bridiem

12 minutes ago, PeterS said:

I know of one offer of 25% discount on top 5 price bands for the first 3 performances of Anemoi/The Cellist that went to people who had previously booked a ballet at the ROH.

I didn't receive this offer, so it wasn't sent to everyone who had booked before (or even to all Friends - I'm a Friend). 

16 minutes ago, JohnS said:

I saw Saturday afternoon’s preview with Hannah Rudd and Jacob Wye. I’m afraid I rather struggled with the acoustics as I found it at times very difficult to hear what was said despite the amplification (or possibly because of the amplification as I’m sure the piano, violin, cello and percussion all became part of the sound mix). I was in the middle of the upper circle so I was a bit surprised to find difficulties in hearing. The performances were though very engaging and there’s much to admire. I do hope there’s a bit more of a formal curtain call and proper acknowledgement to the musicians who surely should take a bow.

 

But I think I’ll wait until I see Francesca Hayward and Alex Campbell next Friday before saying much more. I also think I’ll have to catch up on the Insights etc as I don’t really grasp when the word limit comes into play as the production is significantly more wordy than I expected.

On Friday evening, Hayward and Campbell did take bows and also acknowledged the musicians. There were a few times when the music was loud and/or they were both speaking together or very quickly when I couldn't hear what was being said, but most of the time it was audible. And yes, I didn't fully understand the 'Limit' thing given that they were almost always speaking in truncated ways right from the start, before the limit was introduced. I thought in the end that this was probably meant to convey that even when we can communicate freely, we often don't. But I'm not sure it was really very effective. (Unlike the performances, the choreography and the music, which were all superb.)

4 minutes ago, alison said:

 

Not really that early on, not in Ashton's careers.  Wasn't it a 1960s work?

1950. But still, not that early.

A great footballer and a great man. It feels like the loss of much more than just him. May he rest in peace.

16 minutes ago, Henry said:

Personally, I welcome some shorter programmes being scheduled.  Of course, it's nice if that is reflected in the ticket price.  

 

Many will remember the long, successful run of the play "Art".  Part of its success was attributed to it being 90 minutes with no interval.  People could have a Tuesday evening at the theatre and still be home by 10pm.  For people, who need to get up for work the next morning, that was appreciated!  

 

The lack of principals gave some of the younger talent a chance to shine. However, the design of Anemoi needs to be rethought.  The costumes and lighting are too bland.   Not sure why shirts/tops were being added/removed.  

I think that if a work/programme is short, it needs to be remarkable, or just a smaller-scale enterprise to start with. So The Limit in the Linbury at 1 hour 10 mins was fine on both grounds (and I was indeed very glad to get home earlier than usual!). But this bill, for me, doesn't meet either of those criteria. (I'm aware that for others, it might well do so.)

Just now, Emeralds said:

@bridiem, would you say the choreography is classical (ie like MacMillan or Wheeldon) or contemporary-but-with-classical-base like Crystal Pite? I noticed they were dancing in socks in the Insight event.

More contemporary-but-with-classical base. I understand that 'quirky' is a word often used in association with McNally's choreography, and that would fit here too. But also very effective, I thought.

18 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

Cathy Marston is only competing with herself, but Valentino Zucchetti's first  full ballet for RB has to suffer comparison with Jerome Robbins' popular hit- and Robbins had already made The Cage, Afternoon of a Faun, and won awards for West Side Story, The King and I, Gypsy etc when he made DAAG, so it's an unenviable position to be in. Or you could say that the first time round, Anemoi was in a bill with Sleeping Beauty Act 3, various pas de deux highlights like Winter Dreams, Voices of Spring, After the  Rain, etc....so his new ballet had the support of many known hits- plus they only had to sell about one third of  the house (social distancing) to sell out. I don't think Robbins, MacMillan and Ashton's first works had to shoulder the responsibility of selling out a 2 200 seater auditorium for so many shows either. Now, actually, they could have fitted Ashton's Voices of Spring and  Thais pas de deux into the extra 20-25 minutes left over. Or two of MacMillan's pas de deux. Those would have helped boost interest and sales. (But they would srill have had to lower the prices.)

I would have loved to see Anemoi again; I just don't want to see The Cellist again and clearly I'm not going to book a whole evening ticket when there's only 25 mins I want to see. But with some enticing additions, or a good third work, I would have booked in spite of The Cellist (depending on the prices).

Last time, The Cellist was on with Dances at a Gathering (1 hour). This time, Anemoi (25 minutes). 

I rest my case.

I would thoroughly recommend this as an interesting and beautifully performed production. Hayward and Campbell were both brilliant - speaking, dancing and (yes, really) singing - hugely impressive, and on stage alone for the whole of the 1 hour 10 minutes of the show. The choreography was excellent - expressive, fun and interesting. The music was surprisingly (to me) beautiful, and the set was simple and effective. I wasn't so sure about the words being spoken - I get the idea of the inadequacy of spoken communications between people/a couple, and thoughts about the effect of having a limit to the number of words that can be spoken - both limiting and potentially enhancing communication. But I'm not sure how illuminating it really was. But it was worth seeing for the quality of the performances, the choreography and the music. (And from what I saw of the Insight a few weeks ago, the second cast of Hannah Rudd and Jacob Wye looked very impressive too.)

21 minutes ago, Scheherezade said:

I can't help feeling that one of the reasons why they won't reverse their suicidal pricing strategy is because to do so would mean publicly admitting that they had made a mistake.

They could always call it a 'mis-step'...

12 minutes ago, Lindsay said:

However, they take a considerable investment to re-do the space "for a specific show" in a style which is appropriate to that show (taking us to 1930s Berlin nightclubs or 1940s Broadway)!!  It is lunacy and ridiculously simplistic to think this idea can cross over into lyric theatres whose raison d'etre (at least thus far) is to run a series of different show in one season.  I would hate to see Coli given over to a year of Swan Lake or Tosca, with whatever decor that might command (although I might have fun thinking about the menu and concessions)

Quite; and Cabaret and Guys and Dolls are both very different types of shows in which an element of audience participation (effectively) could work. Ballet is not like that! And, I'm getting really fed up with the apparent inability of so many people to even conceive of putting others centre stage even for a few hours. Live ballet is not an interactive computer game in which you are a main character, or something you can dip in and out of whilst still eating/drinking/chatting when the mood takes you. The audience is there to watch, listen, absorb, appreciate, think; to focus entirely on the stage for the period of the performance which is being given by hugely talented professionals. It's a humbling, and at best thrilling, experience. It's a gift, not an opportunity to continue thinking about oneself.

2 minutes ago, Blossom said:

Just received a survey from a research partner of London Coliseum about attendance which includes

 

’Would you be more likely or less likely to attend if the following was offered DURING the performance’

 

-Freedom to talk or make noise during the performance

-At seat ordering of drinks/confectionery

- Different seating options eg standing, reclining, cabaret tables, dancing - the list goes on

- The ability to take photographs during a performance

- The ability to take confectionery/drinks into a performance

-The ability to use my phone/social media during a performance 

- Freedom to leave and reenter the performance

Let’s just say I am very much aligned with the views on this specific thread.

 How extremely depressing.

1 hour ago, bangorballetboy said:

Imagine a theatre has 100 seats.  They are all excellent seats.

 

Tickets go on sale at £150 each and a couple of days before the show, 80% have been sold.  Management would like a full house, so they discount the remaining tickets and allow specified groups to buy tickets at £12.  They all sell.  Overall the ticket revenue is £12,240.

 

If the tickets had gone on sale at £100 and all sold out, the ticket revenue would be £10,000.

If the remaining 20% had been discounted to £40, the revenue would be £12,800.

If only 70% had sold at £150 and the remaining 30% discounted to £12, the revenue would be £10,860.

If the tickets had gone on sale at £120 and all sold out, the revenue would be £12,000.

So without knowing how many were discounted, or what the sales would have been like at a lower full price, or whether all the discounted tickets would have sold at (say) £40, it's difficult to judge the outcome.

But I hope very much that the ROH is not going to adopt this kind of speculative ticketing strategy.

Posted at same time as capybara!

There's another thread for Black Sabbath at SW - zxDaveM's excellent review. Please could the mods either combine the threads or move the SW posts here to that thread?

I don't object to staff, or even family and friends of staff, being offered discounted tickets for at least some performances. I do object to them being offered vastly discounted tickets because said tickets have been hugely overpriced to start with, and/or because it's badly-judged programme for which few people are willing to buy full-price tickets. Both those scenarios imply big problems with both pricing and programming decisions.

Very sad. For years he was one of the critics I read avidly. RIP

1 hour ago, FionaM said:

@MAB re vulgarity.  
 

I am shocked by the scene in Ashton’s Cinderella (created in 1948) where the ballroom tutu wearers bow to Cinderella and the Prince.  They have their backs to the audience and as they bow (not curtsey) the ballerinas’ entire bottoms and underneath of their tutus are on deliberate display to the audience. So unnecessary and vulgar.  
 

Maybe we need a separate thread on ‘vulgarity in dance’ … both technical (your point) and overly sexual (mine). 

I don't find that scene in Cinderella remotely shocking or vulgar. It's sharp, spiky, unexpected, angular, mysterious, and altogether wonderful.

7 minutes ago, alison said:

 

Did she?  I thought it was Campbell, Hayward and possibly Takada who were promoted then, and that Naghdi followed the next year.

Her bio on the ROH website says she was promoted to principal in 2017.

1 hour ago, PeterS said:

I have no information as to the nature and seriousness of her injury.  However, your use of “injured” suggests scepticism on your part.  
Please consider that:
1. An injury sustained at any time can prevent the rehearsal and preparation of a role meaning that, though fitness has been regained by a performance date, the published performances cannot proceed. Advance notice of Miss Osipova’s replacement was sent which would suggest the injury was sustained in or before the rehearsal period and that she was already in recovery, but unfortunately not recovered enough, when her performances were scheduled.

2. The nature/seriousness of an injury informs and dictates the recovery time and so, though not able to dance ‘on the night’, a dancer could be fit to dance a few days later either at the ROH or elsewhere.

eg. A muscle pull is quicker to recover from than a tear or break.

3. As has been mentioned by another member, different roles have different demands and so a dancer could be ‘fit’ to dance one part eg Juliet and not another eg Kitri. 

Yes, I went through all these thought processes. It just seems strange to have immediately cancelled the Don Q performances whilst still planning to dance somewhere else a few days later. (By 'strange' I don't mean I'm doubting the fact of the injury - just the decision-making involved.)

1 hour ago, capybara said:

The volume of unsold seats for the three performances of Don Q this Friday and Saturday is surely unprecedented, especially as the casts are of established stars.

Interesting that a lot of the unsold seats are in the same areas at each performance. I hope that the ROH learns from that where they have got it wrong (or most wrong) in terms of pricing.

I received mine via Amazon today.

Just now, JohnS said:

I wonder what would happen if you (or others) were to ask for the discount at the Box Office?

Interesting question!

4 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:

I haven’t booked but did get the offer.

 

I did see The Cellist first time around though.

So did I. (Which is why I'm not booking this time!). Unless the ROH can read my mind, I have no idea why I wouldn't have received the offer.

29 minutes ago, Mary said:

I haven't booked yet and got the offer.

I haven't booked, and didn't get the offer. 

8 hours ago, Silke H said:

I would've liked Isabella Gasparini been given the opportunity.  Especially since she just recently danced Kitri in Brazil.  She would have been a good height match for Luca, too.

Me too. I'm afraid Hinkis does absolutely nothing for me whereas I would have scurried to get a ticket for Gasparini.