Curtain Goes Up At English National Opera
After a £41m restoration programme the London Coliseum home of English National Opera opened on Saturday 21st February. The task for the Wilson Storey Halliday, cater for 2,400 VIP guests 
including Princess Alexandra.
The theatre was looking magnificent with many of the original features restored to their former glory, bar and cloakroom space has been doubled and the bar on the top floor commands spectacular views over Trafalgar Square.
The refurbishment project was two weeks behind schedule and at 3pm on the afternoon of the opening event it was hard to imagine that we would be ready, everywhere you looked there was a tradesman of some description either painting, laying carpet or dealing with the latest emergency.
Due to its age and construction, the London Coliseum is a very challenging building with limited facilities and a plethora of tiny corridors that could lead you into the orchestra pit or indeed on to the stage. Planning the service for 2,400 guests over 6 floors was therefore akin to a military exercise.
At 5.30pm, 80 serving staff arrived and were taken to the ballet rehearsal room 
where they were given a designer uniform and a label to denote their area of work, meanwhile 25 bar staff were preparing the bars in order to provide champagne and drinks for the entire evening. Simultaneously, the first delivery of 7,500 canapés had arrived and were being dispatched to one of three dispense areas where teams of chefs were going to arrange them on to flats.
The doors opened on time and at 7pm and each person was greeted with a glass of champagne and canapés. At 7.45 guests were invited into the theatre giving us one hour to prepare for the next session which included a second delivery of 16,500 canapés.
Many changes have been made to The Coliseum and guests were keen to explore the new areas, wherever they went throughout the building staff were on hand to top up glasses and offer sustenance, the entire evening was a huge success with many compliments received, an important first night for Wilson Storey Halliday, would we do it all over again . . . . Absolutely!