Jump to content

The Royal Ballet: Frankenstein, March 2019


Recommended Posts

 

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.

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 300
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Wasn't there a similar situation a few years ago with the first revival of Winter's Tale? Without the curiosity factor of a premier, I guess it's difficult to sell so many performances at a higher price than some well known ballets (Mayerling and La Bayadere in this case). I hope things work out, for the sake of the dancers and the accountants. I know many don't like Frankenstein, but I think Scarlett deserves the chance to make revisions. 

 

I will be interested to see who is taking the roles of Justine and Henry. Potentially exciting opportunities for some of the more junior dancers. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It just seems like they've got this season wrong, somehow, with Mayerling, Two Pigeons and Frankenstein all selling slowly but not enough Nutcracker or - more surprisingly - Patineurs performances scheduled to meet demand.I

 

I too would like it to work out - though a silver lining of this season being a disappointment financially might be the prevention of the threatened "all recent commissions in 2020" scheme (which we've heard nothing about recently anyway). Another might be some of those boasting of increased ticket revenue being faced with the realities of a non-Swan Lake dominated season.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've already asked this for R&J so apologies for the repeat question but can anyone give any advice as to whether auditorium left or right would be better in terms of what you'd miss sitting at the sides of the stalls circle? I'm not prepared to pay stalls prices for this one.

 

I was surprised to see a photo posted on the ROH's Instagram a couple of days ago showing Lamb & Kish rehearsing together for Frankenstein. Is it usual for dancers to rehearse together when they're not scheduled to perform together? I would have expected Lamb to be rehearsing with Hirano & Kish with Hinkis.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

didn't see this with the original cast on its first run but have seen the DVD. I think anything with the Bonelli/Morera partnership is to be treasured and lovely to see Campbell as Frankenstein - it's a marvellous part for a dancer who can act. It's not a perfect ballet (is there one) and maybe Scarlett will have revised it to lose some of the sillier episodes. I think one of the problems is that many people can only think of the story in terms of Hammer Horror films, and the original story is far removed from that. I think Scarlett did a pretty good job in telling the story as it is in the book. Maybe Marketing could have marketed it a little more?

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

I've already asked this for R&J so apologies for the repeat question but can anyone give any advice as to whether auditorium left or right would be better in terms of what you'd miss sitting at the sides of the stalls circle? I'm not prepared to pay stalls prices for this one.

Sorry, Dawnstar i think I may have answered this on the R and J thread and you took it as being for R  and J. For Frankenstein best to have left side, there's some pretty vital action on the right side which I missed when seeing it before.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

28 minutes ago, ninamargaret said:

Sorry, Dawnstar i think I may have answered this on the R and J thread and you took it as being for R  and J. For Frankenstein best to have left side, there's some pretty vital action on the right side which I missed when seeing it before.

 

Ah, sorry, yes I thought that all the replies on the R&J thread related to R&J. Thank you. I'll make sure to try for sc left then. I've just been having a look at how the Friday rush tickets mostly (haven't) sold yet for the first two performances & it looks like I might be better waiting for those for the end of the run than booking from what's available at the moment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am afraid I am one of those not buying tickets for this.  I disliked it so much that I wasn’t willing to risk any money on it, revisions or not!  The last time I didn’t attend a production was the revised Raven Girl, for the same reason!

 

Dawnstar, I sat on the left side and missed a whole bit where the monster was onstage behind a tree and I had no idea.  It was quite an important thing to miss as the next bit didn’t make much sense if you didn’t know he had been there observing!  

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 minutes ago, Sim said:

Dawnstar, I sat on the left side and missed a whole bit where the monster was onstage behind a tree and I had no idea.  It was quite an important thing to miss as the next bit didn’t make much sense if you didn’t know he had been there observing!  

 

It sounds like neither side is ideal then! Oh well, I guess I'll have to put up with missing something as I'm not prepared to pay £89 or more for stalls given I'm very dubious as to whether or not I'll like the piece at all. I only want to go because I have yet to see Bonelli live, after he withdrew from Nutcracker, & this is the only thing he seems to be cast in for the rest of the season.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, ninamargaret said:

Sim, think whichever side you sit you'll miss something significant! 

Which is annoying and displays lack of thought when staging it. But I guess that can happen in many productions. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm going on the 12th to see Alexander Campbell and Nehemiah Kish - specifically for those dancers, not the production. Otherwise, not tempted at all. Not surprised there are so many unsold tickets. Let's hope they give them all to the students  

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wonder why they don't try reducing the stalls to, say, half price & see if they can shift some that way. I remember a few years ago there was a slow-selling Barbiere di Siviglia revival & some of the stalls were reduced to £50 (I remember it because it's the only time I've ever been able to afford a stalls seat for an opera at the ROH!). I would have thought that selling Frankenstein stalls seats for around £50 would be more profitable than selling them to students for only £10.

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I haven't booked for this. I did quite enjoy it last time around however this time don't want to pay over the odds for it.

Id go for a standing ticket if could get one when up in London etc but can't be motivated to really put myself out for it.

 

Regards sides for R and J .....I think if you were very much on the side isn't it better to be on the right side as think the balcony is more towards the left side but then right at the end cannot remember the positions of the tombs on the stage!! There may be slightly more activity towards the right side at the end.....a while since I've seen R and J!!

i was pleased to see that when I was looking up a few company dancers on the Roya Ballet website including Corrales that it names R and J as one of his up and coming performances so maybe he will.be back by then ....booked to see him and Hayward...sorry not quite in thread!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have they actually made any effort to sell this other than social media and pr/editorial placements? So much potential material to get people to engage but they just aren’t using the right messaging, when there is so much they can extract from all of the premiere info including Scarlett sticking closely to the book, the dramatic nature of the ballet and the RB’s skill of acting without using words, pushing their in house talent, talking about special effects etc... There is no cinema screening and it’s a really short run, were they simply expecting it to sell? 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd say the situation is disastrous.  No performance is even two-thirds full and if you look at some of the later ones, there's only about 250 seats sold in the stalls.  Might be a good idea to close the ampitheatre and bring everybody into better seats.

 

I never considered buying as I hated the ballet the only time I saw it.  For those who were borderline and maybe considering re-booking to see the changes, the high prices would surely have been a turn-off.  

 

Surely this is exactly the type of 'problem' that having a Box Office in the new coffee bar would pay dividends?

Edited by penelopesimpson
  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm curious to know more about your views on this. I can't find much on it on youtube except for one brief clip with Ed Watson and Federico Bonelli, which looks really interesting. The general consensus here seems to be that it is not a very good or interesting ballet, and I'm wondering why (if anyone who has already seen it would be kind enough to fill us in, briefly, as to what he/she thought)  I'm not based in in London, alas, so can't see it anyway. But am curious to know why the general view is less positive, as the premise seems fantastic (and the stage sets look great too, based on the brief youtube clip I saw).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have to say, I quite liked it. It wasn’t perfect - there were various flaws in it that I thought needed fixing, but overall I think Scarlett made a good job of it. I saw it live, and at the cinema with two family members who thought it was fantastic (and they aren’t ballet novices).

 

For me, the positives outweighed the undeniable negatives.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are some nice bits to this ballet and I seem to remember being impressed by the sets.

Not so much the music I'm afraid. 

And I did feel for the monster so it's quite moving at the end. 

But ....I was interested and motivated to go because it was a new ballet back then. 

This time although I did quite like it....and if you haven't been yet do go.....it's one of those like Alice which I might like to see from time to time but certainly don't want to pay a fortune to do so.

Sometimes I look for return standing tickets for

either ballets I want to see again which I d originally only booked one performance of in the run

or ballets I wouldn't mind seeing but don't feel strongly enough about to pay for a good seat etc.

Frankenstein comes for me in this latter category. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've only seen it on video, so I can't judge its effect in the theater.  On the positive side, the choreography for the Creature, including his PDD with Victor and William, is strong throughout, and the production design is high quality.  The Creature spends a lot of time invading characters' personal space in all sorts of unsettling ways, which compensates for Steven McRae's inability to loom over anyone. On the neutral side, the ballet is much more engaged with the novel's cinematic adaptations than with the novel itself, sometimes to the extent of undercutting the novel's assessment of Victor's character.  And on the negative side, there's a fair amount of choreography that is either derivative, like the pseudo-Macmillan barroom scene, or unintentionally funny, like the "let's kill off the entirety of the remaining cast" moment at the end.  I also felt that the only motivation for Clerval's dancing at the ball was Scarlett suddenly remembering that he had cast Alexander Campbell in the role.

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

58 minutes ago, SMballet said:

I'm curious to know more about your views on this. I can't find much on it on youtube except for one brief clip with Ed Watson and Federico Bonelli, which looks really interesting.

 

I fear you have the wrong redhead there!  (Would it have been more interesting with Watson in it?)  It was Steven McRae.

 

My assessment of it originally (not having ever read the novel, I must admit) was that the focus is wrong: it should be on the relationship between Frankenstein and the Creature, not Elizabeth.  It seems that the work has been shoehorned into something of a conventional classical ballet structure (male/female pas de deux, ballroom scenes ...), and really doesn't fit it.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Those of you more experienced with shows returning after their premiere, isn’t it likely that changes will have been made? Reading through some of the reviews from last time there are plenty of constructive suggestions.

 

Only managing to go for the rehearsal myself- usually if I am not sure whether to go to a production I will go to the rehearsal and subsequently book but due to various family commitments that won’t be possible this time.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Apart from the music, which was instantly forgettable, I didn’t dislike Frankenstein although I do agree that there was insufficient focus on the relationship between Victor and the Creature and the Macmillan references were undeniably derivative. Hopefully these issues will have been addressed to some extent at the very least.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i think the poor sales of tickets show how difficult it is to sell 'unknown ' ballets to the general public unless the tickets are very reasonably priced - let's say at triple bill level. We've seen in the past that ballets like Manon, Fille, even DonQ , can struggle, while you could probably fill the house all year round with endless Swan Lakes, Nutcrackers etc. I'm afraid it's all a case of trying to educate the public and I have no idea of how this can be done. Better publicity and cheaper tickets might help a little. Ballet is, to the general public, ladies in tutus and pretty music - try persuading them otherwise!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, ninamargaret said:

.Better publicity and cheaper tickets might help a little. Ballet is, to the general public, ladies in tutus and pretty music - try persuading them otherwise!

 

In the case of Frankenstein................

 

1) MUCH cheaper tickets (as you say) - make it a 'loss leader' from the outset. [The pattern of sales speaks volumes and they should be listening.]

2) Offer package deals more prominently and at better value (e.g. buy one for Nutcracker, get Frankenstein half price)

3) Have posters around bearing the 'traditional' image - i.e. don't rely on social media too much

4) Cast it with 'stars' who pull in the punters (no offence to the leads but, although I love some of them, they are not all  'household names', nor are they British (thinking 'feature' articles here))

5) Give out leaflets at preceding performances; even 'advertise' on the red curtain in the intervals (well, that would create a talking point at least)

6) Get RichardLH and Janet McNulty (of BCF fame) to tout for trade for Campbell's shows!!!!!😉 There's nothing like real enthusiasm for a performer in terms of creating a buzz and they do that really well whereas the ROH does not!

 

 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...