“[London’s] Royal Opera House has appointed a woman to its top post for the first time, announcing Tuesday that Dame Judith Mayhew will succeed Sir Colin Southgate when he retires as chairman in August. New Zealand-born Mayhew, currently chairwoman of the University of London’s Birkbeck College, will join the Opera House board next month.” The Opera House is coming off a financially successful run of the Nicholas Maw’s much-discussed operatic adaption of Sophie’s Choice.