penelopesimpson Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 Disappointed to see so few appearances for Edward Watson in the forthcoming season. Whilst it is pleasing to have the return of Winter's Tale and I have just managed to get a ticket for Osipova in Romeo and Juliet, I don't want to see Raven Girl (once was more than enough) and Flight of a Faun left me cold last time. Poor Edward. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prima_ballerina Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 Did you see Edward Watson in Wayne McGregors Woolf Works? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanartus Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 You should give Raven a second chance if only for the final pas de deux. Wayne will have edited quite a bit to make the whole piece work better. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickwellings Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 I am hesitant about Raven Girl after the reviews it got (did not go first time). As it involves a lengthy journey to the Garden I am weighing it up in my mind. Like you say Vanartus: WM may well have edited or polished parts for its benefit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penelopesimpson Posted July 15, 2015 Author Share Posted July 15, 2015 Did you see Edward Watson in Wayne McGregors Woolf Works? Yes, he was wonderful. I loved. And in Song of the Earth 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 What is Connectome (to be paired with Raven Girl) like? I spent a fortune on tickets yesterday and so I'm thankful that there's one programme that I'm happy to miss (I'm not a Watson fan - generally too febrile and physically overwrought for my taste). I have seen Raven Girl twice and despite the impressive (and no doubt hugely expensive) staging suspect that it is probably fatally flawed as a piece. No doubt people will report back in due course. If reports are good and there's a very good offer on tickets I might risk it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penelopesimpson Posted July 15, 2015 Author Share Posted July 15, 2015 What is Connectome (to be paired with Raven Girl) like? I spent a fortune on tickets yesterday and so I'm thankful that there's one programme that I'm happy to miss (I'm not a Watson fan - generally too febrile and physically overwrought for my taste). I have seen Raven Girl twice and despite the impressive (and no doubt hugely expensive) staging suspect that it is probably fatally flawed as a piece. No doubt people will report back in due course. If reports are good and there's a very good offer on tickets I might risk it. Oh dear, rare to meet a non-Watson fan. For me he is sublime. But so agree with you about Raven Girl. Surely they should cut their losses and quietly can this one? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 What is Connectome (to be paired with Raven Girl) like? Well, I decided last time around that I'd seen it quite enough times (it was on the bill with The Concert, I think?) and I wasn't getting any more out of it with increasing acquaintance, so I probably didn't need to bother seeing it again. This led me to comment elsewhere - which I'll repeat here since it seems relevant - that I assumed that Watson being cast in both parts of the bill on the same evening suggested that his role in Raven Girl wasn't likely to be expanded to any demanding extent in any reworking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 I agree, Penelope. Raven Girl seems to be universally disliked, and we all say 'but the final pdd is lovely', which indeed it is. However, I will never sit through an hour of that ballet again just to wait for the one good bit at the end. Maybe McGregor could take this pdd and put it another ballet sometime. Because of Raven Girl, I had to be dragged to Woolf Works almost kicking and screaming because I dreaded another narrative ballet from WM. However....I loved it on the whole, and was glad I got to see both casts. Having had to almost remortgage my house to pay for all the R&J tickets I got, the decision to skip the Raven Girl bill was a very easy one. I will be interested to hear what WM has done to improve it, and I really hope it works. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLOSS Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 Wayne MacGregor's ballets always seem to involve expensive stagings. Now what would be interesting would be to see him choreograph something for a bare stage, no fancy lighting effects and no distracting machinery.I wonder whether his works would look so substantial without the technological dressing? I did see Woolf Works and found the middle section confused and overwrought the lighting was cleverness for its own sake.I would love to know how much his ballets cost to stage in comparison with something like Scarlett's asphodel Meadows. As far as Raven Girl is concerned it would require such radical revisions as to be totally unrecognisable before I buy a ticket to see it.Someone I know suggested that it was only the lighting that was going to be revised.So we shall see when it is performed next season or rather some of you will see and no doubt report back.Perhaps they will end up being forced to make the programme one that is sold at popular prices to shift the tickets. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 Having had to almost remortgage my house to pay for all the R&J tickets I got, Quite - and i had thought, following the season announcement, that i was going to save money in 2015/16. But when the casting for the autumn came out...!!!!!!! Note to Kevin O'Hare: please put the dancers I want to book for together and save me a fortune in double bookings (and save me, as well, having to see dancers I would not normally book for [no names mentioned!!!!]). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penelopesimpson Posted July 15, 2015 Author Share Posted July 15, 2015 I agree, Penelope. Raven Girl seems to be universally disliked, and we all say 'but the final pdd is lovely', which indeed it is. However, I will never sit through an hour of that ballet again just to wait for the one good bit at the end. Maybe McGregor could take this pdd and put it another ballet sometime. Because of Raven Girl, I had to be dragged to Woolf Works almost kicking and screaming because I dreaded another narrative ballet from WM. However....I loved it on the whole, and was glad I got to see both casts. Having had to almost remortgage my house to pay for all the R&J tickets I got, the decision to skip the Raven Girl bill was a very easy one. I will be interested to hear what WM has done to improve it, and I really hope it works. I am with you there. It is frightening how much I spent yesterday so Raven Girl was not even a consideration. I loved Woolf Works and would happily see it again. Come on RB, time to bid Raven goodnight and thank-you. Anybody else noticed how little Watson is dancing this coming season? I am heartbroken. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 I agree, Penelope....and as he is 39 we should all be getting a chance to see Ed as much as possible! I am also disappointed to be seeing so little of Roberta Marquez, and especially disappointed that she wasn't cast in Two Pigeons. She is one of the company's best Ashton interpreters (my favourite Lise and one of my favourite Titanias). Maybe she will get a Giselle or two. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 Well, Marquez seems to have been pushed out by Salenko and, previously, Obrazova. Can the RB justify paying for guest dancers when there are suitable company dancers available? I won't be donating any money to the RB (I can't stand those carefully crafted letters 'signed' by an individual dancer) whilst it has so much spare money that it can afford to pay for unnecessary guest dancers and excessively elaborate sets. Have ticket prices for next season gone up? The most expensive seats in the stalls and grand tier are now at least £100 for some performances and the seats at the front of the amphitheatre are £59 (for those performances). Rant over. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penelopesimpson Posted July 15, 2015 Author Share Posted July 15, 2015 Well, Marquez seems to have been pushed out by Salenko and, previously, Obrazova. Can the RB justify paying for guest dancers when there are suitable company dancers available? I won't be donating any money to the RB (I can't stand those carefully crafted letters 'signed' by an individual dancer) whilst it has so much spare money that it can afford to pay for unnecessary guest dancers and excessively elaborate sets. Have ticket prices for next season gone up? The most expensive seats in the stalls and grand tier are now at least £100 for some performances and the seats at the front of the amphitheatre are £59 (for those performances). Rant over. Well, Marquez seems to have been pushed out by Salenko and, previously, Obrazova. Can the RB justify paying for guest dancers when there are suitable company dancers available? I won't be donating any money to the RB (I can't stand those carefully crafted letters 'signed' by an individual dancer) whilst it has so much spare money that it can afford to pay for unnecessary guest dancers and excessively elaborate sets. Have ticket prices for next season gone up? The most expensive seats in the stalls and grand tier are now at least £100 for some performances and the seats at the front of the amphitheatre are £59 (for those performances). Rant over. You make a good point. I've just paid £127 for a Grand Tier seat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuthE Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 Note to Kevin O'Hare: please put the dancers I want to book for together and save me a fortune in double bookings (and save me, as well, having to see dancers I would not normally book for [no names mentioned!!!!]). I couldn't agree more! The number of times recently - especially for Swan Lake this season and R&J next - that I've looked at the cast listing and gone "Ooooh, so-and-so!!! ... with... oh." 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunrise Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 I couldn't agree more! The number of times recently - especially for Swan Lake this season and R&J next - that I've looked at the cast listing and gone "Ooooh, so-and-so!!! ... with... oh." Me too. With the prices as high as they are now, I can't really justify going to see any of the full-lengths just to see one half of a cast. I thought the matinees might be a bit easier on the wallet, but they are the same extortionate price! Thank goodness for cinema broadcasts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 (edited) I couldn't agree more! The number of times recently - especially for Swan Lake this season and R&J next - that I've looked at the cast listing and gone "Ooooh, so-and-so!!! ... with... oh." I suspect that we may be thinking of the same people. Wish we could advise KO'H!!! Edited July 15, 2015 by capybara 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickwellings Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 It can only be a clever move by management to make people spend lots of £££! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunrise Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 But in my case, I end up spending less! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penelopesimpson Posted July 15, 2015 Author Share Posted July 15, 2015 I suspect that we may be thinking of the same people. Wish we could advise KO'H!!! Do tell us who? I would have booked for Hayward's R&J but Matthew Golding doesn't do it for me. She was wonderful with Edward Watson in Manon but I don't think he dances Romeo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 Do tell us who? I would have booked for Hayward's R&J but Matthew Golding doesn't do it for me. She was wonderful with Edward Watson in Manon but I don't think he dances Romeo Ed has been dancing Romeo since circa 2003 when he debuted with Lauren Cuthbertson. There was a (sort of) documentary made at the time with Jonathan Cope coaching them both - his first foray into being a repetiteur, I believe, Since then, I have seen Ed as Romeo with various partners. Maybe management now feels that others should have a turn? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penelopesimpson Posted July 16, 2015 Author Share Posted July 16, 2015 Ed has been dancing Romeo since circa 2003 when he debuted with Lauren Cuthbertson. There was a (sort of) documentary made at the time with Jonathan Cope coaching them both - his first foray into being a repetiteur, I believe, Since then, I have seen Ed as Romeo with various partners. Maybe management now feels that others should have a turn? Thanks for the info. I just don't get much from Matthew Golding. Why is Ed Watson dancing so little this season when he has been in superlative form? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuthE Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 (edited) Do tell us who? I would have booked for Hayward's R&J but Matthew Golding doesn't do it for me. She was wonderful with Edward Watson in Manon but I don't think he dances Romeo Well, given that it's a matter of personal taste, and my opinion therefore carries no weight as a judgement on dancers' quality or ability, I don't think it unfair to say that the example you mention is just one such that almost (but didn't) put me off booking - I'm not a Golding fan at all and am rather disappointed that Osipova is cast opposite him for Giselle - I'd have loved to see her cast with McRae. Not keen on Nehemiah Kish either, but he often gets cast opposite ballerinas I don't feel I can miss seeing. I am trying to recall whether Ed Watson danced Romeo in the last run. Was he with Melissa Hamilton, maybe? Edited July 16, 2015 by RuthE 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavycapers Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 Am I right in thinking that when the castings for R & J were first on the ROH site, that Carlos Acosta had some performances as Romeo, or did I imagine that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuthE Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 Am I right in thinking that when the castings for R & J were first on the ROH site, that Carlos Acosta had some performances as Romeo, or did I imagine that? I don't *think* so... hasn't he been saying since long before the casting was announced that his days of full-length roles are now over? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 Wayne MacGregor's ballets always seem to involve expensive stagings. Now what would be interesting would be to see him choreograph something for a bare stage, no fancy lighting effects and no distracting machinery. [...] Perhaps they will end up being forced to make the programme one that is sold at popular prices to shift the tickets. You could say that about quite a few people: I remember one "new choreography" bill when I was horrified to see all 3 ballets with what I regarded as excessive sets/lighting etc. I recalled Balanchine's habit of designing for a pretty much bare stage. And the programme *is* being sold at "popular" prices. Anybody else noticed how little Watson is dancing this coming season? I am heartbroken. It was pretty obvious to me, yes. Although I suspect he may well still be dancing more than Marquez, and certainly Yanowsky. Can the RB justify paying for guest dancers when there are suitable company dancers available? I won't be donating any money to the RB (I can't stand those carefully crafted letters 'signed' by an individual dancer) whilst it has so much spare money that it can afford to pay for unnecessary guest dancers and excessively elaborate sets. Have ticket prices for next season gone up? The most expensive seats in the stalls and grand tier are now at least £100 for some performances and the seats at the front of the amphitheatre are £59 (for those performances). Rant over. Good question. And yes, prices have definitely gone up. Including by 2.5 times in the case of the seats I'd normally go for for triple bills (and now can no longer afford to go for). Me too. With the prices as high as they are now, I can't really justify going to see any of the full-lengths just to see one half of a cast. I thought the matinees might be a bit easier on the wallet, but they are the same extortionate price! Thank goodness for cinema broadcasts! Yes, I remember the days when I used to complain about the price of the cinema showings because it was cheaper to go in person. No longer, I fear. And I agree about the "half of a cast" attitude. I am not paying the prices I used to pay just to see a Juliet or a Romeo if I have zero interest in seeing his/her partner. If I can get hold of a cheap ticket, sure, but not otherwise. It can only be a clever move by management to make people spend lots of £££! Backfiring spectacularly, if so, in my case at least. I would have booked for Hayward's R&J but Matthew Golding doesn't do it for me. She was wonderful with Edward Watson in Manon but I don't think he dances Romeo Ed most certainly does dance Romeo. He was with Melissa Hamilton last time around, though, so I don't know whether her absence has thrown a spanner in the works in that respect. I too would have been happy to see him with Hayward again, since they worked well in Manon, and most of his Juliets are no longer with the company. Why is Ed Watson dancing so little this season when he has been in superlative form? I guess we know who to ask about that. I know he's scheduled to be doing the Whelan/Watson thing in the US sometime next year, but it surely can't impinge that much on the ROH schedule? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunrise Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 I wonder if the success of the cinema broadcasts might be a bit of a poisoned chalice. The ROH can claim to reach greater numbers of audiences around the country (and the world) than ever before, at affordable prices, and fulfilling their mandate for accessibility. With audiences pushed into cinemas, there is less incentive to keep the auditorium seats affordable. Well, that's the cynic in me. After years of cheap seats as a student, I want to be able to sit a bit more comfortably nowadays, but I can't justify it at these prices, so I will get my ballet fix in the cinema instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mallinson Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 … And yes, prices have definitely gone up. Including by 2.5 times in the case of the seats I'd normally go for for triple bills (and now can no longer afford to go for). … Strewth! Which seats are those? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluebird Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 (edited) Strewth! Which seats are those? I think the problem is that they have decided that the tickets for two of the mixed bills this Autumn should be priced in the same way as full evening ballets - i.e. seats that have, in the past, been priced at £6 for mixed bills are priced at £16 for the Monotones/Two Pigeons bill and also for the Viscera quad bill. Edited July 16, 2015 by Bluebird Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 I wonder what the thinking behind that is? I mean, Monotones doesn't have a set or any expensive effects, nor a cast of thousands to costume up. And the costumes are about as basic as you can get. So why such a big increase for this bill? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavycapers Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 (edited) I don't *think* so... hasn't he been saying since long before the casting was announced that his days of full-length roles are now over?I expect you're right. I was just certain that when the castings first appeared, he was down for some performances, because I remember thinking that I would have difficulty choosing between his performances and Osipova's. Also, wasn't the advertising photo of him and osipova for quite a long time, though it's now been changed, which would indicate that they had thought to use him originally? Actually, I am also very keen to see Hayward. Is this her first Juliet? Although I usually have no problem suspending disbelief when it comes to dancers in their 30s and 40s playing the not yet fourteen Juliet, it will be lovely to see someone so young and fresh and new in the role. But Acosta and Rojo will always be my R & J. I sat in my seat for ages after it finished, the first time I saw them, so stunned I couldn't move! Edited July 17, 2015 by cavycapers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacqueline Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 I was rather surprised to be paying £92.00 for a seat in the Stalls Circle for the Viscera matinee, but as tickets seemed to be disappearing before my eyes and I particularly wanted to see this bill, I just went ahead. I see it is largely sold out now. Last year, I paid £75.00 for a front row Grand Tier seat to see Winter's Tale, which is more in line with what I would expect to pay for a matinee of reasonable length. As I have said before, I don't go very often so when I do, I like a good seat with a clear view. But I did look twice at this Autumn's prices and wince a little. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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