MJW

45 minutes ago, MAX said:

Reece Clarke got injured ?

 

Yes during the first act (of the matinee) I'm afraid 

16 minutes ago, Rob S said:

Edmonds replaces Clarke as Fandango Man this evening, Gartside replaces Whitehead as Gamache.....and as the ROH is taking part in Earth Hour at 8.30 presumably candles replace the normal stage lighting for Act 2 

Take your torches with you - you might need them!

4 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

The cast changes were announced over the speakers at the pre-curtain announcement. First time I've heard that this season. I guess someone has been listening to all the complaints!

 

 

Haha I thought the same thing when I heard the announcement (and for Nicol Edmonds replacing Clarke for the third act)

2 hours ago, aliceinwoolfland said:

Is it just me who doesn't find the new website that difficult to navigate...?

No!

I suspect I'm in a minority of one on this! 

First of all I would say that I didn't have any issue with the old site and was perfectly happy with it. I am certainly not keen at all on the new online shop with I think is very poor and hard to navigate and appears to relegate the selling of opera and ballet recordings (as does the shop itself at RoH).

I also have to say I have never (or very rarely) used the calendar when booking tickets so I can't really comment on the changes there.

However the main part of the ticket section seems reasonably straightforward and no worse than other sites I have seen. It would be better if any applied filters did not automatically re-set but that does only require a couple of clicks to reapply. Having checked the website at work the images for productions do seem rather too large but at home they seem fine. I have the same size monitor at home and work but use different browsers so perhaps that makes a difference?

I have to confess that I  have already decided well in advance of booking which production (and when) I want to see and tend not to browse to see what might be on.

Perhaps when actually booking for the autumn season on the new site I might change my mind on the above !

I just logged on to see but unfortunately it appears my version has been updated as well. However if you filter to main stage then it isn't quite so bad - on a PC at least.

However to lump all venues, types etc etc at the beginning is a mess.

Luckily I had already booked for the summer season so perhaps by next season it might have improved !

14 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

I hate them! They show a lack of courtesy to the audience, as well as betraying a lack of understanding (or worse, caring) that many have trains to catch.

So true (and thank you also Dawnstar). Next time its running late and I'm humphing in my seat I'll know I'm not alone !  Its one the reasons why I tend try for the matinees on a Saturday. I have managed door to door in an hour and a half but that is only due to running from Covent Garden to Waterloo and then practically collapsing when on my train!

7 hours ago, Lizbie1 said:

Well let’s hope this provides an incentive to start promptly, against recent trends.

Oh I'm glad its not just me who's irritated by the late starts!

43 minutes ago, bangorballetboy said:

 

Well you’ll still get to see Stix-Brunell, which IMHO is no bad thing!

True - unfortunately I was hoping to see William in Two Pigeons but that was not to be either !

37 minutes ago, bridiem said:

I've received an email saying that due to injury, William Bracewell is replaced by Ryoichi Hirano on Mon 13th May 7.30pm and Sat 25th May 1.30pm.

Just had the same message - its a shame as I booked that performance to see him. Oh well!

53 minutes ago, capybara said:

 

The General Rehearsal is on Monday (March 4th) and I can't believe how many rehearsal tickets remain unsold and how many hundreds of seats are still available for every show. I have never seen anything like it.

I do hope that they use Student Standby very actively, otherwise there will be swathes of red velvet right in front of the dancers - and that would be such a pity for them.

 

 I had a quick look on the website and I see what you mean!  I have to say I am not going - not because of the prices, simply because I have an aversion to the story (something from my childhood I think!). Hopefully the seats will have filled up by the first performance.

13 minutes ago, Richard LH said:

Yes the lighting was  too dark in the (encore) screening I saw, especially in the long shots. It made it difficult at times for all the nuances of the dancing  properly to stand out. The street scenes are really sunny and bright ballet as performed live in the ROH, so it is a shame that this seems to have been lost,  at least in some cinemas. Certainly worth pointing this out to the ROH (again - La Bayadere was also too dark for me) for anyone that had the same experience.

With that exception, I thought the screening was well filmed and well presented and of course the wonderful dancing spoke for itself (to mix a metaphor).

I'm glad someone has mentioned the lighting in the cinema screenings - I saw a screening of Swan Lake both on BBC4 at Christmas and again at the Linbury in January, as well as La Bayadere at the cinema, and they were much darker than seeing them live. As you say, it is quite difficult sometimes to make out all the detail !

4 minutes ago, capybara said:

 

As I said earlier, I rather liked the unusual sprightliness of Yudes's Sancho Panza.

That Telegraph review is a disgrace.

She certainly doesn't seem to be a dance critic - mainly a TV reviewer

1 hour ago, annamk said:

 

Leaving aside the RB/Prix comment I find Mark Monahan's review interesting and worth reading. I'm not sure why you conclude he is prejudiced, pedantic fault-finding and nit-picking ? He's just giving his opinion so what does it matter if he isn't as enthusiastic as some of the audience ? 

 

I saw the Naghdi/Hay/Kaneko Pigeons this afternoon and I'm in the (small) camp of those who weren't bowled over by Naghdi's Young Girl. Her portrayal had its good moments but in places I found her exaggerated, not all her details were as sharp as Takada and I have also seen better comic timing. Kaneko's Gypsy Girl was terrific but I agree with Monahan when he says "she lacked the lip-smacking, lock-up-your-husbands quality that Laura Morera brought"  Very happy to see the oh so elegant Hay's pitch perfect Young Man and Yudes mighty fine Gypsy Boy. 

 

The attractions of The Cunning Young Vixen just passed me by. It would have been better in the school end of year show. 

 

Disappointing to see so many empty seats in the stalls. 

James was excellent this afternoon. I think Yuhui was better when I saw her a fortnight ago. Agree about the empty seats in the stalls - there were about two or three empty (or very nearly) rows near me to my right. Having said that they did seem to fill up for 2 Pigeons. Not sure why you wouldn't go and see the first part of a mixed bill but there we are!

39 minutes ago, Rob S said:

I thought the Cunning Little Vixen was great fun although I couldn’t see the projection screen from the Stalls Circle

Look forward to seeing it on Saturday (that will be my third Two Pigeons this year!)

I'm sorry to hear that people are having problems with the new website. Thankfully apart from the front page (and the irritating new Shop) the rest of the site has stayed the same for me. I use Chrome as my browser, I don't know if that makes any difference?

26 minutes ago, RuthE said:

 

It's put me in mind of the height issues being discussed on other threads! Though perhaps it's not an issue in Two Pigeons... after all I think of Campbell as a "short" dancer and Choe as a "slightly taller than average" one, and they were fine together.

How tall are Alexander and James?

1 minute ago, Sim said:

So James Hay with Yasmine???  Hmmm.....

I originally booked to see William Bracewell and Francesca Hayward  - now both of the leads have been replaced ! Never mind

Not sure where to post this..but:

27 minutes ago, alison said:

I'm sorry to say, though, that Laura Morera and William Bracewell were replaced tonight in Asphodel Meadows by the second cast, Mayara Magri and Tristan Dyer, due to an injury to Bracewell (which was obviously known about early enough to get the correct casting printed on the cast sheets).  I'm desperately hoping it's nothing serious, as he's scheduled to make his debut in The Two Pigeons shortly  

Oh no! Seeing him in a fortnight...hope he recovers soon

I'm glad everybody seems to have enjoyed the matinee this afternoon (Feb 2nd). I hadn't originally booked to see this as I am going to the Royal Ballet School/Two Pigeons mixed bill in a fortnight, but I went to see the rehearsal a couple of weeks ago and was so impressed by Asphodel I ended up booking for today's performance, Had a great seat in the Grand Tier (esp as the two seats in front of me were empty!). Two Pigeons was especially lovely and, as I suspect with a lot of other people, had tears in my eyes by the end (as did the chap sitting next to me !).

Thank you for the photos - always nice to have a memento of an enjoyable evening esp Les Patineurs which I thought was lovely.

4 hours ago, Rob S said:

Couple of pics from last night

Great pics. Do you have any more from The Concert?

2 hours ago, Rob S said:

Always lovely to see photos of the performances - especially those one has been to. I was in row E in the stalls last night, so you must have been in the front row! 

I think it was a bit of a shame that the ensemble dancers don't get a curtain call.

1 hour ago, Dawnstar said:

As of a couple of minutes ago the ROH website was showing 3 tickets available for 2nd January so there's evidently the odd return trickling in.

I'm keeping out an eagle eye!