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Help choosing ROH seats


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Borrowing this thread to save starting a new one. Does anyone have an opinion on stalls E31? Has any rake kicked in by that point or will I be spending £58 only to see nothing but the backs of heads for 3 hours?

 

ETA I decided to get it, as there's nothing else currently available for that performance below balcony level. Fingers crossed...

Edited by Dawnstar
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I know some people suggest the rake starts around row E but I notice a shallow rake from A to E which then becomes more pronounced.  Much depends on people in front and there are times when the view can be disappointing.  You could always use a cushion - a number of people do.  Also there’s no one immediately behind you as you’re above the exit with row H the next row for seating. I hope you enjoy the seat.

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3 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

Borrowing this thread to save starting a new one. Does anyone have an opinion on stalls E31? Has any rake kicked in by that point or will I be spending £58 only to see nothing but the backs of heads for 3 hours?

 

ETA I decided to get it, as there's nothing else currently available for that performance below balcony level. Fingers crossed...

I often choose Row E or F, though usually try to sit on the end of the row. It's not too bad, but definitely get a cushion. I always it on my coat as I'm short.  

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have another seating query, if anyone has a good memory. Can anyone remember from the 2006 run (or indeed earlier) of Coppelia if one side or the other of the stalls circle has a better view or if you miss about equal amounts sitting on either side? I want to pick a couple of the cheapest row C side stalls circle tickets & I'm not sure if I'd be better going for one side or the other or if I should split the difference & do one performance left & one performance right!

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1 hour ago, Dawnstar said:

I have another seating query, if anyone has a good memory. Can anyone remember from the 2006 run (or indeed earlier) of Coppelia if one side or the other of the stalls circle has a better view or if you miss about equal amounts sitting on either side? I want to pick a couple of the cheapest row C side stalls circle tickets & I'm not sure if I'd be better going for one side or the other or if I should split the difference & do one performance left & one performance right!

 

I prefer to sit on the left for 'Coppelia,' as you get the better view of Coppelius' balcony in he first act. IMHO.

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17 minutes ago, Rachel H said:

 

I prefer to sit on the left for 'Coppelia,' as you get the better view of Coppelius' balcony in he first act. IMHO.

 

Agreed. Although, when Franz 'addresses' the doll on the balcony, you lose his facial expressions.

As always, it's 'swings and roundabouts'.

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Thanks for the advice @Rachel H & @capybara. One of the performances I wanted to book for now only has a single £45 SC ticket still available & that's on the right hand side so I've had to take that one & then have gone for one on the left hand side for the other performance, so at least I'll miss things alternately! Both my other tickets are on the outermost right edge of the stalls so I hope I'll be able to see the balcony from them - attractive as the ROH's proscenium arch is I can't help thinking views would be better without it!

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  • 1 month later...

I’ve read this thread several times and I’m still not sure where to book for DH’s first visit to ROH. Not having a blocked view and being able to see feet and faces is important. Price is less of a factor (special treat). Would really appreciate opinions of where fits this bill. Thank you. 

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Orchestra Stalls Row H sides (above the gangway) might well give you what you’re looking for.  Audience members in front of you (the other side of the gangway) would have to be incredibly tall or wearing hats to obscure your view.

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Wouldn't recommend centre stalls circle Row A. I was just a couple of seats away from centre and there were two very tall lads in the back row of the Orchestra Stalls. My view was somewhat obscured. I am short, so that is partially the problem, but can't do much about it!  A good compromise are the seats at the beginning of the side stalls circle.

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Oh dear, so difficult, even when cost is not a problem. I always sit in the Orch Stalls as I like to be close. Agree that Row H sides is very good - if you can get it. These seats tend to be snapped up. Otherwise, I would suggest trying for an aisle seat if you want to be near the front. 

The rake gets better as you move further back - M, N etc. I was in row H recently with a tall person in front of me but as it was Nehemiah Kish watching his wife, I forgave him. At least he was thin. To have someone who is both tall and wide as I've also recently experienced is ghastly, even when in an aisle seat

 

If you are not so bothered about being close, then go for front row in Stalls Circle round the sides, Grand Tier or Balcony.  Be careful even there, as some have restricted view.  The tall seats in Row D of the central Grand Tier are also very good (max price) Never go for any seat in a box.

 

I'm 5'1" so of the shorter variety.  Seeing the full stage is an issue.  

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  • 2 years later...
11 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:

I'm a first row sort of a person and have sat in A3.  I most definitely wouldn't go for row D - far too much chance of a big head (made that mistake once and never repeated it!).

 

Was it not too far to the side, it didn't impair your view at all? I've never been a stalls person, always in the grand circle, but since I tried it I'm a convert!

 

I have been in F and found the view fine, I'm quite tall though.

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9 minutes ago, emmarose said:

 

Was it not too far to the side, it didn't impair your view at all? I've never been a stalls person, always in the grand circle, but since I tried it I'm a convert!

 

I have been in F and found the view fine, I'm quite tall though.

 

It's a funny thing but I have always preferred sitting off centre.  I've been fine with the view from this seat and the equivalent one on the other side of the auditorium.  I may lose a tiny bit of the stage but never enough to bother me.

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5 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:

 

It's a funny thing but I have always preferred sitting off centre.  I've been fine with the view from this seat and the equivalent one on the other side of the auditorium.  I may lose a tiny bit of the stage but never enough to bother me.

 

Thanks Jan, I think I'll go with the front row, it'll be nice to be so, so close.

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4 hours ago, emmarose said:

 

Thanks Jan, I think I'll go with the front row, it'll be nice to be so, so close.


my only problem with front few rows in ROH is that I can’t see the dancers feet.  I need to be 6 or more rows back to have my eyeline above stage floor level. 
 

Having said that …. being in row A is rather marvellous for catching even the smallest change in expression 

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19 hours ago, emmarose said:

Just a quick question, if you had the choice of Orchestra stalls A3 or D24, which one would be better? I've never been in the very first row, is it too close?

Emmarose, the orchestra pit now has a metal grid over the front one quarter nearest the stage which never used to be there. I sat in the front row several times in the 1990s (I’m about medium height) and could see everything well because there was no metal grid in those days but it’s different now.

 

We noticed there was a grid placed there in 2013 (it might have been put in earlier) when a friend of mine got the last ticket left for the new Don Quixote (Carlos Acosta’s version) available which was A3 or A4, she said. She’s about 1.75m so not short either, and she couldn’t see their feet on the stage, not even on pointe. Basically everyone looked “amputated” above or (when on pointe) below their ankles unless they jumped or lifted their legs in the air, because the grid Is quite thick and slightly higher than eye level of the first few rows in the front. The tickets didn’t say semi restricted view or carry any warnings. She mentioned it to the front of house manager. (She bought her Don Q tickets early and much further back the next time it was revived!) 

 

I presume the grid is there to stop objects that roll or bounce off the stage - or performers who slip off the edge! - from falling into the pit and injuring the musicians, so it’s a good idea to have it, but it does obstruct the view for the first rows of the orchestra stalls. Less of a problem for opera so I suppose that’s why the seats are still full price, but clearly a problem for ballet. I haven’t checked if any adjustments have been made to it recently as I don’t sit in the stalls nowadays, but you might want to ring the box office to check, to avoid disappointment. (If orchestra stalls were the last seats left for a ballet I wanted to see, I would pick at least F or G, not any further forward than that.)

 

 

 

 

Edited by Emeralds
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15 hours ago, FionaE said:


my only problem with front few rows in ROH is that I can’t see the dancers feet.  I need to be 6 or more rows back to have my eyeline above stage floor level. 
 

Having said that …. being in row A is rather marvellous for catching even the smallest change in expression 

 

Yes, I think it'll be good to see the facial expressions that close. 

 

I can see feet from row C, but we'll see. 

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3 hours ago, capybara said:

The ROH stage is higher than it used to be. I think that that is the main reason for the disappearing feet.

However, the first three (or four?) rows of the Stalls are priced slightly cheaper for this reason.


To be honest, if you can’t see the dancers’ feet they should be a lot cheaper. 

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On 30/04/2022 at 08:36, RHowarth said:

Emeralds, in 2013 a Bolshoi musician died after falling into the orchestra pit. I presume the grid at the ROH was introduced in response to that.

For a moment, I thought you meant a visiting musician fell at Covent Garden, RHowarth! Then I realised you were referring to the tragic incident at the Bolshoi Theatre.

 

Don’t get me wrong- I think it’s a good idea to have the grid/frame, although I do think the seat prices in rows A to at least C or maybe even E should be reduced more for ballets, and information about the view limitations be more explicit (Dominion Theatre has a similar problem in their front few rows of stalls seats and the warning is very obvious when you book). 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just wondering, how do seats work exactly at the Southbank (have never been before to see a dance production). I don't know if there is a thread for Southbank seats, so just asking here.
Are front stalls very close to the stage? If so, not sure why the pictures for certain seats on the website appear to give quite a distant/far away view (e.g. the view from row B)?

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1 hour ago, art_enthusiast said:

Just wondering, how do seats work exactly at the Southbank (have never been before to see a dance production). I don't know if there is a thread for Southbank seats, so just asking here.
Are front stalls very close to the stage? If so, not sure why the pictures for certain seats on the website appear to give quite a distant/far away view (e.g. the view from row B)?

 

Do you mean the Royal Festival Hall venue?

 

It's some years since I attended a ballet performance there but the rows are very well raked.  There isn't an orchestra pit (or there wasn't) so at the very front you can be impeded by the orchestra.

 

I've never attended a performance at QEH.

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