directors. He described the arts as "business-like,
not a business". The opera house had an annual turnover of £65m.
He had experienced a variety of management styles at the BBC, which had equipped
him to become an "enabler".
He explained the current governance arrangements at the Opera House. The previously
separate Boards of Development, Fundraising and the Friends had merged. A
single Board of Directors, currently comprising 17 people, met 5 or 6 times
a year. They acted as a non-executive Board, holding the executives to account
on behalf of the public. They received reports from the Executive Director
and the Artistic Directors of the Royal Ballet and the Royal Opera, they set
the strategy and they judged performance against plans and objectives. This
process enabled clarity, empowerment and prompt decision-making. The Board
had sub-committees to consider Finance and Audit, Fundraising and Programming.
A policy committee, comprising senior managers of the Opera House, met regularly
to consider and share matters of corporate importance, such as the website,
the use of the big screen and union issues. This committee brought together
the separate cultures of the opera, the ballet, front-of-house, the production
departments and the stage itself and was an important forum for the cross-fertilisation
of ideas.
Tony Hall meets regularly with the Director of the Royal Ballet to discuss
issues of people and money. They plan 2 to 3 years ahead, dealing with production
budgets, pricing and marketing. The Ballet would prefer to plan 6 months ahead,
but the Opera (with its international network) requires 3 years' notice. It
is the Executive Director's responsibility to ensure that both the Opera and
the Ballet achieve a fair share of new and existing resources; but ultimately
the Executive Director has the last word in this respect.
Tony Hall was questioned about the large number of new opera productions in
the forthcoming season. He confirmed that these were essential for the vitality
of the opera company, whether they be shared productions or created "in-house".
He was particularly pleased that, after a gap of some years, the Royal Opera
had again commissioned a new opera, Sophie's Choice. There would, however,
be more investment in the new ballet productions as well. The forthcoming
season would see a new production of The Sleeping Beauty. He hoped that there
would be more new productions of the classics than in the company's recent
history.
Asked who decides the split of funding between Opera and Ballet, Tony Hall
confirmed that it is the decision of the Board, acting on the Executive Director's
recommendations. He presided over some tough sessions with the senior managers
of the two companies. Considerable juggling was required with the available
resources, but ultimately he believed that fair distributions were achieved.
The increasing costs of production and performance led to consequential issues
of pricing, fundraising and commercial development. Wonderful things had happened,
however, when the House was financially secure. In the context of sound finances,
the Royal Opera House produced excellent world-class opera and ballet, with
real excitement and buzz.
He believed in investing in the new and commissioning new works. He had been
excited by Tryst, created in the last season by Christopher Wheeldon. He hoped
he would be persuaded to create more works for the company. In connection
with commissioning new works, the Royal Opera House had reached a significant
sponsorship agreement with BP for the forthcoming season. Tony Hall always
filled up with BP petrol and he encouraged the audience to follow his lead!
Tony Hall was passionately keen to encourage new choreography and new choreographers.
The Vilar young artists programme for the Opera, embracing 6 singers and 2
others, had got off to a successful start. The Ballet had produced impressive
work in the Clore Studio, but the dancers work for little more than goodwill.
A small amount of money had been generated to encourage new choreographers
and Cathy Marston would be the first to benefit.
Deborah Bull was now in charge of the Linbury Theatre and Clore Studio and
was introducing formal programming. The lack of funding for these venues was
an ongoing difficulty. The brochure for Booking Period 3 contained booking
information about two operas in the Linbury Theatre and other events. In the
fullness of time, Tony Hall looked forward to a co-ordinated programme across
the three venues.
He believed that broadcasting was a key area of development and he hoped that
Radio 3 and BBC 2 would make more transmissions. He also had an aim of broadening
the archives, to hold a copy of every cast in every work and to make them
available for members of the public to view.
Access was another issue for the future. It was intended to increase the use
of the big screen and in other cities. The Opera House was trying hard to
bring performances to the regions. Tony Pappano was hoping to tour concert
performances of operas. The Linbury and Clore were too small-scale to receive
the main work of the House.
Tony Hall commented on the recent increase in funding to the Arts Council
and how it might be distributed. Whilst expressing caution, given the number
of competing arts bodies, he set out the principles of the Royal Opera House's
imminent application for additional funding. The core theme was more output
for more resources. The bid would include structured funding for the Linbury
Theatre and the Clore Studio, funding to commission new work and the establishment
of a wide archive of filmed performances, available for public viewing.
Although the proportion of public funding at the Royal Opera House (currently
33%) was much higher than in the United States, it was dropping. In other
words the grant was increasing, but fundraising was increasing faster. Tony
Hall was aware, however, of the current economic climate and that fundraising
was likely to be more challenging in the medium term. The ROH was looking
at other methods of raising income, such as merchandising and publishing books.Tony
Hall was asked about the recent press coverage of the Equity dispute and the
disquiet about the Artistic Director's leadership. He confirmed that Equity
deputies had met with the ballet management team in mid August. Management
were working through the questions posed by Equity. Management would endeavour
to provide timelier information to the company about casting and proper rehearsal
time for second and third casts. The discussions had gone down well. Tony
Hall's intention was to make the working life of the company clearer and better.
He was astounded by the commitment of dancers to their work from a young age,
a commitment, which he described as "hugely impressive". On the
other hand, the organisation had undergone "a change of dynasty"
and there were bound to be some uncertainties.
It was suggested that there could be political interference at the BBC and
Tony Hall was asked whether he encountered any such interference at the Opera
House. He confirmed that he was continually working to build the support of
journalists and politicians, as well as growing the 26,000 strong Friends
of Covent Gardens. It could be an uphill struggle to persuade politicians
of issues, particularly funding, but Tony Hall "was used to that".
A member asked what responsibility the Royal Opera House took for dancers
when they leave the company. Tony Hall commented that the ROH had a part to
play in the ongoing fitness of dancers and in preparing them to cope with
life after the Royal Ballet. In that regard, he had been absolutely delighted
to attend a presentation recently by 5 dancers of course-work, in connection
with a degree course they were following at Middlesex University.
Questioned about the Royal Ballet's limited record of employing black and
ethnic minority dancers, Tony Hall advised that the company was addressing
this problem, although it would take time, years in fact. In the meantime,
positive steps were being taken to reach out to the black and ethnic minority
communities. The recent co-operation with the Notting Hill Carnival was very
encouraging.
Referring to the Ashton/MacMillan heritage, Tony Hall described it as "fantastically
important". Due weight must be given to the heritage repertoire, which
should be developed and cherished. It was also important to build new works
on the company and to find a "new Ashton". In response, it was pointed
out that the current exhibition of designs for MacMillan ballets in the Amphitheatre
foyer featured works, which were not being revived this year on stage. Members
expressed concern that the costumes for the recent production of Anastasia
had been sold in the end-of-season costume sale.
Members asked questions about the scheduling of repertoire. In the last season,
there had been fewer ballets in performance, a preponderance of full-length
ballets and long blocks of performances, which some of the regular audience
found boring. Some members had enjoyed the varied triple bills of earlier
seasons, particularly the imaginative theming, such as "Stravinsky",
"MacMillan" and "Diaghilev". Tony Hall confirmed that
this was a matter of artistic direction. It was necessary to programme a long
run of The Sleeping Beauty, to free up rehearsal time for new works. The marketing
department had been doubtful initially about the wisdom of blocking long series
of performances, but there was no evidence that the box office had dropped
off.
Members were concerned about the lack of matinee performances and the difficulty
of access for the public living at some distance from London. Tony Hall advised
that performances were plotted 2 or 3 years ahead and it was difficult to
make short-term amendments, particularly as technical rehearsals were part
of the overall planning. Nevertheless he acknowledged the current dearth of
matinee performances for the ballet. It might be possible to commence some
Saturday performances at an earlier time. The ROH would address the issue
of more matinee performances within the overall planning cycle.
Concerns were expressed about the paucity of casting information. By way of
example, only two names were announced for The Sleeping Beauty, whereas in
the past the casting for the Lilac Fairy, Carabosse and the Bluebirds was
announced as well. Similarly only two names had been announced for Manon.
Tony Hall confirmed that the Royal Ballet was committed to publishing fuller
casting information, in time for the booking leaflets.
A member, who had only recently become interested in ballet, commented on
the lack of information available about ballet in general. Other members expressed
disappointment that the majority of upcoming Insight Days appeared to be devoted
to opera. Tony Hall emphasised the central importance of education to the
work of the Opera House and the growing significance of the website in this
regard.
Some Members expressed disappointment about the Royal Gala. Tony Hall confirmed
that it had been agreed with the Palace far too late to allow the programming
of opera. Consequently the burden fell on the Royal Ballet, who had prepared
the programme during their Australian Tour. After the Gala, the Queen had
written letters of thank-you, both to Tony Hall and to the Chairman.
Questioned about the box office, Tony Hall confirmed that they were looking
at the ticket exchange policy. There had also been difficulties with the large
number of cast changes. He thought that the box office felt a lot friendlier,
but was looking at more ways of improving service.
Tony Hall answered questions about the current booking regime, particularly
the long lead-in time between booking and performance. It was difficult for
the public to book so far ahead, when they were unaware of other diary commitments.
Tony Hall explained that it was necessary to have a long lead-in, in order
to facilitate the phasing of bookings between the Friends and the general
public. He had been concerned about the number of Friends bookings, which
were unfulfilled (as many as 1,000 in one booking period). Under new procedures,
the box office had been ringing Friends applicants, where the precise request
could not be fulfilled. As a result, only 50 or 60 had been disappointed on
the most recent booking period. It was intended to introduce a new box office
computer system next year, which it was hoped would improve the booking process.
Members questioned whether it was appropriate to have a separate general public
booking by post, before booking in person opened. Tony Hall confirmed that
the ROH was looking at this.
A member reported that on occasion she had not received all the tickets she
had requested as a Friend, only to encounter members of the public, who had
purchased tickets through a newspaper campaign and received a free programme
and champagne as well. Tony Hall confirmed that, now that the Box Office was
ringing back Friends, whose applications could not be met in full, this kind
of difficulty should occur far less in the future. Further comments were made
about the discontinuation of standby for Friends, whereas other groups are
in receipt of good offers. Members also complained that the spaces on the
recent booking form were too small.
Asked about his most embarrassing moment, Tony Hall confided that he had spent
an evening selling programmes and had found his till was £5 short at
the end of the day.
The meeting was very well attended. Tony Hall took extensive notes of the
many issues raised by members. One member summed up the entertaining and informative
evening, advising Tony Hall that she felt reassured by what she had heard.
Members generally concurred with this view and thanked Tony Hall for his enthusiasm
and clear presentation.
© The Ballet Association 2002
Kenneth Leadbeater
Report checked by David Bain
PRINT THIS REPORT with Acrobat
Reader (44k)
return to top