The "new" Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

[bangorballetboy]

41 minutes ago, Dance*is*life said:

I just hope they haven't altered the inside of the actual opera house building - ie the foyer, crush bar and stairs leading up to it and of course the most beautiful auditorium in the world!  I still miss the giant mirror half way up the stairs to the crush bar or whatever it's called nowadays.  When I was a little girl I adored walking down those stairs and admiring myself in my best party frock with feet beautifully pointed and turned out as I was descending gracefully!

 

The Open Up programme has not changed anything in the old House, other than the bit joining the foyer to the piazza link/Linbury area.

[serenade]

3 hours ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

I used to love the RFH but I don't find the Southbank at all welcoming now!

 

Me either...sometimes I find it quite stressful.  

 

People seem to love to perpetuate this myth about ballet and opera.  I think the article is just a bit much really...high culture's icy palace lets the people in for a drink...give me a break.   It was this stuffy, high class snobby place but look, now you can buy an overpriced coffee at lunch time...look how welcoming it's become  🙄 I know I'm being a bit unfair but it's a very irritating article...  

[alison]

4 hours ago, Lizbie1 said:

Just spotted that programme vouchers are now £8 rather than £7. Price inflation strikes again!

 

What, for the ballet as well?  Surely it's only a couple of years since the price went up to £7?

[Nicola H]

3 hours ago, Dance*is*life said:

I just hope they haven't altered the inside of the actual opera house building - ie the foyer, crush bar and stairs leading up to it and of course the most beautiful auditorium in the world!  I still miss the giant mirror half way up the stairs to the crush bar or whatever it's called nowadays.  When I was a little girl I adored walking down those stairs and admiring myself in my best party frock with feet beautifully pointed and turned out as I was descending gracefully!

 there is just something about those staircases  isn't there 

[Richard LH]

12 hours ago, Richard LH said:

This just seems to be a front page overlay which has relatively little value and as you say, it is a relief that all the familiar pages are linked.

I was asked by ROH to comment on a beta version of various proposed changes a few weeks ago. These would be more extensive than what has now appeared,   but  I had to report back that there were all sorts of functionality problems. I hope they don't start messing the site up futher.

Looking a bit more closely  though, they HAVE  messed up the online shop. For DVDs or Blu Ray you have to scroll through  about 34 pages, listed  under "Recordings and Books" unless you put in a specific "Search" for what you already think  you might want. They have removed the useful way of refinining your browsing  for what is available e.g. by title,  artist, or choreographer. I am going to complain!

[bridiem]

7 hours ago, alison said:

 

What, for the ballet as well?  Surely it's only a couple of years since the price went up to £7?

 

Programmes are clearly now aimed at either a) people with a lot of money or b) people who only go occasionally so it's a special treat situation. Regular non-rich patrons have now been priced out being able to buy a programme. I always used to buy a programme when there was a new work or new production; now, I have to rely on other sources to give me background about what I'm seeing. That is wrong. The programmes should (if necessary) be less lavish, and they should be less expensive.

[JohnS]

30 minutes ago, Richard LH said:

they HAVE  messed up the online shop

 

Thanks Richard - it is a mess.  If you click on a DVD in any of the pages for productions or dancers it takes you to the collections page where there's no simple way of getting to what is of interest.  Good luck with your complaint!

[Mary]

Does anyone know if ticket-holders can still enter via the main Bow Street doors?

 

[Richard LH]

23 minutes ago, JohnS said:

 

Thanks Richard - it is a mess.  If you click on a DVD in any of the pages for productions or dancers it takes you to the collections page where there's no simple way of getting to what is of interest.  Good luck with your complaint!

Yes, thanks John, I see what you mean. Another faux pas which I will draw to their attention. I wonder what else may come to light! 

[Bruce Wall]

Has anyone heard tell of the ticket price scales for any the Winter Linbury dance performances?

 

[Bluebird]

28 minutes ago, Bruce Wall said:

Has anyone heard tell of the ticket price scales for any the Winter Linbury dance performances?

 

 

According to this morning's Guardian, "The Linbury Theatre's inaugural programme will include performances for which ticket prices range from £5 to £45, with a quarter of seats priced at £25 or less".

 

It's not clear whether this price range will apply to all performances or only to some of them.

 

Edited to say that I've been unable to find a link to the item which is in the paper copy of today's Guardian, but the above sentence is included in an online article, posted on their website yesterday, (which seems to be different to the one at the top of this thread):

 

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2018/sep/19/royal-opera-house-aims-to-lose-elitist-tag-after-50m-revamp

 

Edited September 20, 2018 by Bluebird

[JohnS]

From the photos and articles Open Up looks great.  I do think it's disappointing the changed website is not similarly hitting the mark but hopefully it can be quickly sorted.

[alison]

3 hours ago, Mary said:

Does anyone know if ticket-holders can still enter via the main Bow Street doors?

 

 

I don't see any reason why not - unless someone else knows differently?

[Bluebird]

4 hours ago, Richard LH said:

Looking a bit more closely  though, they HAVE  messed up the online shop. For DVDs or Blu Ray you have to scroll through  about 34 pages, listed  under "Recordings and Books" unless you put in a specific "Search" for what you already think  you might want. They have removed the useful way of refinining your browsing  for what is available e.g. by title,  artist, or choreographer. I am going to complain!

 

Maybe they've tweaked it since you wrote this?  Or they've received your complaint and have acted on it! I just tried the 'search' button and was able to refine my browsing by title, artist and choreographer.

 

Edited to put in an example, the result of a search for 'Romeo and Juliet DVD':

https://shop.roh.org.uk/search?type=product&q=romeo and juliet ballet dvd*

 

Presumable the Winter Dreams DVD is included in the results as it contains 'Out of Line',  a documentary portrait of MacMillan which contains extracts from his ballets.

 

Edited September 20, 2018 by Bluebird

[JohnS]

Thanks Bluebird - I've tried searching for Frankenstein and Mayerling using your link but with no success at all.

[JohnS]

I've also tried posting a comment on the website.  That used to appear immediately as 'awaiting moderation' but I see no sign of it at all.

[Bluebird]

31 minutes ago, JohnS said:

Thanks Bluebird - I've tried searching for Frankenstein and Mayerling using your link but with no success at all.

How strange.  Here is the page I initially went to:

https://shop.roh.org.uk/

 

At the top is a search button.  When I click on that and type in Frankenstein, the Blu-ray and the DVD immediately appear.

[SPD444]

Some, if not all, of the Linbury performances are included in the What's on link. No prices but the one's I have looked at appear to run for between 1 hour and 1-1/2 hours ( including interval ) Surprised about the interval, I am sure I can wait an hour before requiring refreshment. It seems "Friends" etc. will be receiving an email concerning booking dates. Very last minute.

[JohnS]

Many thanks Bluebird - now works for me as does your original link.  All very curious.  Will wait and see if my comment gets posted on the ROH website as there's still no indication of my post being received and awaiting moderation.

[alison]

17 hours ago, Richard LH said:

This just seems to be a front page overlay which has relatively little value

 

Is that a polite way of calling it a total mess?    Doesn't even look as though it's been tried out on a non-touchscreen computer.

[capybara]

I tried it this morning and my PC got stuck on a picture of food. Which somehow seemed appropriate!

 

However, I do find some of the press comment 'unfortunate'. "Bastion of exclusivity"? Ridiculous and seemingly more indicative of the psyche of the writer than any reality I recognise. The ROH staff who have sweated blood to achieve this opening up deserve better - and a lot of credit.

 

But, as for the website..............!!!!!!!

[SPD444]

The new front page is, for me, change for the sake of change. Not an improvement as far as I can see.

[alison]

17 hours ago, Shade said:

Just seen the photos in the Evening Standard - wow it looks fabulous. I can't wAit to visit on Friday.

 

I've just got around to looking at yesterday's Standard's property section and found there were several pages of photos in there which I'd been unaware of.  Rather an odd place to put it, but I suppose it was the only place for an extended feature.  Might be worth still grabbing a copy of it if you still can - outer London sources may well still have it.

[JohnS]

At least a post I made is now on the ROH website - perhaps the 'awaiting moderation' with the draft post is a casualty of the new website.

 

What I find most odd is that from the new front page there's no link to 'news'.  I find I have to go to 'account' to get to the old familiar design and then 'news'.  I do hope the gremlins get sorted quickly because from what I see the new design looks attractive but the functionality has so far been pretty poor, particularly as I found the website very good.

[Richard LH]

2 hours ago, Bluebird said:

 

Maybe they've tweaked it since you wrote this?  Or they've received your complaint and have acted on it! I just tried the 'search' button and was able to refine my browsing by title, artist and choreographer.

 

Edited to put in an example, the result of a search for 'Romeo and Juliet DVD':

https://shop.roh.org.uk/search?type=product&q=romeo and juliet ballet dvd*

 

Presumable the Winter Dreams DVD is included in the results as it contains 'Out of Line',  a documentary portrait of MacMillan which contains extracts from his ballets.

 

No they haven't tweaked it.

 

Bluebird, what you have  done (I think) is a specific search, which does throw up some sort of a result - i.e. you specified R & J and DVD.  That's OK if you know what you want,  and whether the ROH sells it. What there used to be, which is now missing, is essentially a search facility the  other way around - a easy and useful means of  seeing  exactly what the ROH has available by way  of a list of all recorded productions, which you can then refine as you like according to  sub-categories (say DVD/Blu-ray, or choreographer, or artist, or production), and get further details to decide if you want it. I am calling this a "browse what's for sale" screen, if that makes sense.  

 

The new Search facility itself is also  dicey - there is supposed to be a red bar at the bottom of the first few results from a search, linking to "view all results", but on my PC (Windows 10) this bar  comes and goes, randomly flashing, so you cannot always link to the full results, beyond the first 4. This seems not to be the case on my Android tablet, although there is the same issue as to the poorer overall search functionality. (The format of the new website pages  seems to be geared for tablet use, and is not optimised for use on a PC).

If you do specify, from the first new shop page,  an initial search that successfully returns  more than 4 results,  that page then   includes  a "home/search" button, and if you choose "search" there you then get a different "search our shop" screen. That screen does then seem to throw up a full (specified) search  result, i.e. more than 4 - but still no "browse what's for sale" facilty.

There are other issues - try searching for  "Nunez" on either the new home shop page or the  "search our shop" screen and you only get 4 results. "Acosta" returns 35 (but only 4 results using a PC from the new home shop page ).

And as JohnS has pointed out, where there is  a  Shop link  from various other  pages in  the main site, showing  related available  recordings, those links now just take you to the new shop collections page and not to the item you would be interested in buying.

I fully expect that there are other issues yet to be discovered. If this is still a work in progress they should not have introduced it yet. It is frankly pants, at the moment. 

 

[Richard LH]

1 hour ago, JohnS said:

At least a post I made is now on the ROH website - perhaps the 'awaiting moderation' with the draft post is a casualty of the new website.

 

What I find most odd is that from the new front page there's no link to 'news'.  I find I have to go to 'account' to get to the old familiar design and then 'news'.  I do hope the gremlins get sorted quickly because from what I see the new design looks attractive but the functionality has so far been pretty poor, particularly as I found the website very good.

Or you have to click on Menu on the top right of the new front page and then click News from the next menu. 

[zxDaveM]

1 hour ago, Richard LH said:

And as JohnS has pointed out, where there is  a  Shop link  from various other  pages in  the main site, showing  related available  recordings, those links now just take you to the new shop collections page and not to the item you would be interested in buying.

I fully expect that there are other issues yet to be discovered. If this is still a work in progress they should not have introduced it yet. It is frankly pants, at the moment. 

 

 

why bother - lets be honest, items are usually way cheaper on the likes of Amazon (the tax fiddling barstewards) etc. than the in-store at ROH, and by the sounds of it, WAY easier to find!

[Blossom]

11 hours ago, bridiem said:

 

Programmes are clearly now aimed at either a) people with a lot of money or b) people who only go occasionally so it's a special treat situation. Regular non-rich patrons have now been priced out being able to buy a programme. I always used to buy a programme when there was a new work or new production; now, I have to rely on other sources to give me background about what I'm seeing. That is wrong. The programmes should (if necessary) be less lavish, and they should be less expensive.

 

There are always the online programmes which have video content which you can keep in your online library. Agreed that programmes are for new work/production or for me, something I haven't seen before. But it's possible that prices have to rise if fewer people are buying or if editorial/production costs (of the programme) are increasing. 

[Pulcinella]

1 hour ago, Blossom said:

 

There are always the online programmes which have video content which you can keep in your online library. Agreed that programmes are for new work/production or for me, something I haven't seen before. But it's possible that prices have to rise if fewer people are buying or if editorial/production costs (of the programme) are increasing. 

 

The problem with this is that online programmes are only available for productions which get a cinema screening. Also, at the moment all content for the digital programmes seems to have disappeared! I have checked several of mine and there only seems to be a few photographs on them.

[Guest]

Radio 4's Front Row programme will include an item about the Open Up project tomorrow (Friday) evening,

[Richard LH]

9 hours ago, Pulcinella said:

 

The problem with this is that online programmes are only available for productions which get a cinema screening. Also, at the moment all content for the digital programmes seems to have disappeared! I have checked several of mine and there only seems to be a few photographs on them.

Yes,  another huge glitch, it seems.  This was the reply to one dissatisfied customer about the Swan Lake digital programme, nearly 3 months ago....

 

Mel Spencer (Senior Editor (Social Media)) responded on 2 July 2018 at 3:00pm

Hi Alex,

Sorry for the frustrating experience. Unfortunately we are having ongoing issues with our digital programmes and the Swan Lake programme isn't available. We are working to fix the issue but it make be a slightly longer fix than we expected.

Apologies once again.

Mel

[Richard LH]

15 hours ago, zxDaveM said:

 

why bother - lets be honest, items are usually way cheaper on the likes of Amazon (the tax fiddling barstewards) etc. than the in-store at ROH, and by the sounds of it, WAY easier to find!

Way easier to find at the moment, maybe, but before these changes the ROH online shop was preferable  in terms of seeing what was available and refining searches - and some  ROH items are cheaper than Amazon. It is always good to have options, plus I support the Royal Ballet and I would  like to see the ROH have a successful shop. 

[JohnS]

15 hours ago, zxDaveM said:

 

why bother - lets be honest, items are usually way cheaper on the likes of Amazon (the tax fiddling barstewards) etc. than the in-store at ROH, and by the sounds of it, WAY easier to find!

 

For the same reason I buy books from my local independent bookshop.  I enjoy visiting the ROH shop, support the staff, and want to see the shop flourishing and making a contribution to the running of the ROH and Royal Ballet.