SusanR

Devastated to hear this news. How tragic. He was so young and talented. I feel so sad for Liam & his family.

Lovely photos DonQ!

Beautiful! Thank you.

What a wonderful performance from all the dancers at yesterday's Manon. It will long remain in my memory! Francesca was so beautiful & Alexander's partnering skills brilliant. I was sitting in the stalls circle, near the stage & Alexander seemed so distraught as Manon died. Corrales was a fantastic Lescaut. Those, jumps & turns & perfect landings! Magri was great too. Loved it, although I had a dreadful time getting to the Opera House. However, when the ballet started I was transported & forgot my stress.

Thank you for the information, BBB!

I am worried about this too!

I recently sat in row B of the stalls circle for a performance of ' The Bright Stream ' It cost £27! And that was for the Bolshoi. Much more acceptable price. True, I was very close to the stage but I had a brilliant view. I feel that patrons sitting in what were the cheaper seats are subsidising the 'Open Up ' & I'm not impressed.

Manon is my favourite ballet & I wanted to book for the Hayward/Campbell matinee, however, when I saw the prices for the stalls circle, where I like to sit, I was flabbergasted! How can they justify £67 to sit on a bench, with a restricted view? Those benches are incredibly uncomfortable & I only sit used to sit there because they were in my price range. So disappointed that, yet again, I have been priced out if the art form that I love. I have been going to the opera house since the late eighties but can barely afford to go now. I thought the opera house was non elitist.

I stopped going to SW when they started allowing food & drink into the auditorium! I did write to them about it but got an unsatisfactory reply. Don't understand why people can't abstain from eating for, at most, a couple of hours!

Fabulous photos, as usual, Don Q Fan

I am a big fan of Biktimirov too, Bruce. Sorry I didn't get to see him this time round!

To be honest I usually only go to matinees on a Saturday. It was unusual for me to go to ballet on a weekday evening but I had bought the ticket at the last minute from a forum member. I'm so glad I was able to see the Bright Stream. I absolutely loved it, getting home a different story! I agree LinMM earlier starts & midweek matinees would be good & accurate timings on cast sheets too! I do hope you sleep better tonight.

Yes, Alison I do use the tube, but as I don't live in London, I only top up my oyster card as & when I need it. On Thursday I tried to top up but there was something wrong on the website & I couldn't do so! I made the decision to use the bus which was a mistake. I was very stressed as I live between Littlehampton & Worthing & I really needed to catch that last train. At my station there are no taxis or buses & I have a 20 minute walk home. I am dedicated to my art. I usually only go to evening performances on a Saturday, when there is a later train. Honestly, in the 21st century you would think that travelling a mere 50 odd miles home would be a breeze!

As I have been called out for the heinous crime of leaving the ballet early, I would like to tell you of things that annoyed me on Thursday. The woman in the row in front of me who had backcombed her hair, meaning there were times when I couldn't see the dancers feet because of her hair. The couple next to me ( bench seat in the stalls circle ), the woman invading my space, the man guffawing loudly & the pair of them making comments throughout! On other occasions I have had to put up with audience members breathing their garlic breath in my direction & once, a man tapping his feet & humming along to the orchestra.

I am one of those annoying people who have to leave promptly to catch a train. I don't like doing it. I would dearly love to stay to the end & show my appreciation to the dancers. I very rarely book mid week evening performances as my last train leaves at 10.15. However, the Bright Stream being a relatively short ballet was ideal so I thought. The cast sheet stated that the performance would end at approximately 9.20 which would have given me plenty of time to reach Victoria. However it was 9.40 when I left the opera house. I ran all the way down to the Strand for a bus which took a long time to arrive. I got to Victoria at about 10.11 & it is a very long walk to the platform! I had to run to catch my train & I made it with about 2 minutes to spare. At the age of nearly 70 I do not need this stress. It would be so helpful if performances could start a little earlier. I know I am not the only one who has this problem.