Opera House seats up for grabs

FANCY having the best seats in the house in your own front room?

Cork Opera House announced plans yesterday to auction off some of its famous vintage theatre seats to give people a chance to own a piece of Cork history.

Every single seat in the historic auditorium has been ripped out as part of a multi-million facelift.

But rather than dumping them, Opera House management has decided to put up for auction a limited number of the very oldest seats — some in which have been in use since 1965 when the current building was built.

The seats are available in sets of two, three or four — perfect for a home cinema or a conversation piece.

They’ve witnessed an estimated 11,000 performances over the last 44 years, including shows by iconic stars such as Rory Gallagher, Ella Fitzgerald, Anna Manahan, and Billy Connolly.

The silent auction bidding station will take place over the coming weeks in the Opera House foyer, which will be open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5.30pm.

Bidders are invited to drop in, write their name and proposed bidding amount on a piece of paper, and drop it in to bidding bins which will be provided.

The auction will close on Friday May 22 with the names of winning bidders announced the following Monday — the projected completion date of the theatre’s refurbishment project.

This second phase of the €2.5 million refurbishment is currently under way, with 1,000 spacious new seats being installed and new carpet being fitted.

The Opera House’s Sponsor a Seat campaign continues ahead of the theatre’s grand re-opening on June 10.