About Curtain Up!
Curtain Up! is the training portal for the Technical Department at the Royal Opera House Muscat, raising technical standards and putting safety and compliance first. Training follows a consistent structure across the department, with a shared approach to training and assessment, so staff are trained to a common standard and assessed consistently.
Training combines online learning through Curtain Up! with practical, in-person sessions led by experienced staff, as well as visiting specialists and representatives from the companies that supply and support our equipment and systems. These sessions are recorded on the Tech Training Reports page.
Curtain Up! provides the online part of the programme, letting staff work through modules at their own pace, fitting around production and show schedules while keeping training recorded and tracked in the portal.
Donald Cox
Technical Manager
Heads the Technical Department and the training programme across all technical departments.
Technical Departments
Use the buttons below to jump straight to a technical department's section...
Department
Sound & Broadcast
Everything the audience hears, and everything the house records or transmits. The department covers live sound for opera, ballet and concert, the fixed audio infrastructure of the building, and the broadcast and projection systems used for live performances, archive recordings and screenings. It also manages filming, video editing and post-production for the house's recorded and broadcast output.
Operations
The team designs and operates the reinforcement system for every production, manages microphones and wireless audio systems, maintains the audio network and patch across all technical positions, and runs playback, recording and the intercom that holds the show together. Broadcast covers multi-camera capture, vision mixing and the projection rig.
Training
Self-paced online modules run from audio fundamentals (signal flow, electricity, cables and connectors) through consoles, equalisation, dynamics and RF coordination, and on into the specific systems installed at ROHM.
What the department runs
Department
Lighting
Light shapes what the audience sees. The department delivers lighting design and realisation for house productions and visiting companies, and maintains the control, dimming and fixture stock across the auditorium, stage and public spaces.
Operations
Plotting and rigging each production, programming and operating the control desks, managing power distribution and dimming, maintaining conventional, LED and moving-light stock, running followspots and effects, and keeping rigging and support hardware inspected and safe.
Training
Self-paced modules cover control desk programming, power and dimming, fixture types and their maintenance, colour and effects, and safe rigging practice, in the same sequence whenever a technician joins.
What the department runs
Department
Stage & Operations
The Stage Operations department is primarily responsible for the construction of heavy scenery as well as the operation of the automated theatre machinery. Our team is dedicated to ensuring that every performance runs smoothly, with an emphasis on both safety and artistry.
Operations
Operation of the SBS flying system in ROHM and the Wagner Biro flying system in ROHMA. The department is also reponsible for the setting up, running, maintaining and dismantling of the heavy scenery, and props for live productions.
Training
Self-paced modules run from stage terminology and safe manual handling into flying system operation, automation control, rigging principles and workshop practice, with competence signed off to one standard.
What the department runs
Department
Stage Management
The department that holds a production together, from first rehearsal to final curtain. Stage Management calls the show, coordinates the company and the technical departments, and keeps the paperwork that makes a revival possible.
Operations
Running the prompt desk and calling performances, managing cue lights and communications, coordinating rehearsal schedules and rooms, maintaining the prompt book and production paperwork, and liaising between company, production and technical teams.
Training
Self-paced modules cover the prompt desk and calling technique, communications and cue systems, rehearsal and production management, and the documentation standards used across the house.
What the department runs
Department
Wardrobe & Makeup
Costume, wigs and makeup for every production in the house, from build and fitting through to nightly running and maintenance.
Operations
Costume production and alteration, pressing and finishing, dyeing and breakdown, running wardrobe during performances, wig making and dressing, and makeup for principals and chorus.
Training
Self-paced modules cover costume construction and fitting, fabric care, dyeing and breakdown, wardrobe running procedure, wig preparation and theatrical makeup, worked through between production periods.
What the department runs
Health & Safety
Head of Health & Safety
Department
Health & Safety
Safety is the first condition of every call. The department sets the standards the whole technical operation works to, and trains every member of staff against them.
Operations
Risk assessment and method statements, working at height and rigging safety, fire and evacuation procedure, medical response, PPE issue and inspection, environmental and electrical monitoring, chemical control, and the safety management system that ties them together.
Training
Every trainee completes the safety modules before working on stage. Content covers working at height, rigging and electrical safety, chemicals, PPE and emergency procedure, with completion recorded in the portal so compliance can be evidenced.
What the department runs
Start your training
Log in at the top of the page, choose the courses for your department, and the portal will track your progress as you go.
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