Dear Mr. Taylor

[LinMM]

Why are you toying with the idea to leap onto the stage tonight Colman!!

 

Ive only had my bag checked when it's been a rucksack or bigger!!

My ticket has always been checked at auditorium door.

I feel much more worried ( though not that much at the moment) walking through Victoria station....waht are you going to do have armed guards outside the ROH as at Victoria? .....only serious option against an attack.

 

I shouldn't worry about Lady Chatto I'm sure the vast majority of people can't picture her....however I'm sure if William or Harry plus families turned up there would be heightened security alert everywhere!! 

 

Edited November 23, 2018 by LinMM

[Sim]

I don't think people are "righteously complaining" when it comes to a perceived lack of security.  London and other major cities have suffered awful terrorist attacks, and if there is a fear in certain sectors of society I don't think it's fair to belittle them.  I know that the Opera in Paris takes security very seriously indeed, and compared to them the ROH is lax.  Do I want airport-style security at theatres?  Of course not.  Perfunctory bag checks are probably the best that can be done without making a trip to the theatre seem like an ordeal. 

[Colman]

41 minutes ago, LinMM said:

Why are you toying with the idea to leap onto the stage tonight Colman!!

 

No, we did one of the “Dance with the Royal Ballet” classes for a bit of fun. A bit of barre and the party dance from nutcracker. 

 

I promise to stay in my seat quietly tonight. 

 

Edited November 23, 2018 by Colman

[LinMM]

Was that part of the new open project Colman?

[alison]

You mean the classes they've been running since before Open Up took place?    Like the afternoon tea and restaurant meals, and ... (okay, I won't go on!)

[penelopesimpson]

1 hour ago, LinMM said:

Why are you toying with the idea to leap onto the stage tonight Colman!!

 

Ive only had my bag checked when it's been a rucksack or bigger!!

My ticket has always been checked at auditorium door.

I feel much more worried ( though not that much at the moment) walking through Victoria station....waht are you going to do have armed guards outside the ROH as at Victoria? .....only serious option against an attack.

 

I shouldn't worry about Lady Chatto I'm sure the vast majority of people can't picture her....however I'm sure if William or Harry plus families turned up there would be heightened security alert everywhere!! 

 

I wasn't especially worried about Sarah Chatoo - more that  used her as an example of just how lax security is.  I am sorry if some people feel guests are being paranoid.  I can assure you that for myself that is far from the case: I take the view that life goes on.  But - and it is a big but - it is reasonable to expect that when one is attending an event in a high-profile building in the current climate, those responsible not only take basic security precautions, but are seen to be taking such.

[penelopesimpson]

3 hours ago, Lindsay said:

Me three.  And frankly even if bags weren't searched I see no reason why anyone should feel more nervous sitting in the ROH than they would be on a busy train or bus, where they are surrounded by people with luggage that hasn't been checked.  But some people just seem to enjoy righteously complaining - if the ROH provided a tray of chocolates served up by a personal butler to their seat some posters would doubtless moan that it was encouraging unhealthy eating or discriminating against the lactose intolerant. ....

That is a somewhat extreme comment.  Anybody worried about security is 'enjoying righteously complaining.'  And you would know?

 

I expect it's the same people who are xenophobic because they can't spell.

Edited November 23, 2018 by penelopesimpson

[LinMM]

I agree that the bag searches that were in place were okay and not a lot of bother ......if doing should apply to people going into the theatre at any time of the day etc as to be frank any attack is more likely from this quarter than people inside the auditorium. 

 

To be honest it's  always just after an attack that one feels slightly more fearful ......if some time has elapsed then although it is always vaguely at the back of your mind it starts to feel less scary.

After the 7/7 attack I wouldn't go on the tube at all for a few months then gradually got back to it though still prefer bus especially in the summer when the tube gets far too hot for my comfort.....last summer I was more worried I might come to a sticky end through the heat than any terror attack.

[Timmie]

3 hours ago, Lindsay said:

...if the ROH provided a tray of chocolates served up by a personal butler to their seat...

 

Oh, doesn't everyone get that already then? Is it only the Grand Tier?

[Lindsay]

1 minute ago, Timmie said:

 

Oh, doesn't everyone get that already then? Is it only the Grand Tier?

 

Grand Tier gets Hotel Chocolat from a butler.  Balcony get to pass around a box of Quality Street.

Edited November 23, 2018 by Lindsay

[Anna C]

3 hours ago, Lindsay said:

Me three.  And frankly even if bags weren't searched I see no reason why anyone should feel more nervous sitting in the ROH than they would be on a busy train or bus, where they are surrounded by people with luggage that hasn't been checked.  But some people just seem to enjoy righteously complaining - if the ROH provided a tray of chocolates served up by a personal butler to their seat some posters would doubtless moan that it was encouraging unhealthy eating or discriminating against the lactose intolerant. ....

 

I have mentioned the lack of security, not because I “enjoy righteously complaining” but because the change in policy coincided with the “Open Up” project and the ROH staff member I queried basically lied to me.  He said that the removal of bag checking was because “the threat level has dropped” (it has not) and that they are in regular contact with “the Met Office”.   I kid you not.  

 

Just like the overflowing bins in the toilets, the lack of ticket office in the main foyer, the pig’s ear of the website “improvements”, the new and “improved” Levels, I suspect the security protocols were changed to coincide with the Open Up but without being thought through.  Hence the complete cessation of bag checks which is now “random”.  

 

Personally, I won’t vote with my feet and I haven’t contacted the ROH about any of the above issues - the exception being tweeting them to try to find out casting information just before booking.  I am not a serial complainer and certainly won’t stop visiting the ROH.  However, when all the other London venues I visit are *not* dropping the bag check, personally I DO feel reassured when it’s carried out.  And what I really object to is being fobbed off by staff giving me factually incorrect information as if I’m completely stupid.  Had the ROH staff said “Checking every bag is not feasible now that the building has been opened up to the public, so we’re changing our policy to random bag checks and covert security” I’d have been absolutely fine with that.  Treating me like an idiot, telling me the terror threat level has dropped when it hasn’t and then mistaking the Met Office for the Metropolitan Police? Nope.  Not good enough.  

 

 

[Lindsay]

Which other venues Anna? I have not had my bag checked when entering the Festival Hall, National Theatre, Wigmore, Almeida or Barbican lately.  Do you mean West End theatres?

[alison]

West End theatres seem to be pretty good at it, every time I go past one of them I see queues being checked.

[Anna C]

19 minutes ago, Lindsay said:

Which other venues Anna? I have not had my bag checked when entering the Festival Hall, National Theatre, Wigmore, Almeida or Barbican lately.  Do you mean West End theatres?

 

Yep, Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Victoria Palace, Shaftesbury Theatre all relatively recently.  Plus the V&A Museum.

[Fonty]

On 21/11/2018 at 10:37, mauriceC said:

Why  anyone wants to go and gobble down a course between acts has always been beyond me but it must say something about why they are really there.

 

 

I've eaten in the Opera House many times in the past, and the only thing they used to serve once the performance has started is the dessert.   Which doesn't require much gobbling, the portions are not that large.  Might be different now, of course, with anybody allowed to book a table and eat there, regardless of whether they are attending a performance or not.  But why anyone would choose to eat there if they aren't seeing something is beyond me.  The food is (or was) very expensive for what you get.  If I want to pay those prices, I will go to an up market restaurant.  

 

However, the Floral Hall balcony restaurant is a delightful place to sit, and as you have the table for the whole evening, it is wonderful to buy a rather nice bottle of wine, knowing that I can sip it in comfort, without having to join the scrum at the bar before trying to find a quiet corner to stand and drink it.

 

Not something I can do very often, alas.  

[Shade]

2 hours ago, Lindsay said:

 

Grand Tier gets Hotel Chocolat from a butler.  Balcony get to pass around a box of Quality Street.

Surely Grand Tier has Charbonnel et Walker - the Opera Collection?

[amos73]

14 hours ago, Anna C said:

Which other venues Anna? I have not had my bag checked when entering the Festival Hall, National Theatre, Wigmore, Almeida or Barbican lately.  Do you mean West End theatres?

 

I go regularly to the British library, and everybody’s bags are checked upon entry. The BL has a similar ‘open up’ ethos in that anyone can come in and sit in the public areas etc. I think if they deem it necessary to still search everyone’s bag it would make sense to apply this at the ROH.

[Colman]

Having spent a good chunk of yesterday in the ROH I think the criticisms of their security are naive. Seemed to me that there was a pretty professional security presence. There’s lots of CCTV, a good number of staff on the floor and bigger bags being checked. One guy started being half interested in why my boots weren’t properly done up after the class when I headed to the bathrooms, so they’re awake too.

 

Big queues are targets. They’re not a sign of good security, especially since most recent attacks I can think of wouldn’t be disrupted by bag checks at all, you’d have to do airport style security (and then they’d just attack the queue).

[bridiem]

5 minutes ago, Colman said:

Having spent a good chunk of yesterday in the ROH I think the criticisms of their security are naive. Seemed to me that there was a pretty professional security presence. There’s lots of CCTV, a good number of staff on the floor and bigger bags being checked. One guy started being half interested in why my boots weren’t properly done up after the class when I headed to the bathrooms, so they’re awake too.

 

Big queues are targets. They’re not a sign of good security, especially since most recent attacks I can think of wouldn’t be disrupted by bag checks at all, you’d have to do airport style security (and then they’d just attack the queue).

 

Then you wonder what security advice has been taken by the British Museum and a whole range of other large cultural venues in London. Or are they just naive too?

[Colman]

Different setups. ROH likely has the advantage of incorporating new surveillance tech into the rebuild. The museums use the security checks and queues as crowd control measures too: they deter people from entering when the queues are long and allow them to throttle entry. 

[Anna C]

11 minutes ago, Colman said:

Having spent a good chunk of yesterday in the ROH I think the criticisms of their security are naive. Seemed to me that there was a pretty professional security presence. There’s lots of CCTV, a good number of staff on the floor and bigger bags being checked. One guy started being half interested in why my boots weren’t properly done up after the class when I headed to the bathrooms, so they’re awake too.

 

Big queues are targets. They’re not a sign of good security, especially since most recent attacks I can think of wouldn’t be disrupted by bag checks at all, you’d have to do airport style security (and then they’d just attack the queue).

 

It seems that since I first visited just after re-opening, the ROH has at least developed a new security policy of random bag checks and covert security.  That’s fine.  As I said in my earlier post, what bothered me was the willingness to try to fob me off by telling me that the bag checks had stopped because the terror threat level had changed.  I object to being called naive for criticising the ROH when they are blundering around issues that should have been finalised in time for the re-opening.

[Anna C]

10 minutes ago, Colman said:

Different setups. ROH likely has the advantage of incorporating new surveillance tech into the rebuild. The museums use the security checks and queues as crowd control measures too: they deter people from entering when the queues are long and allow them to throttle entry. 

 

Given the shambles they’ve made of the website, I’d be pleasantly surprised if the “new surveillance tech” is working as it should....

[Blossom]

Back to pricing.... Pretty shocked at how much R&J is in Spring, especially that they have blocked out so many tickets at top price BUT has anyone looked at how elitist panto is these days? £170 for top price tickets, stalls and first circle don’t drop much below £100. Shocked to have had this drawn to my attention!

[Mary]

Is that a West End show, Blossom??

[Blossom]

52 minutes ago, Mary said:

Is that a West End show, Blossom??

Yes- London Palladium

[Fonty]

11 hours ago, Blossom said:

Back to pricing.... Pretty shocked at how much R&J is in Spring, especially that they have blocked out so many tickets at top price BUT has anyone looked at how elitist panto is these days? £170 for top price tickets, stalls and first circle don’t drop much below £100. Shocked to have had this drawn to my attention!

 

Given that this panto is "recommended for those aged 3 and upwards", I am astounded that the average family can afford to pay those kind of prices.  But the fact that the majority of the performances are sold out shows that there are a substantial number of people out there who can and do.  

Edited November 25, 2018 by Fonty

[aliceinwoolfland]

I feel like there should be a discount for children for shows like the Nutcracker. 

[Blossom]

1 hour ago, Fonty said:

 

Given that this panto is "recommended for those aged 3 and upwards", I am astounded that the average family can afford to pay those kind of prices.  But the fact that the majority of the performances are sold out shows that there are a substantial number of people out there who can and do.  

I doubt that the 'average' family are filling the theatre. I saw the pricing on a facebook ticketing group where families are wanting to go but are completely priced out - in many cases the back upper circle seats are gone and the only tickets remaining are in the £150-170 mark. 

 

2 minutes ago, aliceinwoolfland said:

I feel like there should be a discount for children for shows like the Nutcracker. 

The Coliseum offers 50% discount for kids and top price tickets for children are therefore in the £35 mark. Not sure if the ROH offer a discount for this as a family show when they know they can fill the theatre at full price.

 

 

[Anna C]

Precisely why, when dd was small, I used to take her to the Coliseum to see ENB’s Nutcracker.  It wasn’t as pretty as RB’s production (in fact for the first few years it was still Gerald Scarfe’s designs) but she loved it regardless.  I think she was 9 or 10 when I first splashed out on ROH tickets for her after seeing how much she loved the Welcome Performance.   I used to have to make the ROH tickets part of her Christmas present, mind you. 😳

[Lizbie1]

I think what grates most about the price rises at ROH is the feeling that someone has looked for opportunities to squeeze a few quid more out of us at every stage of the process: buy your Romeo and Juliet tickets for £21 (against £14 for last year's Giselle and, I think, Manon); then if you need to re-sell one it's £4 (not £2); get there and buy a programme for £8 (not £7); buy a glass of champagne in the interval for £15 (against, IIRC, £12).

 

I know that price rises are inevitable in the long run, but imposing them all at once and at the same time as the flashy Open Up Big Reveal may have been a mistake.

[penelopesimpson]

I think the place has somewhat lost its way.  Open Up seems to offer minimal benefits - to anyone - and now we have to pay for it.

[capybara]

48 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

I think what grates most about the price rises at ROH is the feeling that someone has looked for opportunities to squeeze a few quid more out of us at every stage of the process: buy your Romeo and Juliet tickets for £21 (against £14 for last year's Giselle and, I think, Manon); then if you need to re-sell one it's £4 (not £2); get there and buy a programme for £8 (not £7); buy a glass of champagne in the interval for £15 (against, IIRC, £12).

 

You mean charging elitist prices whilst protesting the opposite?

[Mary]

1 hour ago, Lizbie1 said:

I think what grates most about the price rises at ROH is the feeling that someone has looked for opportunities to squeeze a few quid more out of us at every stage of the process: buy your Romeo and Juliet tickets for £21 (against £14 for last year's Giselle and, I think, Manon); then if you need to re-sell one it's £4 (not £2); get there and buy a programme for £8 (not £7); buy a glass of champagne in the interval for £15 (against, IIRC, £12).

 

I know that price rises are inevitable in the long run, but imposing them all at once and at the same time as the flashy Open Up Big Reveal may have been a mistake.

Yes- at every level, it is true, I am sorry to say.

House wine no longer available by the bottle ( used to be a good option for a group of us).

Even when they sent you a survey to complete it was with the possibility of winning some tickets...now the survey is 2 questions  and no possible prize....