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Mary Allen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mary Allen (born 1951) is a British writer, broadcaster, arts administrator and management consultant best known for her controversial and turbulent period as Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House.
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Mary Allen studied English Literature at New Hall College, Cambridge University, and in the early 1970s worked as an actress in repertory theatre. Under the name "Mary Adams", she appeared in the first London production of The Rocky Horror Show. After working for private companies as a management trainer and consultant, as well as running Watermans Arts Centre in West London, Allen worked for the Arts Council of England rising to the position of Secretary General in 1994 just as the organisation took on the responsibility of distributing National Lottery funds. As Secretary General, Allen advised the Royal Opera company in applying for Lottery Funds towards a major refurbishment, resulting in an exceptional grant of £78m.
In May 1997, Genista Macintosh, General Director of the Royal Opera House resigned after five months on the job, Allen was approached by the Chairman of the Opera House's board to see if she would take up the position. The decision was approved by Chris Smith as the responsible minister, even though it breached the conditions of the Arts Council's own funding for the organisation. Although Allen took over her new post unaware how close the organisation was to bankruptcy, she began steering the major refurbishment of the House. Later that year a Select Committee investigation, led by Gerald Kaufman MP, was critical of Allen's actions which led to her offering to resign. The Select Commmittee's Report was critical of the actions of the entire Board of the Royal Opera House, and they were forced to resign. Although Allen was asked to stay on, she resigned in March 1998.
Allen published a book, A House Divided (ISBN 0-684-85865-7), containing her diaries of the period that she was Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House.
Since leaving the Opera House, Allen has presented various programmes on BBC Radio 4, covering current events and the arts.
Allen, a friend of Douglas Adams since Cambridge, gave the eulogy at his funeral.