Today, the Royal Ballet and Opera announces its 2024/25 Cinema Season, bringing the thrill of world-class theatre to cinema screens right around the globe.  

The Royal Ballet and Opera present 11 productions, including beloved classics such as Cinderella, The Nutcracker and The Marriage of Figaro as well as two new opera productions: The Tales of Hoffmann and Die Walküre.  

The Cinema Season offers audiences a view from the best seat in the house. Audiences can share in the joy of live performance and the beauty of world-class art in more than 1,500 cinemas and 50 countries around the world. 

Director of The Royal Ballet, Kevin O’Hare, said: ‘This Season we’re thrilled to share three dynamic Company classics with our cinema audiences: the riotously inventive Alices Adventures in Wonderland by Christopher Wheeldon; Frederick Ashton’s magical fairytale Cinderella; and Kenneth MacMillan’s searing dramatic tragedy Romeo and Juliet. Christopher Wheeldon’s Ballet to Broadway will be another opportunity to watch the versatility and energy of our dancers up close, and for Christmas we have a special 40th anniversary screening of The Nutcracker which is sure to delight. We can’t wait to share these cinema moments with you.’ 

Director of Opera, The Royal Opera, Oliver Mears, said: ‘Opera is perhaps the most visceral and emotionally-charged artform, and I am so glad that our cinema audiences will be able to experience our work with us this Season, particularly with three live opera broadcasts. With an extraordinary group of cast and creatives behind each show, it is going to be a fantastic Season on the big screen.’ 

The Season begins in September with a live broadcast of Mozart’s comic opera The Marriage of Figaro on Tuesday 10 September 2024. The cast, conducted by Julia Jones, is led by Luca Micheletti and Ying Fang as Figaro and Susanna with Huw Montague Rendall and Jacquelyn Stucker as the Count and Countess Almaviva.  

Christopher Wheeldon’s riotous adaptation of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland returns to excite cinema audiences on Tuesday 15 October 2024. First staged in 2011, this production bursting with colour and imagination showcases The Royal Ballet at its best, combining Wheeldon’s inventive choreography with captivating music by Joby Talbot and stage designs by Bob Crowley.   

This Christmas, The Royal Ballet casts a spell on the 2024/25 Cinema Season with two of its most magical offerings: Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella, and festive favourite The Nutcracker. Founding Choreographer of The Royal Ballet, Frederick Ashton’s exquisite production of Cinderella charmed audiences in 2023 and returns as part of the 2024/25 Cinema Season, with a live broadcast on Tuesday 10 December 2024. A starry creative team featuring set designer Tom Pye, costume designer Alexandra Byrne, lighting designer David Finn, video designer Finn Ross and illusions by Chris Fisher, combined with Prokofiev’s ethereal score, makes this an unmissable ballet for the festive season. Peter Wright’s beloved production of The Nutcracker will enchant audiences across the country from Tuesday 17 December 2024 with a special screening of the ballet recorded in December 2023. A stunning cast featuring Royal Ballet Principals Anna Rose O’Sullivan as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Marcelino Sambé as her Prince, this irresistible combination of Tchaikovsky’s score and Julia Trevelyan Oman’s captivating period designs ensures its enduring status as a balletic classic. 

Olivier award-winning director Damiano Michieletto returns to The Royal Opera for a new production of Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann. Juan Diego Flórez sings the role of the poet E.T.A Hoffmann and Olga Pudova, Marina Costa-Jackson and Ermonela Jaho sing the roles of his unforgettable trio of lovers. Filmed live on stage in November 2024, the opera will be screened in cinemas on Wednesday 15 January 2025. 

On Thursday 27 February 2025, cinema audiences can relive Liam Scarlett’s hauntingly beautiful Swan Lake, a love letter to classicism and musicality, in a special screening of the ballet filmed in April 2024. Royal Ballet Principals Yasmine Naghdi and Matthew Ball star as Odette/Odile and Siegfried in this towering masterpiece in the classical ballet canon. Tchaikovsky’s instantly recognizable score makes this an unmissable cinematic experience for audiences around the world. 

Kenneth MacMillan’s devastating masterpiece Romeo and Juliet will be broadcast live to cinemas on Thursday 20 March 2025. Featuring the famous ‘Dance of the Knights’, Prokofiev’s passionate score sets the tone for Shakespeare’s most tragic tale of forbidden love, portrayed through MacMillan’s heartbreakingly evocative choreography.

On Tuesday 1 April 2025, Puccini’s final opera Turandot returns in a performance broadcast live from the Main Stage. Drawing on Chinese and Italian theatrical tradition to evoke a richly imagined, mythical Peking, Andrei Şerban’s dazzling production is one of the most spectacular in The Royal Opera’s repertory. Rafael Payare conducts, Sondra Radvanovsky sings the title role. 

Following the glittering triumph of Das Rheingold, Barrie Kosky delves back into Wagner’s mythic universe with the second instalment of the Ring cycle, Die Walküre on Wednesday 14 May 2025. With Antonio Pappano leading from the podium, Christopher Maltman reprises the role of Wotan, alongside Elisabet Strid (Brünnhilde), Lise Davidsen (Sieglinde), and Stanislas de Barbeyrac (Siegmund).  

Four of Christopher Wheeldon’s most distinctive works are brought to the Main Stage and broadcast live to cinemas on Thursday 22 May 2025, bringing together exceptional contemporary ballet with the vibrancy of musical theatre. Through Fool’s Paradise / The Two of Us / Us / An American in Paris, cinema audiences can experience Wheeldon’s remarkable choreographic breadth, in stories of tender devotion and blossoming romance.  

Wolf Witch Giant Fairy, a wild folk opera of music, mischief and magic, is a collaboration between The Royal Opera and Little Bulb. The Olivier award-winning (Best Family Production) family-friendly show is designed with a younger audience in mind and features new twists and turns on well-known fairy tales. Specially captured for the big screen in the Linbury Theatre, this brand-new film allows audiences to get up close to the characters and become immersed in the energy of the show. The Narrator and a cast of magical characters address the camera directly, giving the screen audience a great introduction to the art form. Check local cinemas for exact listings. 

Cinema tickets are on sale from 11 June. Visit roh.org.uk/cinemas for more information.