bridiem

Well I've just tried several of the Balanchine bill performances as a test and even where it says there are more than 100 tickets available, there are still no singles. Maybe that's part of the problem? A lot of people are not in a position to book more than one ticket at the moment. And for 4th June, for example, it says there are a few tickets left but when you actually go to book, it says there are none. So perhaps the info as to the remaining number of tickets isn't fully up to date at any given time. I also wonder if perhaps going to the ROH immediately the restrictions are lifted feels too much for some people? I know that for me, the thought of simply going to a café next week fills me with a kind of awed wonder... but it will also feel a bit unnerving. I've been out occasionally to local shops since shielding ended, but my social/cultural engagement in person has been effectively nil for 7 months. To go to a huge opera house (even if socially distanced) may be a step too far for some people at this stage - they may need a bit longer to adjust. Just speculating.

That's helpful, Jan - it sounds then as if it's a notional charge rather than a real one. But since it does appear on your online account, I still think that this practice should be stated when you book (or buy) so that it doesn't cause confusion (or alarm) to the customer.

But did the ROH do this in respect of previous streams? I don't remember it happening on the few other occasions when I've booked a livestream, and I have never encountered it elsewhere (I shop online a lot, but I don't have a car so don't use petrol stations). And there is no reason for me to have looked at the instructions about connecting etc either now or (since I've done it before) nearer the time. If they're going to do this, it should be stated clearly at the time of booking. It's not the amount that matters, it's the principle. (As with the direct debit scheme, where there are very strict rules about when and how you can charge someone's bank account.)

No, they don't store card details on the website any more. And AnneMarriott: it's not because you haven't renewed your membership, because the same charge appeared on my card and I have renewed. It seems very odd since this has literally never been done by any other organisation in my experience (and since I have of course booked many tickets at the ROH on the same card). Did they say that would happen when I did the booking? I don't know - maybe it's in the small print; but if they're going to charge your card for any extra amount it should be very clear that that's going to happen even if it is then going to be refunded. Partly because they should do that anyway, and partly because it's unnerving to see something charged to your card that you're not aware of having authorised; how could I be sure that THAT isn't fraudulent activity?!

The subject line in my emails about this was 'Order Confirmation'. And in fact the information in these emails was confusing and contradictory, so after querying with the Box Office they combined them all into one gift certificate with one reference number. I used that in the autumn/winter and it worked fine.

Maybe so, but I think there's a difference between development and distortion. Though the judgement as to which is involved will vary!

I'm sure you're right about the distinction, though sometimes it seems to me that the principles of the classical school are in fact distorted in some contemporary work. (I see that the Encyclopedia Britannica defines classical ballet as 'a system of dance based on formalized movements and positions of the arms, feet and body designed to enable the dancer to move with the greatest possible agility, control, speed, lightness and grace'. It's the last word that's crucial, I think.) But when you say 'It's pejorative', do you mean the word 'classical' or 'old'? I wouldn't consider either pejorative myself.

Me too! I wouldn't want Ashton to be 'relegated' to the Linbury too much of the time, though; it would give the message that he is a small-scale, niche choreographer. Besides which it's a very small theatre with some terrible sightlines!

When I went in the autumn/winter, I signed in with the app at a screen at the bottom of the staircase in the coffee bar area. But no-one directed me to do so - I asked an usher if I should, assuming that they'd just forgotten to tell people to do so, but they just said 'oh yes, you could do that' or something similar. So it was a bit confusing really. Maybe other people were signing in elsewhere in the building?

In that case and in spite of my last post, it's sadly entirely possible that I saw and complied with this statement on the 2 occasions last autumn/winter when I went to the ROH, and have completely erased it from my memory. 😯 Either way, I hope that such an embargo won't apply from the autumn/when I next go.

I haven't seen such an instruction and I hope it doesn't exist! Maybe they think that if you have a paper ticket you tend to actually give it to the usher to look at, which obviously they wouldn't want at the moment? But if so, the instruction could be to show not give (which is what I do anyway); and the ushers could simply not take.

🤣 🤣 I decided to invest in a laser printer when I stopped working a few years ago, because although a lot more expensive initially it's really quick and trouble-free, and the cartridges last absolutely ages for the amount of printing I do so don't really work out expensive in the long term. I had an ink-jet printer for a while before that but I could hardly ever use it because it was always having problems and the (still expensive) cartridges always dried up incredibly quickly.

I print out my ticket/s, because the last thing I want when I'm going into the ROH/the auditorium is to be unlocking and fiddling with my phone to find the ticket, and having to look over my glasses because I can't read things on my phone with my glasses on, and trying to ensure that the usher can see the ticket, and then that I can see it (repeatedly, no doubt) so I can get to the right seat/s... Apart from anything else I suspect I'd end up tripping up at some stage and falling down the Amphi steps... Whereas a print-out is just there in your hand to be easily seen and consulted whenever needed. But I suppose that's just too easy isn't it? 😒

Delighted to see Momoko Hirata and César Morales! I hope they both win.

OK. I can see what's happened. You're linking here to the news item on the ROH website, but the same sentence is not in the email sent to Friends on that date, or in the links to further info about ballets and casting in that email. So unless I separately read the news item on the ROH website (and why would I do that when I've received a long email apparently giving me all the same/relevant info?) I wouldn't know this. Maybe the problem is that even if they were in theory allowed to sell all the tickets after 21st June, some patrons who have already booked thinking it would be socially distanced wouldn't want to come to a full house?

I've been looking through the 13 April email and can't see that info, though it may well be there somewhere. I often find it difficult to isolate the important info in ROH emails/press releases.

I assume (hope) that they could release the extra seats if/when it's confirmed that social distancing is no longer required after 21st June.

I've ticked 'sometimes one, sometimes two' in the poll, because that would apply in normal times. At the moment it would have to be 'one', if such a thing were available...

I see that this ROH statement only appears when you click for 'More Info' about the production; I went straight to 'Book tickets' since I didn't need more info, and it doesn't appear there, so I don't know if it was there this morning. But why doesn't it also appear when you click on 'Book tickets'? That's where it's really pertinent! And I have booked the livestream for the Balanchine/Robbins bill; but a) it's really not the same, and b) it's not the first cast (especially, it's not Muntagirov as Apollo). I just hope that he will dance it again very soon.

I couldn't get a single ticket for any of the dates I tried for the Balanchine/Robbins bill (inc 10th June), at any price. I'll try again when general booking opens tomorrow, but maybe they haven't held back any singles. Grrr... 😒

At the risk of breaking the rules by inviting two people, I would have dinner with Clare Calvert and Alexander Campbell and I would ask them all about their wedding plans. 😍

Brilliant! And looks very handsome to me. Congratulations and thank you for sharing this, Dan!

I'm so sorry to hear this. Sincere sympathy to her family and friends. She contributed so much to this forum.

It was so sad; but also so beautiful, powerful and moving. I hope it brought and will continue to bring comfort to The Queen and all the family.

Asphodel Meadows is one of the most beautiful ballets I've ever seen.