MJW
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Posts posted by MJW
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Despite the inclement weather and train strikes. I spent a very pleasant afternoon at this afternoon's matinee of Jewels. I have only seen Diamonds before (performed last year as part of the Diamond Celebration).
Diamonds is certainly the strongest of the three pieces followed by Rubies (which is jolly good fun and clearly enjoyed by the dancers) and then Emeralds which I found rather slow - possibly not helped by the music by Fauré which was very unmemorable.
How lovely to see the Australian Ballet on stage at Covent Garden and let us hope they will be back soon especially if the Russian companies are unlikely to be visiting in the near future.
Diamonds - https://www.instagram.com/p/CvkiaLmIcAg/
Rubies - https://www.instagram.com/p/CvkmQCnocyk/
Emeralds - https://www.instagram.com/p/CvknisloPIT/
Rather a long wait now until October !
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Thank you @JohnS for that very detailed price comparison. It would be very interesting to know on what basis ROH does price its seating other than via the use of a tombola !
Its a shame there is so little direct two-way communication between ROH management and the visiting public. Perhaps if there was, management wouldn't get itself in such a predicament.
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1 minute ago, Dawnstar said:
@MJW I definitely agree with this. The other day someone I know who's planning to see the RB Nutcracker for the first time asked me for recommendations & I had to explain that given less than half the lead casting was available it was a bit tricky, especially with no Drosselmeyer casting as I'd say Avis is the must-see dancer out of all the Nutcracker roles. Personally I'm only going to book one performance (I really must get round to seeing Lamb's SPF before it's too late) & will be waiting for the rest of the casting information before deciding on any further bookings.
Same - I am going to the General Rehearsal with a friend and am booked for the 23rd (?) for Bracewell and Kaneko and will wait for details before any further bookings. As you say, Gary Avis is the Drosselmeyer and for me James Hay is the Nutcracker.
Apologies we are rather off topic here !
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1 hour ago, oncnp said:
Before he goes I hope he finishes Manon casting.....
More urgently the Nutcracker (!) since we only have details of the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Prince so far...
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Performance images by Alastair Muir -
https://photos.alastairmuir.com/Ballet/Royal-Ballet/Carlos-at-50/
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Friday night was my first (and I would imagine my only time) seeing Carlos live so it was an opportunity not to miss.
As others have said, rather a mixed bag. The bedroom scene from Manon was perfect but some of the works from the final act I could quite happily have missed. The Dying Swans pieces were a bit odd. Mermaid went on far too long - people starting clapping before it had finished whether they thought it had or they hoped by clapping it would bring it to a close, I don't know (!). Carmen however was excellent as was Brandon Lawrence in Liebstod.
From last night -
https://www.instagram.com/p/CvRmjJCIS9L/
Back next Saturday (strikes permitting) for the Australian Ballet.
p.s. Was it me or did it seem particularly warm in the auditorium last night. A lady nearby had a fan which was sorely needed.
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2 hours ago, Sim said:
I haven't seen any cameras anywhere. More's the pity.
There is the very large fixed camera below the Grand Tier - is that always there even when not in use? -
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Pleased to see it has sold so well. I'm off to see it on Friday.
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1 hour ago, MJW said:
Went to visit the National Gallery's current exhibition After Impressionism today. Well worth a visit - it ends on 13th August.
Thankfully it wasn't too bust so it was possible to linger over the paintings without getting in each other's way. The rest of the Gallery however was packed.
After Impressionism: Inventing Modern Art | Exhibitions | National Gallery, London
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cu4Y6GOIbI4/?img_index=1
Sorry typo there "busy" rather than "bust" (!)
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Went to visit the National Gallery's current exhibition After Impressionism today. Well worth a visit - it ends on 13th August.
Thankfully it wasn't too bust so it was possible to linger over the paintings without getting in each other's way. The rest of the Gallery however was packed.
After Impressionism: Inventing Modern Art | Exhibitions | National Gallery, London
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cu4Y6GOIbI4/?img_index=1
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I am going on Sunday and looking forward to it especially after the day I have had at work with intermittent power supply since yesterday evening! However what a strange start time of 3pm? I am sure it was Saturday lunchtime last year.
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1 hour ago, Linnzi5 said:
I am very surprised to hear this. The reason I say that is that I had to return a ticket yesterday. When I booked on Thursday, I did so on my phone and stupidly booked the wrong ticket! I booked two, but because I was in a rush and on a phone, the seating map is smaller than on my laptop, I accidentally booked one of the tickets in the row behind (yes, stupid!) I didn’t realise until later in the day and then purchased the correct ticket in case it was sold before I could phone the box office.
i didn’t get time to phone the box office until the next day. The lady I spoke to was brilliant. She not only waived the £4 fee, she offered to refund the money to my card (I took the credit as I will use it). I was happily surprised and impressed with the service I received.As booking the wrong ticket was my mistake I knew I’d have to pay a £4 fee so was really taken aback by the offer to waive it, so I am surprised that your £4 fee was necessary when you booked a ticket and then cancelled because of an admin error with casting on the website - that was not your fault.
I’d phone again. Maybe it depends who you speak to. The lady I spoke to was lovely, friendly and sympathetic. I didn’t ask for the fee to be waived, she offered (same for the credit card refund) I just asked to return the ticket. So, Box Office really, really impressed me.
I hope you can get some satisfaction from contacting ROH again. 😊
I had a similar experience earlier in the year when booking a rehearsal for the Barber of Seville in January. Somehow I managed to book my two tickets in completely different rows. Spoke to someone at the Box Office straightaway and the incorrect ticket was cancelled without any fuss or bother, even though the error was mine.
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I've just made my initial bookings and may book for a further Nutcracker as and when we know who will be performing Hans-Peter/Nutcracker and Clara!
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Managed to book two rehearsal tickets for Nutcracker without too much difficulty though the system was quite slow. Managed to get tickets in the stalls circle.
Will book performances when I get home from work.
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On 04/07/2023 at 14:54, oncnp said:
"Coming soon"
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GISELLE (2014) - Osipova/Acosta
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Behind the Scenes - The Romance of Giselle
Still no Ashton triple!-
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The technical issues ROH is having at the present makes me wonder what will happen in September when my firm changes to a brand new system and moves from physical servers to cloud technology!
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23 minutes ago, JennyTaylor said:
I've just returned from the opening night of R&J in Japan. Steven McRae and Sarah Lamb were in the principal roles. I think it's fair to say that it was a great opening to R&J with the audience giving it a very enthusiastic reception. The whole company were on top form with particular mentions for James Hay as Mercutio, Calvin Richardson as Benvolio and Gary Avis as Tybalt. The audience called Steven and Sarah back for multiple curtain calls (normal in Japan I think, for high profile productions such as this).
I arrived yesterday as part of the RB tour supporters' party. Others have been here longer for the initial triple bill. From what I hear, that was immensely successful too. We went to a stage /costume rehearsal yesterday (Osipova/Clark) which was also work in progress. It's so interesting to see how adjustments have to be made for scenery and props, new (local) actors and also a local orchestra. lt all worked seamlessly today. Natalia and Reece were both excellent, with Natalia giving a tour de force performance (yes, in a rehearsal) of great characterisation and depth. So many different nuances unique to her.
The theatre is lovely, with excellent site lines and the Japanese fans extremely enthusiastic. There were queues waiting at the stage door for the dancers to exit this evening. It's very exciting to be here and to look forward to the mouth watering performances to come.
From what I have seen on Instagram the dancers are treated like film stars - which is lovely!-
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4 minutes ago, capybara said:
Agree with you that the Clara and Hans Peter casting is crucial to booking choices but having more information any time soon is surely very doubtful given that the Director is currently in Japan.
I will have to book on the basis of the minimal casting information then, and hope for the best.
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I presume there are no additional details for casting of the Nutcracker available when booking? Hopefully there might be something more when I can book next week!
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4 hours ago, Naomi M said:
Yes, Sambe was absent yesterday. (I watched both performances) I hope he is fine and can dance his Romeo. (He has posted on Instagram that he is in Tokyo)
Sae Maeda replaced Claire Calvert in Prima.
Dancers that seem to be absent in the tour besides the ones who are known to be injured are Melissa Hamilton and Yuhui Choe, Thomas Whitehead. Valentino Zuchetti is here but does not seem to be dancing. There were Miyako Yoshida and David Bintley in the audience. (Bintley is in Japan to coach his works to Star Dancers Ballet)
Will report more as I am in my way to see the third performance.Enjoy! I think we are all very jealous 😄
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43 minutes ago, oncnp said:
Was Luca Acri a replacement for Sambe (as he was the other cast member for For Four last year)?
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12 hours ago, LinMM said:
Meant to write this earlier but after already having had my small back pack ( about the smallest size you can get) checked at the door of the ROH I was just about to go to my seat in the Linbury thinking I could sit quietly and go through the cast list etc when I was stopped and told I couldn’t take my bag into the Auditorium! I said well I’d been there with the same bag the previous week and no probs so why the change. No explanation except “security reasons” given. I traipsed back to put in the cloakroom feeling annoyed as now had phone water two pairs of glasses etc to juggle as had no other container
I was told at the cloakroom that there had been some demos so there was extra security ….they obviously thought I might be a possible orange powder thrower lol!!
I often put my bags and coat into the cloakroom by choice but usually when I have a bigger bag but I knew this one wouldn’t get in anyones way and had no coat and anyway it had already been checked and there were no notices anywhere saying no bags in the auditorium!!
Anyway eventually got to seat trying not to drop anything but then got really annoyed all over again as the person who eventually sat next to me had a bigger back pack with them than my own and had come through exactly the same door so how was that allowed through 🤔Looking around there were a couple of others but also some ladies with very large handbags!!!
Feeling a bit peaked about this still I couldn’t resist telling the person on the door in the interval that she had missed a few bags!
I was then a bit worried I might get thrown out for “no bags harassment”But I suppose I could have countered that I felt picked on!!
Anyway none of this spoilt the enjoyment of the dancing ….but was going to warn people they might not get away with a small backpack in the Linbury this evening!!
If the rules regarding bags have changed, ROH should make that clear!
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'Nijinsky misrepresented'
in Performances seen & general discussions
Posted · Edited by MJW
I would certainly recommend it. There are discounts available. I'm a member of the Art Fund and my ticket was £13.50 rather than £27.00
https://www.balletcoforum.com/topic/27884-after-impressionism-inventing-modern-art/