Royal Opera House
The title “Royal” is only honorific; there has never been a royal ruler of Greyhawk, but the name dates to the time of Zagig, who appreciated the joke. Once the most elaborately decorated building in the city, now this magnificent building was neglected for the last few decades until it was in a disgraceful state of repair due to the immense cost of maintaining it, and regular appeals are made to the people of Greyhawk to donate funds for its repair. Liveried attendant with collecting boxes are usually present, going through the aisles before performances and lurking in the lounges to which patrons retire for refreshments between acts.
Finally, grants from several noble families allowed renovation to begin, but the work has fallen behind schedule. The exterior is covered with scaffolding, and work sheds and scraps litter the grounds. If not for its principal singer, the place would have been abandoned by its patrons years ago.
The current Director of the Opera is Selinde Rogerssen, the frightfully jolly and sociable 43-year-old daughter of immigrant northmen. Selinde wears outrageously ostentatious clothing with no sense of style. Since her former boss retired, she has filled the opera schedule with either cheesy, low class productions that appeal to the lowest common denominator, or solo performances by Aestrella Shanfarel, a half-elf who is the most stunning operatic singer in the city’s history. Selinde continues a long rivalry between the Royal Opera House and the Grand Theatre by bad-mouthing the latter every chance she gets.
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