Dawnstar

So did I. I was very pleased to get to see Day, Payne, Monaghan & Mizutani all in the same cast. I only saw it the once, as it was a short run & I already had a couple of other things booked the same week. I really liked Downs in Hobson's Choice in 2018 but since then all I've to seen her do was Clara's mother, which isn't exactly the biggest role! I didn't manage to see BRB's Giselle at all.

Lamb is my top priority as I only saw her do half of Act II last time & it might well be her last go at the role. I'm not sure I can necessarily see any of the First Soloists getting a go, unless Calvert is back from maternity leave but that doesn't seem that likely. Since Hamilton doesn't seem to have been cast in any role in Don Q I'm not even bothering to hope she might get to do Odette/Odile. Given BRB has 6 male Principals I wonder which one won't get to do a London SB performance? I can imagine that being a slightly awkward choice for the ballet staff! At least the 5 female Principals will fit nicely with the 5 London performances, or a First Soloist get a go if Downs hasn't returned or if anyone is injured.

I read all the reviews, and am still reading all the comments hence seeing your post on this thread, but none of them have made me want to see it. Hopefully each SL cast will have at least 2 dates but in the last run Calvert & Edmonds only had the 1 performance so you never know. Though there were so many debuts last time that I hope there won't be many this time because my finances won't stand it given how eye-watering the prices are. I actually waited until the last minute to book for Don Q at Sadler's Wells because I wanted to see a particular Don & Sancho Panza and it was only the 2 leads who were announced well in advance. I didn't see BRB's SL because it didn't come to London & I didn't feel I could justify trekking up to Birmingham given the uncertainty with train strikes & that I'd seen ENB's production twice only weeks earlier. I'll probably only see SB once, given it's at SW for such a short time. My Prince casting preference is either Dingman & Monaghan so it'll depend on who they get paired with. Does anyone know if Samara Downs is back dancing yet? I remember hearing she was on maternity leave a while back.

Fortunately I had no interest in seeing Black Sabbeth. I'm hoping casting will be announced with a reasonable amount of notice. As the Saturday date clashes with a double ROH Swan Lake I'd also want to find out the casting for that (which I imagine will be announced before BRB's) before making a decision. Doing a double of SB & SL in the same day could be interesting!

I find some parts of Mamma Mia (the stage version, not the film) quite moving & would be jolly fed up if they were ruined for me by someone nearby munching popcorn! Actually I don't think the Novello (yet) sells popcorn. Mackintosh seems quite house proud of his theatres so hopefully he won't want popcorn messing up the carpets!

Thanks. I won't be able to afford to book when booking opens, and I don't want to until casting is announced anyway, but I'll add those dates to my "Dates To Reserve" list.

Ooh, are they? I'm very pleased to hear it. It doesn't seem to be on Sadler's Wells website yet. Any indication of dates? Looking at BRB's website it could be either before or after Bristol.

I wouldn't have thought Donnelly is much taller than Sissens or Dixon. (Next Saturday I'll be busy comparing matador heights!)

I hadn't thought of those roles specifically but I wish Donnelly was getting more roles involving acting/lead characters in general. I've been very impressed by his acting as Lensky, Hilarion & Paris and he always catches my eye when he's in groups or the ensemble. Actually one role I'd like to see him do is Hans-Peter & it can't be a lack of seniority preventing that casting, given there are dancers at Artist & First Artist ranks dancing it.

I'm sorry you feel it would be unsuitable to detail choreographic differences @capybara. I'd love to know details of differences between casts because I find I can rarely spot them myself! Even when I saw both performances last Saturday it didn't register with me that Bracewell started his Act III solo very differently to Ball until someone else mentioned it.

I don't see the point in paying for a token to then use a vending machine. Surely it'd be quicker to just pay for a drink directly. Also is it good for a champagne bottle to fall from a height like items do when coming out of a vending machine? There could be a danger of bottles breaking.

Personally I'd rather see the RB dance Balanchine, Robbins & Ratmansky than McGregor, Acosta & Pite, as I much prefer what I've seen of the former's choreography to what I've seen of the latter's.

It's the seats at the extreme edges, A1-2 and 28-29, that my previous post is primarily referring to, as those were the seats I booked when able to do so on account of them being somewhat cheaper than the more central seats.

On a par with some of McRae's accidents?!

I've just been going through all my curtain call photos from last night, deleting all the out of focus ones, and I can't help thinking that Nunez must be a strong contender for Most Photogenic Ballerina! I can't find a single photo where her expression is anything other than a beam of happiness. (Not posting any examples as I'm sure everyone has seen enough of my photos for today.)

I was shocked to read this earlier. For her to go from withdrawing from Old Friends, for at the time unspecified personal reasons, to dying in only a few weeks seems so fast. I saw her in The Great British Bake-Off musical only 7 months ago when she looked to be in great form so it must have come on very quickly.

That's why I find it concerning. I am very glad that the ROH, unlike most other venues, doesn't allow things like eating & drinking in the auditorium. I would hate it if that changed because people, some of whom may have only been to the ROH once or twice, want to be able to knock back drinks at their seats because that's what they do in other theatres. In terms of wanting to see classical ballet, I feel like those of us who can't afford to travel further afield kind of are captives! The only other option in London is ENB, and since they only perform 2-3 ballets per a year they're not really a viable replacement for seeing the RB regularly, plus as many of us found earlier this year the Coliseum has already started to allow a lot of the audience behaviours many of us find very annoying.

I loved them for the very brief period of time when I could afford them, before the abolition of package booking & major price rises put them well out of my reach. (I'd never sat there before 2018 as I could never afford them for opera so I only had 3 years when I could afford them, & half of that time the ROH was shut for covid!) It depends on what you want from a view for ballet though. Feet are likely to not be fully visible, depending on your height. I will happily take being able to see the acting close-to over being able to see the feet, but I know some people would never sit there because they want to be able to see the feet.

Thank you. Post re-created below.

Seeing the full cast for Anemoi makes me again wish I was seeing the first cast for that, as there are several of the younger dancers who I like in the cast.

Interesting, and for me concerning, if they are only asking the opinion of new audiences. I would think the opinion of established audiences should be of at least equal if not higher importance.

Were you expecting more or less than three? I thought it had been three for a while. I've just had a look back at my tickets for the last 2 runs of Swan Lake & back in 2020 I had a stalls ticket for £94.30 with package booking that would have been £115 full price (not that I ever got to sit in it because of covid) while in 2022 when I treated myself to a stalls ticket for my first live SL it was £123 (which I think was the most I've ever spent on a theatre ticket). The same seat will now be £159. That's a price rise of £8 in 2 years between 2020 and 2022 but a price rise of £36 between 2022 and 2024. Now I know inflation has increased in the last 2 years but is it 4 and a half times more than it was in the previous 2 year period?

Sorry, I thought that was what was meant. I can't now reinstate my photos as it's beyond the time I could edit my post.

Looking at those prices, I can only be glad I saw lots of Swan Lake performances in the last run because I won't be able to afford to this time. The seats I paid £67 for last time, which was quite bad enough, are now £75. I'd love to know if whoever sets these prices has ever actually sat through a performance on the stalls circle bench seats to realise exactly how view-restricted & uncomfortable they can be. In the case of SL, neither the Act III vision of Odette nor Odette's death can be seen: two rather important moments!

I'm so sorry for interfering. I've removed my photos from Saturday. The Nunez/Muntagirov ones must be from different performances so I hope it's okay to leave those but if not then I'll have to ask a moderator to delete as it's too late for me to do so.