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ROH: Winter season public booking 2018-19


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3 hours ago, LinMM said:

i once had an extreme side stalls circle ticket but made up for occasional loss of view by how close the dancers were!! 

 

I too had one of these tickets for Mayerling (Bonelli/Morera in the previous run) and I'm sure the proximity to the stage really increased my enjoyment of the performance. I think these seats are great for Macmillan ballets as you can really see the acting/gestures/facial expressions so clearly and I think the advantage of being so close outweighs the disadvantage of occasionally missing a bit of the action. However, if you're thinking of booking one it can be as well to think what side of the stage significant action occurs and plan accordingly. I once sat through a performance of Giselle where I couldn't see Giselle's cottage (more action goes on in front of it than in front of Albrecht's cottage) and a performance of Sylvia where I couldn't see Eros at all! Also it may not work so well for a ballet like swan lake or Bayadere where you want to see the full corps in the white acts.

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used to.love front row stalls, until after the big renovation they seemed to alter the rake of the stalls and I couldn't see anything lower than knees! I now tend to have side stalls circle of it's a ballet i know, then I know what I'm missing if I can't see the extreme side of the stage. Move nearer to the centre for something newer. Particular favourite are the four (on each side) row B seats, which I think are sometimes used for wheelchairs, as they are raised but have never managed to get these for ballet. Years since I managed the Grand Tier, but very nice!!

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10 hours ago, FLOSS said:

As far as the audience's apparent enthusiasm for this mixed bill is concerned I don't think that anyone will have anticipated such a strong demand for tickets. Six performances has become the norm for the company's mixed bills as the opera house audience generally prefers full length ballets of which they have heard to programmes which include unfamiliar works even if they offer the opportunity to see half the company's Principal dancers, and of course they don't generate as much income. I imagine that the audience for this programme will include people who were slow off the mark when it came to booking tickets for the Opera House Nutcracker; those  with children who have declared themselves bored by Nutcracker because it does not have a decent story and those with children who have decided that they are far too sophisticated for such childish fare.

 

Well, frankly, if they hadn't anticipated the demand, what on earth are they doing?!  Am I in the wrong job here? :)  It's not exactly rocket science.  Mixed bills with enough meat on them usually do sell well: Symphony in C (hey, it's a tutu ballet!) will do it if accompanied by some reasonably tempting selections; any two of Patineurs, Winter Dreams and The Concert will probably do it; most judiciously chosen Ashton bills will too, despite the inherent casting problems ...  The ticket sales patterns are equally predictable - they happen often enough with mixed bills that people like - and look at all the cheap ones at the back of the amphi that have been kindly left for all these newbies the ROH wants to tempt in with cheap tickets :) 

 

I'll stick my neck out (not very far) here: both Two Pigeons (with the possible exception of the RBS performances being bought up by chuffed parents) and Don Q (especially at the new, inflated prices) will prove rather more difficult to sell.

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7 hours ago, alison said:

 

Well, frankly, if they hadn't anticipated the demand, what on earth are they doing?!  Am I in the wrong job here? :)  It's not exactly rocket science.  Mixed bills with enough meat on them usually do sell well: Symphony in C (hey, it's a tutu ballet!) will do it if accompanied by some reasonably tempting selections; any two of Patineurs, Winter Dreams and The Concert will probably do it; most judiciously chosen Ashton bills will too, despite the inherent casting problems ...  The ticket sales patterns are equally predictable - they happen often enough with mixed bills that people like - and look at all the cheap ones at the back of the amphi that have been kindly left for all these newbies the ROH wants to tempt in with cheap tickets :) 

 

I'll stick my neck out (not very far) here: both Two Pigeons (with the possible exception of the RBS performances being bought up by chuffed parents) and Don Q (especially at the new, inflated prices) will prove rather more difficult to sell.

 

Agree with everything you say, Alison.  I am sure that a triple bill with two new works on it might prove a hard(er) sell, as people might wait until the reviews come out before buying tickets.  But a triple with 3 well loved ballets, which haven't been done for quite a while?  No wonder the shows are practically sold out on day one of opening to the general public.

 

I am a bit concerned about Two Pigeons.  Not having done it for a very long time, the RB now seems to be overdoing it.  I enjoy it very much, but I don't want to see it every year, or every other year for that matter.  

 

 

 

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Can’t tell if it’s been mentioned on here yet, but ever since they changed the online booking time to 9am, with telephone bookings remaining at 10am, I’ve noticed a ‘second wave’ of tickets being released each time telephone general booking has opened. They tend to appear in chunks so I don’t think it’s just unpurchased tickets returning from baskets? Anyone else experienced this?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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On 31/10/2018 at 13:30, aliceinwoolfland said:

I've just looked at the Don Q prices - totally ludicrous, especially considering how the production isn't that great in the first place! I will be giving it a miss! 

It's my 2nd fave after the Bolshoi #justsaying LOL

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11 hours ago, Fonty said:

 

I am a bit concerned about Two Pigeons.  Not having done it for a very long time, the RB now seems to be overdoing it.  I enjoy it very much, but I don't want to see it every year, or every other year for that matter.  

 

 

 

It was revived in the 2015/2016 season after a thirty year absence for about 12 performances. And now again three seasons later for about 9 performances. That is hardly an overload. It would be a shame if those dancers who made their debuts three years ago didn't have another opportunity fairly soon to reprise their roles. (Especially bearing in mind that some will have only had two performances in a role). Wasn't that, after all, part of Kevin O'Hare's reasoning for bringing back Mayerling so soon. I would like to see Two Pigeons become part of the company's DNA again. 

I wish it had been combined with something other than Asphodel Meadows - I enjoyed it last time,  but it's not something I would want to introduce a newbie to ballet with. Pigeons would have been perfect with Patineurs for that purpose. 

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12 hours ago, Fonty said:

 

Agree with everything you say, Alison.  I am sure that a triple bill with two new works on it might prove a hard(er) sell, as people might wait until the reviews come out before buying tickets.  But a triple with 3 well loved ballets, which haven't been done for quite a while?  No wonder the shows are practically sold out on day one of opening to the general public.

 

I am a bit concerned about Two Pigeons.  Not having done it for a very long time, the RB now seems to be overdoing it.  I enjoy it very much, but I don't want to see it every year, or every other year for that matter.  

 

 

 

 

You can never have enough Two Pigeons!!!  

 

I must admit when I saw it at ROH I thought the stage looked a bit sparse compared to what I was used to seeing with BRB on the smaller stages they tour to.  I prefer the BRB look ... but as long as I can see it on a regular basis...

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6 hours ago, Darlex said:

 

I wish it had been combined with something other than Asphodel Meadows - I enjoyed it last time,  but it's not something I would want to introduce a newbie to ballet with. Pigeons would have been perfect with Patineurs for that purpose. 

 

What about an opening act of Ballo and the Tschai PDD .... or, perhaps, Square Dance.  (Is the latter in the RB rep?)  

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12 hours ago, Darlex said:

It was revived in the 2015/2016 season after a thirty year absence for about 12 performances. And now again three seasons later for about 9 performances. That is hardly an overload.

I wish it had been combined with something other than Asphodel Meadows - I enjoyed it last time,  but it's not something I would want to introduce a newbie to ballet with. Pigeons would have been perfect with Patineurs for that purpose. 

 

Personally, I think 12 performances are rather a lot in one season, but perhaps it is just me.  I saw it twice last time, and I think it depends on what it is paired with.  I love Les Patineurs, but was very reluctant to buy a ticket when it was paired with Tales of Beatrix Potter.  Nothing and nobody will persuade me to watch that on the ROH stage again, fun though it was to see it once.  

 

 

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3 hours ago, Fonty said:

 

Personally, I think 12 performances are rather a lot in one season, but perhaps it is just me.  I saw it twice last time, and I think it depends on what it is paired with.  I love Les Patineurs, but was very reluctant to buy a ticket when it was paired with Tales of Beatrix Potter.  Nothing and nobody will persuade me to watch that on the ROH stage again, fun though it was to see it once.  

 

 

Do you mean that 12 performances of anything is too much in one season or 12 performances of a ballet with an unfamiliar title is too much to sell out?  I saw all 5 casts last time around because I had never seen it before and enjoyed 'discovering' it so much. It was paired with Monotones and then Rhapsody last time which, IMO, are also both worth numerous viewings. 

 

I understand your reluctance to see Beatrix Potter on stage more than once. I love the film and that's probably how it should have stayed. Having said that I did enjoy Pas de legumes all those years back and that was originally made for film I believe. 

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Two Pigeons seems to have been rather over-done in recent years! I suppose once you have trained the pigeons you need to make the most of their "talents" before their natural demise. I was amused to see in one performance that Wood Pigeon was on the menu in the Level 5 restaurant. A veiled threat perhaps?

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  • 1 month later...
On 02/11/2018 at 21:21, Darlex said:

I wish it had been combined with something other than Asphodel Meadows - I enjoyed it last time,  but it's not something I would want to introduce a newbie to ballet with. Pigeons would have been perfect with Patineurs for that purpose. 

 

May I ask if Asphodel Meadows is very difficult to watch? After really enjoying the Triple Bill on Thursday I am now eyeing up the Asphodel Meadows/Two Pigeons double bill. The latter sounds like it's the sort of piece I might enjoy, having looked up the plot, but Googling the former indicates that it doesn't have a plot. As someone who isn't very keen on non-narrative dancing, I'm wondering if it's worth "suffering" Asphodel Meadows for the sake of seeing Two Pigeons?

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Just now, Dawnstar said:

 

May I ask if Asphodel Meadows is very difficult to watch? After really enjoying the Triple Bill on Thursday I am now eyeing up the Asphodel Meadows/Two Pigeons double bill. The latter sounds like it's the sort of piece I might enjoy, having looked up the plot, but Googling the former indicates that it doesn't have a plot. As someone who isn't very keen on non-narrative dancing, I'm wondering if it's worth "suffering" Asphodel Meadows for the sake of seeing Two Pigeons?

 

Well I don't remember it very well, but I do remember loving it. I don't think it's a hard watch in the way that some non-narrative works can be. But it's all personal of course!

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1 hour ago, Dawnstar said:

Thanks for the replies. They sound fairly reassuring. I gather that it's fairly short too, so if I hated it at least it wouldn't be for long!

Hi Dawnstar. I am sure that if you already enjoy ballet, you will also enjoy Asphodel Meadows. You certainly won't suffer! I remember it was beautiful, but not 'wow' and it is certainly non-narrative. Pigeons, on the other hand, has a story that is easy to follow, and is packed with dancing, colour and humour. 

When I made my original post I was thinking more along the lines of if I was taking someone to their very first ballet. 

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I've only seen Ashphodel Meadows once quite a while back but remember liking it....music ...costumes ...etc it was just generally pleasant I seem to remember but will be interested to see it again to see how I feel on a second viewing....in fact I'm going twice to Two Pigeons just so I can see it with Ashphodel Meadows as well as the Royal Ballet students.

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17 hours ago, Darlex said:

Hi Dawnstar. I am sure that if you already enjoy ballet, you will also enjoy Asphodel Meadows. You certainly won't suffer! I remember it was beautiful, but not 'wow' and it is certainly non-narrative. Pigeons, on the other hand, has a story that is easy to follow, and is packed with dancing, colour and humour. 

When I made my original post I was thinking more along the lines of if I was taking someone to their very first ballet. 

 

Well, I enjoy some ballet but I've never seen anything by a living choreographer apart from the Winter's Tale cinecast, which of course is narrative, so I'm decidedly apprehensive about something that is both modern and non-narrative. I did watch the Infra insight evening livestreaming recently & didn't like that style of choreography at all so I'm hoping that Scarlett does not share too many choreographic traits with McGregor.

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16 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

Well, I enjoy some ballet but I've never seen anything by a living choreographer apart from the Winter's Tale cinecast, which of course is narrative, so I'm decidedly apprehensive about something that is both modern and non-narrative. I did watch the Infra insight evening livestreaming recently & didn't like that style of choreography at all so I'm hoping that Scarlett does not share too many choreographic traits with McGregor.

 

He doesn't! 

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34 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

Oh good! Anyway, I've just booked - for the first night, which has what looks like the most appealing cast line-up - so thank you everyone who advised.

 

I look forward to hearing your thoughts about it, Dawnstar!

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