Attending ROH questions

[DrewCo]

I'm writing with a question...well, actually, several.  My guess is that these questions have been asked and answered before. I did some searches, but a "Royal Opera House" + "tickets" and variants thereof turn up a zillion different threads,  so I gave up.

 

I have attended the Royal Opera House occasionally--usually when work has taken me to the UK--but not often and not recently. And I've almost never been able to plan carefully ahead of time. But this year may be different.  Work will take Mr. Drewco to London in June--I'm coming with him and we plan to make a holiday of it when his work is out of the way. We hope to attend several performances of Swan Lake and, as we don't see a lot of world class ballet, we are willing to splurge on good seats if we can get them.

 

I see on the Royal Opera House website that tickets go on sale for the general public in early April, but I have a few questions about the process:

1)When are casts likely to be announced?  work dictates this trip but we have a little flexibility and casts could make a difference to our arrival/departure dates. 

2)Any risk "friends" buy up much of the house before the tickets go on sale to the general public?

3)Are seats banked in all sections of the theater.  I have a vague memory that Stalls circles are hardly banked at all--that row B or C for someone short, like myself, might be a disaster. (We are going to splurge if we can--but if we splurge we want to be able to see the stage).

4)Any advice about Grand Tier and Balcony seats? or sight-lines generally?

 

Years ago I got some excellent advice on ROH stalls circles seats on an American message board and of course I remember the seats I actually sat in...But any thoughts from people here would be welcome--especially advice for short people. (My body has long since informed me that my standing room days are over.)

 

Thanks for your patience with these questions...

 

Edited August 6, 2017 by DrewCo

[Lynette H]

Public booking for Swan Lake Opens 4 April 2018.   A certain proportion of tickets are held back for public booking, so there should be some reasonable tickets still available. There are a lot of performances of Swan Lake in this particular run (22 I think plus a student and schools performance) which might make it easier.  Casting is normally available before Friends can book (7 March 2018 for ordinary Friends), so t should definitely be available before time public booking opens.  But for the best choice you need to be poised over your keyboard at the moment pubic booking opens, and be prepared to wait in the queuing system. 

 

I'm not a regular in the stalls. It's not ideal if you are petite. There are many other regulars I'm sure who can offer you a view on this.   The first (six ?) rows are not raked, the rake on the rest is slight. The front row of the centre of the grand tier or balcony will mean you have a clear view.

 

The tight U shape of the auditorium means  that there are a number of seats at the sides which offer a restricted view.  It's tricky: some people like being closer to the stage even if they lose a corner of the action.  If you want a clear central view it may mean being further away. I'm sure others have opinions to offer. 

 

[Sim]

For Swan Lake I always like to be higher than stalls level in order to admire the corps de ballet.  If money were no object, I would try to get centre seats in row A of the Balcony, Grand Tier or even the Amphitheatre.

[alison]

20% of tickets have to be held back for the general public.  However, given that it's the first new production in 30 years, I'd guess that tickets will go flying off the shelves, so to speak, regardless of the number of performances.  They're also not likely to be cheap, even by ROH standards.  It's a new production, and will currently be something of an unknown quantity: you might want to consider that when deciding how many performances to book for   Is there anything else on you could book as well?

 

I wouldn't sit in the Stalls if you're short - unless Mr Drewco is quite a bit taller and you can sit in one of the aisle seats on the side blocks, thus giving yourself something like a reasonable view. 

 

Also, DrewCo, I've added some tags to your question.  If you click on the tag "seating" that should take you to other threads discussing the subject, which should be of help.

[DrewCo]

Thank you all very much...

 

Regarding Alison's warning about getting tickets for multiple performances of a new production that is, after all, an unknown quantity. I admit I am perhaps irrationally optimistic about this Swan Lake. Via video I liked the Macfarlane designs for Frankenstein--and Scarlett reviving bits of Ashton choreography? Hurrah! 

 

I must admit I have pretty "conservative" tastes in Swan Lake. The Royal, I think, has been spared the absurdities of many 20th-21st-century productions--no Odette and Siegfried living happily ever after, no dancing Rothbarts, no gang rapes. (I've only read about the last mentioned, not seen it--Thank God!) I'm hoping Scarlett doesn't break the streak...

 

This also an opportunity for me to catch up with the Royal Ballet's dancers in a 19th-century ballet. In 2015 I traveled to see them in New York but for that NY visit the rep was all 20th-21st-century choreography.

 

I think my main worry, in addition to picking the right seats, is just how high the prices may go.  And I will certainly look out for other dance in London during that week!

Edited August 7, 2017 by DrewCo

[Lizbie1]

If you look at Autumn pricing it might give you a feel for how much tickets will cost - I'd expect Swan Lake prices to be higher than Alice and Nutcracker but not hugely so: 

http://static.roh.org.uk/seatmaps/2017-18/autumn/autumn-seat-price-plan-201718.pdf. If you like I can try and remember to post the price range here once the Summer Friends' magazine has arrived.

 

I don't think your optimism is irrational, especially if all you're really hoping for is a well-danced and conservative Swan Lake.  Kevin O'Hare seems to have gone out of his way to stress that there won't be anything revolutionary about the production: he'd have been foolish to say what he has if Liam Scarlett is planning to impose his own vision, and KOH is no fool!

 

I don't think that availability in general will be a problem - as long as you're online promptly at the appointed hour (an early start for you!) and are prepared to compromise on dates or seats or both you should be fine. It's only recently that I've become a Friend; before then - very short runs aside - the only shows I was nervous about getting tickets for were for the opera when it came to certain singers and Wagner.

[RuthE]

In answer to a specific point in the original post, your memory of the Stalls Circle is correct - in the centre block, rows B and C are awful seats unless you are tall (and if you're tall and you sit in row B, then of course the person behind you in row C probably has an even worse view).

 

I would also say that sightlines in most of the Balcony can be poor value for money especially if you are short.

 

If money is no object I would suggest you aim for Stalls Circle row A, Balcony centre block Row A, or anywhere in the Grand Tier (except the boxes).

Edited August 7, 2017 by RuthE

[ninamargaret]

would generally agree with RuthE. I am short and find that Stalls Circle Row A is good, the centre part best for an overall view, but most expensive, the sides mean that you lose a good view of the side of the stage but still get super close ups of what's going on. Ideally, perhaps Grand Tier for overall view and then Side Stalls Circle for close up.

[DrewCo]

All the additional details about seats are very helpful...thanks to everyone.

 

46 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

I don't think your optimism is irrational, especially if all you're really hoping for is a well-danced and conservative Swan Lake.  Kevin O'Hare seems to have gone out of his way to stress that there won't be anything revolutionary about the production: he'd have been foolish to say what he has if Liam Scarlett is planning to impose his own vision, and KOH is no fool!

 

I fear I sound unadventurous, but you have understood me exactly.

Edited August 7, 2017 by DrewCo

[Lizbie1]

2 minutes ago, DrewCo said:

I fear I sound unadventurous, but you have understood me exactly.

 

Takes one to know one

[FLOSS]

I would agree that the ticket prices for Peter Wright's production of Nutcracker(1984 ) with a top price of £125 will give you some idea of how much your Swan Lake tickets are likely to cost. I don't think that the company will want to be seen piling on the costs too much at least as far as the Amphitheatre seats are concerned although management might be tempted to go for some sort of high price Gala for the first performance. 

 

As to where you should sit I would simply say that for Swan Lake you have to sit where you can see the floor patterns for the corps de ballet as the corps is as important as the dancers appearing in the main roles.

 

As far as Scarlett's Swan Lake production is concerned the Insight Evening at which Monica Mason interviewed him last season allayed some of my concerns.As someone in his very early thirties Scarlett came across as a very level headed individual. At the beginning of the interview, without being prompted, he said that he had been frustrated by some of the decisions which Mason, as his director, had made but that he now saw that she had been right. Interestingly he said that he only agreed to be interviewed on condition that she interviewed him. He seems to be very conscious of the company's traditions and his place in its development without being overwhelmed by the past. He said that he was conscious of the responsibility of staging the company's new Swan Lake and that he was currently doing his research for it.

 

As far as the "choreography by Ashton " is concerned it might merely mean including the Neapolitan Dance which was sorely missed from the Dowell production in its early years. If we are lucky it could mean including one of his act 1 Waltzes, his Dance of the Guests ,his Pas de Quatre and Spanish Dance in the third act and his entire fourth act. We might even get Dame Ninette's Peasant Girl pas with the Tutor which was very like Ratmansky's reconstructed version. For me the ideal solution as far as the fourth act is concerned would be to stage the Ashton version and the original Ivanov in alternate seasons. That would be a real treat.

Edited August 7, 2017 by FLOSS

[DrewCo]

I remember seeing the Ashton pas de quatre--probably at Wolftrap--many years ago. I would be very pleased to see it again.

 

David Blair's production for ABT (much missed) had a peasant girl pas with the Tudor. I infer he followed De Valois's production rather closely...

[toursenlair]

15 hours ago, Lynette H said:

Public booking for Swan Lake Opens 4 April 2018.   A certain proportion of tickets are held back for public booking, so there should be some reasonable tickets still available.

 

But what happened with the Watson Osipova Mayerlings in May, where it was completely sold out before public booking opened? And likewise for the opening (Osipova) night of the mixed program (Strapless etc) where the pickings were very slim indeed when public booking opened.

[Lizbie1]

1 hour ago, toursenlair said:

 

But what happened with the Watson Osipova Mayerlings in May, where it was completely sold out before public booking opened? And likewise for the opening (Osipova) night of the mixed program (Strapless etc) where the pickings were very slim indeed when public booking opened.

 

I'm not clear whether the proportion of tickets held back for general booking is across the whole run or for each date.

 

I agree that if you've got your heart set on a particular cast you could be disappointed, but on the whole there's usually a good choice available.  The Watson/Osipova Mayerlings had much the starriest cast and the Amphitheatre for one of their three shows was held back for students (and it's possible that ROH counts that allocation towards the 20%).  In the case of the Osipova mixed bill it was probably a combination of a relatively short run and a number of very popular dancers that night: not just Osipova but Nunez/McRae/Muntagirov in the Forsythe, Hayward in the Tarantella and the departing Yanowsky in the Scarlett, IIRC.

Edited August 7, 2017 by Lizbie1

[alison]

12 hours ago, FLOSS said:

I would agree that the ticket prices for Peter Wright's production of Nutcracker(1984 ) with a top price of £125 will give you some idea of how much your Swan Lake tickets are likely to cost. I don't think that the company will want to be seen piling on the costs too much at least as far as the Amphitheatre seats are concerned although management might be tempted to go for some sort of high price Gala for the first performance.

 

I'd say that's a dead cert.  I'm also not holding out hopes of anything like £125 top price, based on experience of the company's last 3 Sleeping Beauties.  I imagine the prices will get bumped up at all levels because they'll want to start offsetting the outlay as soon as they can.  As I've said earlier, I also think tickets will be difficult to come by - remember trying to get hold of them for Frankenstein?!  It seems to have been that way for anything at the ROH with a popular title in recent years. 

[taxi4ballet]

On 07/08/2017 at 00:50, alison said:

20% of tickets have to be held back for the general public.  

Good grief - is that all?

[DrewCo]

Not exactly about attending ROH--but I learned through this forum that the same week I am planning to see Swan Lake with the Royal, the English National Ballet is dancing Macmillan's staging of Sleeping Beauty at the Coliseum.  One of my favorite ballets and a production (and a company) I have never seen, so I am pleased all round. Since tickets are already on sale, I have already bought tickets for two performances that don't conflict with any Royal Swan Lakes. Now I'm hoping nothing happens to upend my travel plans....As many of you may already know, the Coliseum has posted a discount code SLEEP2018 -- which knocks 20% off the price of tickets. 

[Jan McNulty]

I like the ENB Sleeping Beauty very much but my favourite production is Sir Peter Wright's for BRB (which is touring, but sadly not to London) in the Spring.

[alison]

8 hours ago, DrewCo said:

Not exactly about attending ROH--but I learned through this forum that the same week I am planning to see Swan Lake with the Royal, the English National Ballet is dancing Macmillan's staging of Sleeping Beauty at the Coliseum.  One of my favorite ballets and a production (and a company) I have never seen, so I am pleased all round. Since tickets are already on sale, I have already bought tickets for two performances that don't conflict with any Royal Swan Lakes. Now I'm hoping nothing happens to upend my travel plans....As many of you may already know, the Coliseum has posted a discount code SLEEP2018 -- which knocks 20% off the price of tickets. 

 

Well, "many" may have done, but I didn't, so thank you for that, DrewCo.  I'll add it to the Special Offers forum.  I assume it's an "early bird" offer.

[DrewCo]

3 hours ago, alison said:

 

Well, "many" may have done, but I didn't, so thank you for that, DrewCo.  I'll add it to the Special Offers forum.  I assume it's an "early bird" offer.

Yes--I believe it is.