MAB Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 9 hours ago, Jam Dancer said: I might add that perhaps if I did the profile mentioned in the quote I wouldn’t have had the unpleasant experience at the ROH of being accosted by an usher who demanded to see my ticket. This was all because I said, I didn’t need help finding my seat as I come here often. I am not a big fan of the Coliseum and one of the reasons is the staff but at least they’ve never accosted me in such an aggressive manner as at the ROH. Staffing is quite important. I’d been going to ROH regularly and supported them as a Friend and there I was been suspected of having crept past the door staff st the entrance to sit in an amphitheater (side) seat. Tried not make a big deal of it but several weeks later I was still seething so I wrote an email to them and I did receive a warm response with an apology and a request for permission to use the incident to train staff. That happened to me too, but in the main foyer in an interval, I ignored him, if he waited for me to fish my ticket out of the black hole that is my handbag we would be there all night. What specifically don't you like about the Coliseum? I far prefer it to ROH one of the reasons being the friendliness of the staff., I have a friend working there and I will pass on your feedback if you care to enlarge.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridiem Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 16 hours ago, Jam Dancer said: I might add that perhaps if I did the profile mentioned in the quote I wouldn’t have had the unpleasant experience at the ROH of being accosted by an usher who demanded to see my ticket. This was all because I said, I didn’t need help finding my seat as I come here often. That's interesting, because I've had moreorless the opposite experience - i.e. I go in and am about to show my ticket to the usher (even though I usually know where I'm going) and they just say 'do you know where you're going?' and wave me through (and I'm sure it's not because they recognise me - the staff are too transient for that, and I don't go sufficiently often). Irrationally, I feel quite indignant when they do that, because there I am trying to let them do their jobs and they don't even show willing! If they don't show people to their seats, what are they there for really?! (NOT that this keeps me awake at night, you understand.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 20 hours ago, Jam Dancer said: I am not a big fan of the Coliseum and one of the reasons is the staff but at least they’ve never accosted me in such an aggressive manner as at the ROH. Oh, they have me, and more aggressively There were two staff members on the door, and I showed my ticket to one of them and was waved through. Her colleague then insisted on coming after me and demanding to see my ticket. I didn't see why I should have to show my ticket to a second member of staff at the same location, and may have got a little tetchy ... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jm365 Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 I wish that the ushers at the door of the Amphi at the ROH would take a bit more care in inspecting tickets to see that audience members are using the correct door - always specified on the ticket - so that a person who hasn't bothered to check is prevented from disturbing an entire row to reach their seat. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted February 5, 2018 Author Share Posted February 5, 2018 1 hour ago, jm365 said: I wish that the ushers at the door of the Amphi at the ROH would take a bit more care in inspecting tickets to see that audience members are using the correct door - always specified on the ticket - so that a person who hasn't bothered to check is prevented from disturbing an entire row to reach their seat. That applies to most theatres I know! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trog Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 2 hours ago, jm365 said: I wish that the ushers at the door of the Amphi at the ROH would take a bit more care in inspecting tickets to see that audience members are using the correct door - always specified on the ticket - so that a person who hasn't bothered to check is prevented from disturbing an entire row to reach their seat. It will never be as bad as when the Lowry first opened. They were still sticking signs on the doors on the morning of the performance. You went in the door printed on your ticket, only to find that you had to go to the other end of the row. I don't know if they stuck the signs on the wrong way around or if the ticket sales system was programmed wrong. It was chaos! Also, the kitchens weren't quite finished, so the sandwiches had been made off site, and the delivery van got stuck in the football traffic. Still, POB were brill! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted February 5, 2018 Author Share Posted February 5, 2018 1 hour ago, trog said: It will never be as bad as when the Lowry first opened. They were still sticking signs on the doors on the morning of the performance. You went in the door printed on your ticket, only to find that you had to go to the other end of the row. I don't know if they stuck the signs on the wrong way around or if the ticket sales system was programmed wrong. It was chaos! Also, the kitchens weren't quite finished, so the sandwiches had been made off site, and the delivery van got stuck in the football traffic. Still, POB were brill! The situation with the doors persisted for MONTHS and the Ushers were insistent that you went into the door listed on the ticket even when you pointed out that the ticket door was wrong! I have also had the problem there of turning up and finding the row I had booked on no longer existed for that performance (and on more than one occasion). This is because the orchestra pit can either be not there (row B), small (row C), medium (row E) or large (row G)! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 That happened to me yesterday at the cinema for the Bolshoi screening -they had changed it to another screen so my seat no longer existed and I had visions of ending up in someone's lap.... It's the third time this has happened and each time at the desk they have said 'Oh you booked this a long long time ago' as if it was a mistake of mine, once actually phoning the manager to check I was 'still' allowed in! But the cinema offers early booking for members which I always use..Must be just me. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 1 hour ago, Mary said: It's the third time this has happened and each time at the desk they have said 'Oh you booked this a long long time ago' as if it was a mistake of mine, Our mistake was to expect to buy tickets at the desk on the day. None left so a wasted journey. Yet there were reportedly empty seats in the albeit small cinema Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 That sounds like a certain Picturehouse I've been to in the past: I grab a seat online because there's only one or two left, get there and find loads of seats unoccupied. The cinema tell me that they've all been booked months back and the people must just have changed their minds but ... really??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jam Dancer Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 On 04/02/2018 at 19:58, MAB said: What specifically don't you like about the Coliseum? I far prefer it to ROH one of the reasons being the friendliness of the staff., I have a friend working there and I will pass on your feedback if you care to enlarge.. Whilst I feel the Coliseum is better on leg space than ROH ( I’m considered tall), I don’t like the sight lines from the upper circle (or is it Balcony ?) where I usually sit. If I am not sitting in the front rows of the section, with my tall body and long next I get a large bit of the front portion of the ceiling hanging done in my line of sight which really bothers me. In addition, I haven’t been as fortunate with the staff there as you have been. At ROH, I go often multiple attendances per production (well I used to before I moved) and find that the staff are generally friendly and courteous. I find the staff at the coliseum impersonal, cold and abrupt in manner. Perhaps it’s me that bring out the worse in them? I went to a performance of the most recent run of ENB’s Nutcracker and at the main entrance, I got a frown and then a hand thrust in front of me and “tickets” with a rise in tone at the end. There was no please at end of word. Most of staff there sort of remind me of baggage screeners at airports - they are employed by some other agency and just happen to work at that particular location - there is no sense of belonging or sense of pride they get out of the work. At least that’s how I read it from my experiences there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saodan Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 I was at the Royal Albert Hall a few weeks ago to see Cirque du Soleil. When the lights went down, a message was played telling us that “our performers love to have their picture taken. Please feel free to snap away during the performance and record short videos to share on social media using our hashtag.” A vision of the future? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jm365 Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 I must speak up in defence of the lift lady at the Coliseum. I too go reasonably regularly and she now recognises me and greets me in a friendly way - but she was always pleasant, though asking to see tickets to be sure which floor people needed. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coated Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 One of the lift ladies is perhaps a bit more militant than the others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penelopesimpson Posted February 9, 2018 Share Posted February 9, 2018 On 2/7/2018 at 16:56, Saodan said: I was at the Royal Albert Hall a few weeks ago to see Cirque du Soleil. When the lights went down, a message was played telling us that “our performers love to have their picture taken. Please feel free to snap away during the performance and record short videos to share on social media using our hashtag.” A vision of the future? Can hardly believe that. Incredible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VickyPage Posted February 9, 2018 Share Posted February 9, 2018 Someone's phone was clearly audible in the amphitheatre/upper slips right at the start of the mad scene in tonight's performance of Giselle. Didn't ruin the moment, but completely inappropriately jaunty in tone. Please turn it off! It's not hard! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timmie Posted February 9, 2018 Share Posted February 9, 2018 Indeed. I set my phone to mute (not vibrate) and airplane mode and do not disturb and, just in case, my ringtone is a piece of ballet music in the hope it would blend in... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coated Posted February 9, 2018 Share Posted February 9, 2018 The inexperienced standee next to me decided that I should move up into the space next to me and kept pushing my elbow non stop. Thanks for ruining the second act of Giselle for me, hope someone returns the favour. The thing I really didn't get was that there was ample space for her, when she stood back for a bit (only to return and push me again), there was nearly a space and a half between me and the next person and she had about an elbows width spare on the other side when I looked over at some point. Weird woman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneMarriott Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 On 2/7/2018 at 16:56, Saodan said: I was at the Royal Albert Hall a few weeks ago to see Cirque du Soleil. When the lights went down, a message was played telling us that “our performers love to have their picture taken. Please feel free to snap away during the performance and record short videos to share on social media using our hashtag.” A vision of the future? Isn't intended as irony? I'm sure I've heard similar announcements elsewhere, greeted with knowing chuckles by the audience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 1 hour ago, AnneMarriott said: Isn't intended as irony? The day Cirque du Soleil discover irony is the day I will be willing to go back to one of their shows... 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicola H Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 6 hours ago, AnneMarriott said: Isn't intended as irony? I'm sure I've heard similar announcements elsewhere, greeted with knowing chuckles by the audience. if it was the Blue Man Group it would be irony ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scheherezade Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 Not exactly audience behaviour but anyone sitting in the high seats in row c, balcony right can't have failed to notice the improbably squeaky shoes of the usher who strode incessantly up and down throughout today's Giselle matinee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 Oh, I suspect they were audible to more than just that handful of people Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMC Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 I seem to be fated with these Francesca / Yasmin debuts. For Francesca's Sleeping Beauty a child needed to be taken out, with the whole row having to stand up, during the grand pas de deux, completely spoiling it. For Yasmin yesterday, I was next to a wriggling child on a plastic cushion who whispered through most of the ballet. To be fair it was a tiny whisper but a bit like when my neighbours put on their wash machine at 2 in the morning, the decibel count isn't high, but once you hear it, you can't unhear it! That I had a lovely time nevertheless is testimony to Yasmin's wonderful performance! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxDaveM Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 15 hours ago, Scheherezade said: Not exactly audience behaviour but anyone sitting in the high seats in row c, balcony right can't have failed to notice the improbably squeaky shoes of the usher who strode incessantly up and down throughout today's Giselle matinee. I hope for their sake its squeaky shoes, and not squeaky feet... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Macmillan Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 This from Twitter, via BBB in my case, may well take the all-time biscuit: https://twitter.com/vikkijane/status/966068025127526402 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 One of the reasons I really dislike Sadler's Wells is their policy of letting people take food and drink into the auditorium....over and over I have had to walk over spilled wine, crumbs, sweet wrappers, etc. It's more like a cinema than a theatre. Can't people survive 45 minutes or an hour without having to eat and drink?? I love my wine but would never dream of taking it into an auditorium. Bottled water in a hot space, fair enough. It doesn't smell and it doesn't stain. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 Quite. Every time I see someone coming into my row with a plastic cup of red wine I start praying hard that they're not going to sit next to me, and that if they are, they're not going to spill it I frequently find the smell of red wine stomach-churning - ditto beer, although I don't think you tend to get so much of that at Sadler's - so hate it when anyone puts it under my nose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuthE Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 1 hour ago, Ian Macmillan said: This from Twitter, via BBB in my case, may well take the all-time biscuit: https://twitter.com/vikkijane/status/966068025127526402 I'm glad somebody posted this here - I was going to do so myself this morning and then got sidetracked! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuthE Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 28 minutes ago, alison said: Quite. Every time I see someone coming into my row with a plastic cup of red wine I start praying hard that they're not going to sit next to me, and that if they are, they're not going to spill it I frequently find the smell of red wine stomach-churning - ditto beer, although I don't think you tend to get so much of that at Sadler's - so hate it when anyone puts it under my nose. I agree; I enjoy drinking red wine (though am more of a white wine drinker) but it's one of those smells which is never welcome when unsolicited! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAB Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 Not just Sadlers Wells though is it? I went to the recent gala at the Savoy theatre and on leaving I discovered my scarf and coat, that I'd folded inside out under my seat were soaked through with an upset drink. Just about everyone around us had brought drinks unto the auditorium and quite a number had already had a few before the show started. I suppose I'll have to start putting my coat in the cloakroom in future, something I don't like doing because of the queues at the end. On to the Coliseum, You know how your bag is searched on entering? What do you think they are looking for? A gun? A bomb? No. What they are looking for is cake. On opening my handbag the security girl on the door discovered a small cake that I'd bought for a sweet-toothed friend who works at the Coli and told me I couldn't bring it into the theatre but must eat it outside in the pouring rain because cakes make a mess. I was furious and pointed out that nothing could be messier than the dozens of empty plastic glasses that litter the auditorium floors after every performance. She then lied through her teeth and said taking drinks to your seat is no longer allowed. Yeah, right. As usual I had to pick my way between those plastic obstacles strewn everywhere - the same as bloody usual. I lodged a complaint with my pal, who had a choice adjective to describe my experience but there have been massive changes at the Coliseum of late and I'm told customer service is no longer a priority. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 I don't understand the cake thingy! If it was in your handbag how did she know when you were going to eat it? Could have been for a nightcap later on! Im sure she didn't have a right to stop you taking it in anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted February 21, 2018 Author Share Posted February 21, 2018 Some years ago my Mum was in hospital. I had been out at dinnertime and bought some biscuits to take in to her the following day as I was going to a show at the Arena that night. Bags were being searched on the way in to the Arena and they were going to confiscate my couple of packets of biscuits. Even though I explained they were for my Mum they took them off me. I did get them back (intact) at the end of the evening but I did have to hang around for ages for them to get them back to me! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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