Born in Queensland, Australia, Deborah MacMillan was educated in Sydney, won a scholarship to and studied painting and sculpture at the National School of Art. She moved to London in 1970, where she married Kenneth MacMillan. She has designed ballets for the stage and television and returned to painting full-time in 1984. She was a member of the Board of the Royal Opera House (1993-94) and was Chairman of The Friends of Covent Garden (1995-96). Between 1996 and 1998 she was a member of the Arts Council of England and Chair of the dance panel. She has been a member of Kenneth MacMillan and Partner LLP since 2011 is custodian of her late husband's work.
The Royal Ballet and Opera is the third theatre on the Covent Garden site and opened on 15 May 1858 as the Royal Italian Opera. It became the Royal Opera House in 1892. The theatre closed during the Second World War, becoming a dance hall. The theatre reopened in February 1946 with the Sadler's Wells Ballet and the Covent Garden Opera Company as permanent resident companies. The theatre underwent major renovation between 1997 and 1999, and again in 20... The Linbury Studio Theatre and Clore Studio opened within the newly renovated site in 1999. The Royal Opera House was rebranded in 2024 becoming the Royal Ballet and Opera.
The first Theatre Royal, Covent Garden opened on 7 December 1732 primarily as a playhouse. It was destroyed by fire in 1808 and the second Theatre Royal, Covent Garden opened on 18 September 1809. Following major alterations to the interior in 1846, the theatre reopened as the Royal Italian Opera in 1847.