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it isn't just here that audiences leap out of their seats to leave as soon as the curtain is down. I was watching a recording of Turandot yesterday via the Arte channel and as soon as the last notes finished there was a rush for people to leave, in many cases passing right in front of the camera and totally filling the screen. The cameramen got quite good at switching to other cameras but I thought it was discourteous to the cast and to the audience watching on film.

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Full marks(!) last night to the couple at Sleeping Beauty who returned to their seats in Stalls Circle row A, dead centre, after the curtain had gone up on Act 1 - thus disturbing all those on the right-hand side of the centre block of row A, and blocking the view of all in rows A-D, who had had the common sense to get there on time.

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1 hour ago, RuthE said:

Full marks(!) last night to the couple at Sleeping Beauty who returned to their seats in Stalls Circle row A, dead centre, after the curtain had gone up on Act 1 - thus disturbing all those on the right-hand side of the centre block of row A, and blocking the view of all in rows A-D, who had had the common sense to get there on time.

That’s strange;  the ushers aren’t supposed to let anyone in once the lights go down and they close the doors.  

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33 minutes ago, Sim said:

That’s strange;  the ushers aren’t supposed to let anyone in once the lights go down and they close the doors.  

 

But there are patrons and PATRONS, Sim !!!!!! Letting people in after after the lights have dimmed is not unusual.

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15 minutes ago, capybara said:

 

But there are patrons and PATRONS, Sim !!!!!! Letting people in after after the lights have dimmed is not unusual.

 

Must be difficult for the ushers to say no to certain people...I know currently the ROH does a 'please take your seats the performance will commence in 10 minutes' announcement, I wonder if it would be helpful if they followed this up with a '5 minute' announcement to really make it urgent? (Or maybe they already do the 5 minute announcement but I always miss it as I try to be back in my seat promptly!) 

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JNC, they announce 10 minutes, 5 minutes, and “about to commence “ , plus the ushers walk around madly ringing bells so no excuse for being late to your seats if you are in the building.  
 

I must say that I almost never see anyone being allowed in after the lights are off. I didn’t realise that the rule is relaxed for those with big bank accounts!!

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4 minutes ago, Sim said:

JNC, they announce 10 minutes, 5 minutes, and “about to commence “ , plus the ushers walk around madly ringing bells so no excuse for being late to your seats if you are in the building.  
 

I must say that I almost never see anyone being allowed in after the lights are off. I didn’t realise that the rule is relaxed for those with big bank accounts!!

 

Well it shouldn't be!! (Even if you just take the cynical view, others with big bank accounts are likely to be disturbed by allowing in the latecomers.)

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33 minutes ago, Sim said:

JNC, they announce 10 minutes, 5 minutes, and “about to commence “ , plus the ushers walk around madly ringing bells so no excuse for being late to your seats if you are in the building.  
 

I must say that I almost never see anyone being allowed in after the lights are off. I didn’t realise that the rule is relaxed for those with big bank accounts!!

 

I think they just barged in, I don't think the usher had the chance to intercept them. And once in and disrupting everyone getting to their seats, would have been more disruptive to try and turf them out again, to be fair, as the band had already struck up. Their sense of entitlement was staggering!

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1 hour ago, capybara said:

 

But there are patrons and PATRONS, Sim !!!!!! Letting people in after after the lights have dimmed is not unusual.

 

I don't think these were patrons - far too young (and Stalls Circle, not Grand Tier)!!! lol

This wan't just 'after lights dimmed' - the orchestra was in flow flow - but the curtain yet to rise, thank heavens

 

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38 minutes ago, jm365 said:

Yes they do make a 5 minute announcement.

 

and a 'about to begin' with 2mins to go.

Mind you, we often then sit/stand in the auditorium for another 5mins or so whilst the conductor finished his cup of tea (or whatever)  😉

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The person doing the calls yesterday spoke in a low, drawn out manner and it was quite hard to hear them clearly above the hubbub; their voice was rather quiet. Having both clear diction and an urgency to the tone would help to get people moving.


I do wish they’d dispense with the awful clanging bells, though. When you’ve just sat down to enjoy your drink (they start ringing 10 mins into 20 min interval) and then it ”chimes” at ear level at goodness knows how many decibels as they walk past, it’s frankly painful. 
 

I was one of those who had their view disturbed by the couple taking their seats and it was highly irritating. They were back in good time for the second interval - pretty sure they had been given an earful by some of their Row A neighbours. 

I noticed lots of people being told to shut their phones off by ushers yesterday. Many more than usual. Also people’s Apple watches lighting up all over the place - one man was clearly checking his notifications (yes, I saw you!) but others just light up whenever people move their arms because they have them set on ‘raise to wake’. 

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I'm not sure that specifying a 4-minute pause between Acts 2 & 3 last night helped on the mobile phone use front. A number of people near where I was started looking at their phones & then still had them out when the Act 3 Entr'acte had started. Maybe only saying "a short pause" would be better to not encourage phone use.

 

In terms of latecomers, I think the ROH is pretty good at not letting people in, especially compared to WE shows where there's often a steady trickle of latecomers. I myself was late for the matinee I went to yesterday, thanks to train delays of over an hour. I didn't expect to be able to take my seat when I arrived, as I was in the front row of the stalls. However the FOH staff said I could! I refused & stood at the back until there was a scene change, as I had no intention of distracting the audience, and possibly the cast, mid-scene.

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39 minutes ago, Thalia said:

The person doing the calls yesterday spoke in a low, drawn out manner and it was quite hard to hear them clearly above the hubbub; their voice was rather quiet. Having both clear diction and an urgency to the tone would help to get people moving.


I do wish they’d dispense with the awful clanging bells, though. When you’ve just sat down to enjoy your drink (they start ringing 10 mins into 20 min interval) and then it ”chimes” at ear level at goodness knows how many decibels as they walk past, it’s frankly painful. 
 

I was one of those who had their view disturbed by the couple taking their seats and it was highly irritating. They were back in good time for the second interval - pretty sure they had been given an earful by some of their Row A neighbours. 

I noticed lots of people being told to shut their phones off by ushers yesterday. Many more than usual. Also people’s Apple watches lighting up all over the place - one man was clearly checking his notifications (yes, I saw you!) but others just light up whenever people move their arms because they have them set on ‘raise to wake’. 

 

I think the clanging bells are effective (especially if it can be hard to hear the voice over) but I think it would be more effective if they started utilising bells at 5 mins rather than 10. People often have a tendency to start ignoring these things if they think they’re not as urgent and still have 10 minutes! 

 

The apple/smart watches certainly don’t help the mobile phone situation. ROH is one of the few places where other audience and ushers are quite good at clamping down on this thankfully. 

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2 minutes ago, JNC said:

 

I think the clanging bells are effective (especially if it can be hard to hear the voice over) but I think it would be more effective if they started utilising bells at 5 mins rather than 10. People often have a tendency to start ignoring these things if they think they’re not as urgent and still have 10 minutes! 

 


I agree that ringing them at 5 minutes would be preferable, however I would rather they had a the ringing via speakers/sounders like they do in some other theatres. I find the hand bells far too harsh. 
And yes, I ignore the bells being rung at 10 minutes along with nearly everyone else! 
I think especially with a ballet the length of Sleeping Beauty they should give us a chance to stretch our legs/sit down/take a sip before starting to herd us back in! 

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13 minutes ago, JNC said:

The apple/smart watches certainly don’t help the mobile phone situation. ROH is one of the few places where other audience and ushers are quite good at clamping down on this thankfully. 


I’m not sure what the ushers can do about the smart watches as they tend to light up inadvertently; I just wish the wearers would be more aware of it and perhaps wear long sleeves!

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34 minutes ago, JNC said:

People often have a tendency to start ignoring these things if they think they’re not as urgent and still have 10 minutes! 

 

I think it more likely that people are getting used to late starts and re-starts at ROH and are adjusting their timing accordingly.

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3 hours ago, zxDaveM said:

 

I don't think these were patrons - far too young (and Stalls Circle, not Grand Tier)!!! lol

This wan't just 'after lights dimmed' - the orchestra was in flow flow - but the curtain yet to rise, thank heavens


By the time they made it to their seats, the curtain was very much up.

 

The techies in the lighting box must have loved being suddenly stood in front of during the performance, too...

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50 minutes ago, RuthE said:


By the time they made it to their seats, the curtain was very much up.

 

The techies in the lighting box must have loved being suddenly stood in front of during the performance, too...

 

I didn't notice that! Makes it even worse!

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46 minutes ago, zxDaveM said:

The current announcer (of time to be seated fame) reminds me of a Kaminoan Cloner from the Star Wars movies...


It’s a bit of a shock to the system, isn’t it? I’m trying to work out why a woman with an American accent sounds so out of place to my ear in this context, as there’s really no reason why it should.

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I was sat in the side amphi yesterday afternoon and an usher remained in the theatre most of the performance I saw (I missed the early part) presumably monitoring mobile phone use. In the evening one was actually sitting in the back row of the stalls and was very proactive in intervening with people using phones especially during the overture and the end of the short later performance break. 

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Regarding phones, I had a classic exchange at the proms in the summer. A woman sitting in the row in front of me had her  phone on, texting whilst the music was playing. I asked her politely, but firmly to 'turn you phone off please.' She ignored me, so I asked her again. She looked round at me furiously, and replied in no uncertain terms 'mind your own business!' She carried on arguing the toss, so I made sure she saw me reporting her to the stewards during the interval. Good as gold after that, although I think my mum had a similar exchange with the same woman at a prom a couple of nights later. Likewise, she was reported, and apparently started arguing the toss with the steward!  Unbelievable!

 

We also had someone reply 'why?' when we asked to turn her phone off. As she left at the end of the performance, let's just say if looks could kill, I don't think I would be sitting here now typing this!

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