As the curtain rises, there's a crisis at the box office and impending disaster on stage as diva Denyce Graves loses her voice. Visits to a Harley Street specialist fail to remedy the problem, leaving just hours to locate a replacement for the leading role in Carmen.

It's a stressful time for almost everyone concerned as two productions—an opera and a ballet—go into rehearsals and over budget. Almost everything that can go wrong duly does so.

Not all the staff are happy with the radical changes in the Opera House work schedules planned to be implemented. Meanwhile, the Royal Ballet is off to Washington.

The new Director at the Royal Opera has the task of finding the right balance between financial and aesthetic considerations.

The main problem for the Royal Opera House is an ever-present one: to secure the hundreds of millions of pounds needed to keep the opera and ballet companies performing in London while the Covent Garden building is refurbished. But plenty of people are ready to pay £1,750 to join the Princess of Wales in the audience for the Winter Gala.