Lizbie1 Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 (edited) There are all kinds of barriers to being able to see the performances we want to, whether it be disability, budget, other commitments or (particularly in my case) work and distance - I need to allow at least £40 and three hours travel time either side of a show in London, and that's using every trick in the book. I wish I could get to all the wonderful debuts that some others here can, but prefer to enjoy others' thoughts on them rather than fret about not seeing them myself. I'm also happy when things sell out before I can buy a ticket (and as others have pointed out, Friends are not immune to this!) as it signifies that there is still life in the art form. By the way, I'm not suggesting that you ought to follow suit, but I once sat next to a woman who makes sure to take the morning off when General Booking opens. That's real commitment! I agree about the accessible seats: that looks like it should be managed better. Edited to add: of course not everyone can or will choose to pay for Friends membership; my point was rather that this isn't some special inner sanctum with funny handshakes. Edited July 28, 2017 by Lizbie1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 45 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said: Edited to add: of course not everyone can or will choose to pay for Friends membership; my point was rather that this isn't some special inner sanctum with funny handshakes. But feels like it for the MacMillan performances! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizbie1 Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 20 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said: But feels like it for the MacMillan performances! I think the sponsors and bigwigs who I've decided to hold responsible might indeed fall into that category! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jules_skichick Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 i was online before 9 then in through the queuer at 9:02 - go to alice are there any stalls circle standing there - not one - in fact stalls circle pretty sold out for my chosen date - not the first night! so apart from being disappointed - mt thoughts are that indeed after all the friends etc groups have had their pick there is indeed nothing but crumbs at the back of amphi in the pens of balcony etc for us low income folks that need cheap seats as we happen to like a bit of b allet i understand the popularity of stalls circle standing at a very good price b ut would expect there to be a few left at the first date i pick at 9:03 - guessing that so many different priority groups now means nothing left for the rabble - not fair - later someone told me they had released tickets at a later time now that really annoys me....i was there at the appointed inconvenient time and got nowt then later the tickets i wanted are randomly offered - what is the point!! very fed up with the whole system and they had failed to send me the autumn booking brochure this time as well - fail ROH - NOT WORLD CLASS ! sorry!! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 (edited) 8 hours ago, jules_skichick said: someone told me they had released tickets at a later time now that really annoys me....i was there at the appointed inconvenient time and got nowt then later the tickets i wanted are randomly offered - what is the point!! What is the point, indeed. Lizbie1 has the evidence (she wrote earlier on this thread: "By chance I saw a good number of decent tickets available maybe an hour after General Booking had opened - I think their release must have been accidentally delayed") I know this is not the first time this has happened (apart from my own experience the Forum has noted the problem in the past). My suggestion would be to write to the ROH, briefly but with as much supporting information as possible, and ask for an explanation (if it is interesting their answer could perhaps then be shared here!) This is the email address for the Box Office manager: roh.boxoffice@roh.org.uk However as the issue may not be human error (or whatever) in the box office but could be a technical problem with the website one should copy the Chief Technology Officer (in charge of all the IT): Joe.McFadden@roh.org.uk Edited July 29, 2017 by Geoff 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sol Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 There are still many cheap tickets available for all the MacMillan Triple bills - especially in the Amphi theatre ! I just booked tickets the Gloria mixed program . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sol Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 I am not a Covent Garden friend either, but usually manage to get decent Amphibious theatre seats as long as I am a bit flexible with the casts. As these are seminal pieces in a celebratory season, the most important thing in my opinion is that we get a chance to see these works again, not who especially is dancing that evening. I think a I will find Gloria especially poignant after seeing the new film version of Dunkirk last week! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 1 hour ago, Sol said: I think a I will find Gloria especially poignant after seeing the new film version of Dunkirk last week! Not to be a know all - and of course you are making a slightly different point - but just for those new to ballet, Gloria is of course inspired by a book about the First World War, not the Second World War (Vera Brittain's Testament of Youth). of Youth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toursenlair Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 4 hours ago, Sol said: I am not a Covent Garden friend either, but usually manage to get decent Amphibious theatre seats I know this is an autocomplete from your phone, but it made me laugh to think of this new category of seat. :-) 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 On 28/07/2017 at 21:59, jules_skichick said: very fed up with the whole system and they had failed to send me the autumn booking brochure this time as well Yes, the one time I REALLY needed that brochure to organise myself because there were so many things going on at once, they didn't send it Consequently, I thought I'd be clever and print out Period 1 from the website, nicely filtered to remove all the operas I wasn't interested in. It didn't print out the production names, which was a real pain - and nor, as I realised later, the insights. Result? I've majorly screwed up my booking, booked duplicate casts and missed out on others, plus I think I've probably double-booked myself with the insights/Clore events I did get. Not happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loveclassics Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 Alison I can never get tickets for Insight events so if you want to sell your duplicates, please do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninamargaret Posted August 2, 2017 Author Share Posted August 2, 2017 23 minutes ago, loveclassics said: Alison I can never get tickets for Insight events so if you want to sell your duplicates, please do! At least quite a few of the Insight events are on You Tube now.I know they usually omit the questions asked afterwards, but better than nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavycapers Posted August 4, 2017 Share Posted August 4, 2017 Two tickets available in balcony on ROH website for triple bill thursdat night, concerto, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavycapers Posted September 8, 2017 Share Posted September 8, 2017 (edited) I am now getting infuriated by the sellong of the Concerto / Le Baiser de la fée / Elite Syncopations tickets for 18th/19th October. Since general booking opened with only a handful of tickets at the back of the amphi, there has been a release every couple of weeks of 50 or so tickets for each night. Why is this happening? What i find so infuriating is that i bought tickets at general booking at the back of the amphi, thinking nothing else would be available, and then it's maddening to keep habing to exchange them as better tickets are trickled onto the site. Very annoyed All i would like to have is clarification for the policy for the selling of tickets, which seems to differ for each production, on which i can base my buying. Edited September 8, 2017 by cavycapers 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulia Posted September 9, 2017 Share Posted September 9, 2017 Bought tickets for four performances on 21 and 23 October will be Alice's Adventures in Wonderland , as well as 10 and 13 November in The Illustrated 'Farewell' / The Wind / Untouchable. Sad one: who is Lewis Carroll/The White Rabbit and Mother/The Queen of Hearts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizbie1 Posted September 9, 2017 Share Posted September 9, 2017 16 hours ago, cavycapers said: I am now getting infuriated by the sellong of the Concerto / Le Baiser de la fée / Elite Syncopations tickets for 18th/19th October. Since general booking opened with only a handful of tickets at the back of the amphi, there has been a release every couple of weeks of 50 or so tickets for each night. Why is this happening? What i find so infuriating is that i bought tickets at general booking at the back of the amphi, thinking nothing else would be available, and then it's maddening to keep habing to exchange them as better tickets are trickled onto the site. Very annoyed All i would like to have is clarification for the policy for the selling of tickets, which seems to differ for each production, on which i can base my buying. I have no inside knowledge but I suspect it's the ROH's officially sanctioned agencies returning unsold tickets to the box office, as they are contractually entitled (any normal punter who is re-selling their own tickets via the box office gets told that unsold tickets and agency returns take precedence). It happens pretty much routinely but it's more conspicuous this time. I'm not crazy about the practice and I don't personally see the need for agencies' involvement these days - I only hope the ROH makes more on agency sales than those put through its own box office, perhaps through some kind of retainer. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted September 9, 2017 Share Posted September 9, 2017 Although the stalls circle standing (thanks very much, cavycapers!) can't have been agency tickets. Would those have been returned student tickets, or something? Are the ROH still giving them priority? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gargouillade Posted September 9, 2017 Share Posted September 9, 2017 1 hour ago, alison said: Although the stalls circle standing (thanks very much, cavycapers!) can't have been agency tickets. Would those have been returned student tickets, or something? Are the ROH still giving them priority? Student tickets are only held for one week after the student priority booking date. 10 standing tickets are held (I think), but they are not all SCS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizbie1 Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 Are SCS tickets never allocated to agencies? I don't normally stand but during the Mariinsky season, when I did, I overheard some tourists discussing when they'd bought their (very prime) SCS tickets - one had had hers the week before and I got the impression it was through an agency. Of course, it may have been an unofficial one... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninamargaret Posted September 10, 2017 Author Share Posted September 10, 2017 I'm beginning to wonder if it's worth being a Friend. I couldn't get tickets for 18/19 October when Friends booking opened, but got a ticket a couple of weeks ago. Now I see there are quite a few available. And of the 5 operas I have seen this year four had no seats available at the price I could pay when Friends booking opened but seats became available much later on. I wonder if the huge number of corporate bodies who sponsor the ROH are allocated generous numbers of seats and then return those that they do not use? the box office must be chaos with all of the exchanges/ returns etc. and it's a nuisance to have to keep checking the web site to see what has suddenly become available. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 3 hours ago, ninamargaret said: I'm beginning to wonder if it's worth being a Friend. I gave up hoping to get the tickets I want when Friends booking opens quite a while back, and have come to rely almost entirely on returns/late releases. The only reason I have retained my Friends membership is that the ROH has been my premier cultural home for over 60yrs and old habits die hard. I shall see how I get on when booking for the Winter Season and especially for the Ring open; but I don't have high hopes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninamargaret Posted September 10, 2017 Author Share Posted September 10, 2017 doubt if any of us mere Friends or lower stand a chance of anything for The Ring! Will have to exist in my memories of Goodall! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 (edited) 2 hours ago, ninamargaret said: Will have to exist in my memories of Goodall! We're lucky to have them! Alberto Remedios as Siegfried and Rita Hunter as Brunnhilde - the glory days of the ENO! Still one of the finest Rings on record - though I still find the English text off-putting. Solti gave up conducting the Ring coz he said there were no more great Wagnerian singers available. But having heard Nina Stemme singing the T&I Liebstod last night I'm determined to get tickets for next year, even if I have to buy returns individually. But back to ballet, hopefully there are sufficient performances in the main works in the Winter Season to ensure a good chance of getting seats this time round. Edited September 10, 2017 by David 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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