A ticket designed by William Hogarth for a Benefit Performance of The Beggar's Opera in 1737

The Beggar’s Opera was the first musical piece to be played in the new Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, premiering on 16 December 1732, just 9 days after the theatre opened. It never achieved quite the success that it had enjoyed at the Lincoln’s Inn Fields theatre but was still popular enough to be chosen for Benefit Performances over the following few years.

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