Beryl H

Just to warn people that tickets for Cheri are not exchangeable for ROH productions, I tried to swap one yesterday but had to hand it in for resale instead. I was going to get another Viscera triple bill ticket and have now done so on the internet, but what a difference the name Acosta makes, as said in previous posts the performances he is in are far outselling the others, I'm actually intrigued by the Heap/Muntagirov/Ball cast for Carmen!

How do Friends with no computers get the casting, does the ROH mail them?

I like the round the world music at the start of the third act, this is used well by Nureyev in his POB version, without it the act is rather short. I had been looking forward to seeing the Dutch National Ballet and really enjoyed seeing two different casts yesterday, the evening cast was identical to the one I have on Blu-Ray so I will enjoy watching it even more now, and I loved the matinee cast, Maia Makhateli and Artur Shesterikov were a beautiful young Cinderella and Prince who radiated warmth, the programme says they are another real life couple, Sasha Mukhamedov was very funny as the stepmother, unusual for me to say this as this character and the sisters usually get on my nerves, and another special dancer was Roman Artyushkin in the autumn solo (or Mystery in this version). The one disappointment was not being able to see the tree, even from the front of the Balcony I could only see the trunk and some foliage, back to the Blu-Ray, and I guess the dancers are more important than a tree . Although there are lovely moments, I find the production variable, a bit too manic (like Alice) in places, Cinderella's entrance is not very magical and the Prince has to share his entrance with his servant friend. Congratulations to Dutch National Ballet in being able to nearly sell out the Coliseum, a rare occurrence these days, I hope they return!

I was surprised at the rumoured new boyfriend , it needs something to sell tickets for the Gala at the Coliseum, I bought a ticket for the Balcony which has now been closed, apart from the Stalls it's not looking good.

I had trouble recently with the Coliseum website and found that it was easier to book using the "VISIT" option at the top of the main page, you then click on "Dance and Other" on the right side of the screen and the Companies are listed, you can scroll up or down to get the Company you want, no other information is available, only booking. I thought tickets weren't selling that well, and can't understand why more dates are being added, is Irina Kolesnikova dancing every Swan Lake performance now, or does someone else do the matinees with Kimin Kim?

There is a Russian dancer who I think resembles the young Rudolf Nureyev, Artem Ovcharenko, since Ralph Fiennes is my favourite actor this is all very exciting, impossible to remotely capture the genius of Rudolf Nureyev, but something to dream about!

There are still quite a lot of what I call good seats in the amphi left, i.e. £35 central block also cheaper side tickets, plus of course the public booking quota, but I agree the stress involved on the day is the main reason I have decided to remain a Friend!

An interesting article in today's Times about Tree of Codes and Benjamin Millepied, looks really good and it says there will be a tour after Manchester including Sadler's Wells, no dates given yet.

I like the Coliseum location, the theatre architecture and the less stuffy atmosphere, but my problem is the view from the seats which are not well raked or spaced, it can't just be me as there are always people trying to change seats in the intervals, this is mainly the Dress and Upper Circles, the Balcony is better but very uncomfortable, whereas I nearly always have a seat with a good view in the ROH amphi and book with confidence.

Don Quixote, Corsaire and Flames of Paris are marvellous productions that show the Bolshoi at it's best, not sure about Taming of the Shrew, shame about Swan Lake ( unless it's a new production instead of the tired old Grigorovich one) does this really have to be thrown in for commercial reasons (answer yes), would have liked a modern triple bill and maybe Lady of the Camellias instead, then it would have been perfect. So relieved they are coming to the ROH and not the Coliseum!!!

I often sit in row L (back row) of the upper circle and find it reasonable, even the sides at least as far as mid-way, I didn't realise they were only £5 and £10, sounds a bargain as you will probably be able to move to another seat anyway. Might book a £10 ticket myself, don't know this Company but I would like to see Tara and Luke Schaufuss and I could see both at the two Saturday shows!

I've seen this twice, near the beginning and again recently, the exhibition is brilliant and has a very theatrical feel!

I was thinking last night whilst watching a documentary with Wayne Eagling and dancers from ENB, how well they were doing with him as Director and how he left ENB in a very healthy state for Tamara Rojo to take over, he also did some interesting choreography too, so I agree with MAB.

These ballets were too similar to make a good double bill, since I don't like Song of the Earth anyway it was a bit of a downer especially after the excitement of Woolf Works. Thought Faun was very good, it does follow Nijinsky's movements for the Faun quite a lot, very atmospheric and brightly lit! In the Night needed stronger lighting especially the first pdd, lovely to see Kobayashi and Hristov together, Roberta Marquez gave the best performance for me, again nice to see Rupert Pennefather at last! I just cannot warm to Song, I try to but Mahler song cycles are one of my least favourite pieces, as always the last song was very powerfully danced by Marianela Nunez, Thiago Soares (looking very intense and sad) and Carlos Acosta. I'm sure there are other good pairings for Song, The Dream is the obvious one, but this one didn't work for me.

I've managed to find the casting on the Dutch National Ballet website, not easy, spellings may not be correct: Wed. 8th July eve. Anna Tsygankova and Matthew Golding Thurs. 9th mat. Igone de Jong and Josef Varga Thurs. 9th eve. Maia Mahkatelli and Artur Shesterikov Fri 10th July eve. Anna Tsygankova and Matthew Golding Sat. 11th July mat. Maia Mahkatelli and Artur Shesterikov Sat. 11th July eve. Anna Tsygankova and Matthew Golding

That's good news, I wondered if the music would be recorded, I like some "minimalist" music, especially Philip Glass and now Max Richter, I keep hearing parts of I Now I Then in my head, which I think is the best section all round, would love to have a film of it.

I think the fact that Alessandra Ferri has danced every performance is why there has been no second cast for the Federico Bonelli roles, it would be nice next time to have at least 2 really different casts for every ballet, I could see Lauren Cuthbertson as Virginia Woolf, she has the artistry and maturity to dance an older person, and we are happily accepting Bonelli as the husband, who was as old as Virginia surely? I'm so pleased the rail strike was cancelled and I can see it for the 4th time tomorrow, if there were more performances in the summer I would be trying to get tickets!

The dates, but no casting or prices, are on the website for Cheri at the Linbury, Tuesday 29th September to Sunday 4th October, matinees on Saturday and Sunday, reviews in the magazines were good and probably a chance to see Alessandra Ferri again!

Saw last night's and agree with the comments raised about Ferri and Watson, they are a dream couple with similar dramatic strengths but I do wonder what the ballet would look like without them, sounds as if there won't be a second cast for the first ballet , they are simply too good. I can hardly bear to watch that duet for Watson and Dyer, for me this has to be Wayne Macgregor's finest piece of dance so far, obviously inspired by all the WW1 memories around. I was able to see more of Orlando, whether because the lighting had actually increased or because I knew what to expect I don't know, really need opera glasses though, at one point I thought I was watching Matthew Ball and it turned out to be Gary Avis! After only one viewing I'm not so sure about Tuesday, apart from the first limpid pdd for Ferri and Bonelli (like Ferri and Watson, a natural partnership) I became bored by the corps de ballet of waves, although it did feel as though they were drowning the life out of Ferri the music just went on and on and I was glad when it finished. In general I like the music very much, especially I Now I Then. Lots of questions still in my mind but suppose that's a good sign, hope to see it twice more but the 26th under threat from the rail strike, really would like to see any second casting.

Well, I didn't quite catch the announcement last night but am even angrier that it was caused at the Box Office, with the 30m intervals I decided to miss the last one as I was not in the mood to pay a probable £15 taxi fare after being kept waiting 15 minutes! I am going again tomorrow though and can stay later as being a Friday there will be night buses! Wasn't there also a technical hitch causing the auditorium not to open until 7.15? Rant over, loved what I saw, firstly Edward Watson gave a performance that set a new standard even for him, his dancing of the traumatised WW1 soldier was heartbreaking, and brought out fabulous performances from Tristan Dyer and Akane Takada (yes,she can act) this was the finest section of the evening for me. The rest of the ballet was harder to fathom, even though I had just read Mrs. Dalloway, still this was indeed the finest emotional choreography from Wayne Macgregor yet! Orlando was so exciting, the only connection to the book was Natalia Osipiova as a male Orlando at the start who turned into a very pliant woman, but it was such fun, I didn't mind the pounding score or the lasers but what really spoilt it was the bad lighting, I wouldn't have been able to recognise any of the dancers without opera glasses, a real shame. Pleasantly surprised to see so many "older" people in the audience in the amphi at least, perhaps like me they were there to see one of their favourite ballerina's Alessandra Ferri, I didn't realise she was so young when she left the RB. She looked as beautiful as ever.

Tickets seem to be going like hot cakes now, last night just as I switched on TV about 5.50pm on BBC News there was an interview with Max Richter about the ballet and his music, short clip of Osipova and Watson dancing. The Times gives 4 stars today and although short it really gives a good idea of what to expect, the more you know about Virginia Woolf the better, also I guess people are reading their own interpretations as to which real life people the dancers are. There are 10 male and 10 female lead dancers in the second cast, but I notice Ryoichi Hirano is missing, perhaps the ROH website is incorrect or trying to update!

The Sunday Times mentions that Sarah Lamb will dance Vanessa Bell (in the first cast), wonder if all the dancers announced will play real people, this is more confusing than Mayerling.

There's a cartoon in The Times showing the Queen and Prince Philip stocked up with vital supplies and a camp bed in the House of Lords

I feel a bit shellshocked at the moment although relieved it's all over bar the shouting, David Cameron is already back from the Palace, did enjoy seeing the results coming in on the BBC website from 6am to about 9.30am, but I'm an early riser anyway.

Today is Alessandra Ferri's 52nd birthday, she is probably working very hard at the Woolf Works rehearsals!