Royal Ballet - Romeo and Juliet - Winter 2022

[MJW]

I have started this thread in anticipation of Romeo and Juliet starting tomorrow.

 

I am booked for the matinee on the 29th (fingers crossed). I have checked the ROH website to see how the performances are selling and there are a shocking number of unsold seats - well over 100 for for a lot of performances including tomorrow's. I wonder whether it was such a good idea for the RB to have two tranches of R&J in the same season?

[Guest oncnp]

15 minutes ago, MJW said:

I have started this thread in anticipation of Romeo and Juliet starting tomorrow.

 

I am booked for the matinee on the 29th (fingers crossed). I have checked the ROH website to see how the performances are selling and there are a shocking number of unsold seats - well over 100 for for a lot of performances including tomorrow's. I wonder whether it was such a good idea for the RB to have two tranches of R&J in the same season?

 

A spot check of where those 100+ seats are (and that new checkout will take some getting used to but seat view is back - hooray) they appear to be mostly in the amphi. So the expensive (OK - more expensive, none of them are cheap) seats seem to have sold well.

Edited January 9, 2022 by oncnp

[Sim]

I am not surprised there are seats left in the amphi....the prices are ridiculous.  I had a look a couple of weeks ago to see if I could find a middling seat in the amphi and I could...for a cost of £91!  I even refreshed my computer as I thought there was a glitch of some kind, but no.  This wasn't even in the front few rows.  I do hope they manage to sell the rest of the empty seats.  

[maryrosesatonapin]

£91 for amphi is ridiculous. 

[zxDaveM]

22 hours ago, oncnp said:

 

A spot check of where those 100+ seats are (and that new checkout will take some getting used to but seat view is back - hooray) they appear to be mostly in the amphi. So the expensive (OK - more expensive, none of them are cheap) seats seem to have sold well.

 

lets be honest here, if you can afford the £90+ cost of a ticket, you're not looking to sit in the amphi

[capybara]

41 minutes ago, MJW said:

I wonder whether it was such a good idea for the RB to have two tranches of R&J in the same season?

Wasn’t it just 8 shows initially with 18 coming up (including a schools matinee). Add some reappearances from the earlier run into the mix and I, for one, am feeling the need to limit my purchases to three for January/February.

Hopefully for the RB things will pick up once the performances resume.

[alison]

It has to be said that the discrepancy between the amphi prices for Giselle and R&j is pretty appalling. I wouldn't think some of those rear side seats were worth the money.

[Lizbie1]

I half agree with all this - I wasn't happy with the prices either - but those same tickets did end up selling in October and sales seem to be a problem in general in the West End right now. (See yesterday's links.)

 

[Scheherezade]

Amphi prices at a quick glance:

£91 first few rows;

£76 up to row L;

£63 to row P;

£43 to row S;

And you have to pay £27 for row V, next to the back row.

Hardly surprising that the only amphi seats that have sold well are the "relatively" cheap restricted view side seats, the slips, the back row of the amphi and the rear amphi standing.

Absolutely astounding, and particularly for subsidised theatre. You wouldn't pay those prices for seats in the Gods in the commercial West End. To be honest, most of the ROH amphi seats match the most expensive seats in the West End commercial theatre.

[Scheherezade]

And "up to" means "including".

[bangorballetboy]

A reminder that the cheapest ticket for Hamilton is £35 and there’s next to no view from the back two rows of the upper circle in that theatre.

 

Also worth remembering that ROH lost a significant amount of income when closed.

[Fonty]

1 hour ago, bangorballetboy said:

 

Also worth remembering that ROH lost a significant amount of income when closed.

 

Yes, it did.  However, wouldn't it be better to reduce the prices on that basis,?  Or at least keep them the same as they were two years ago.  There is no way that I, a dedicated ballet goer, am going to pay £91 for a seat in the amphitheatre more than once, at the most, and not for a ballet I have seen many, many times in the past.  It wasn't that long ago that the most expensive seats were around the £60 mark, and I thought that was expensive.  Be interesting to see how many empty seats there are close to the day.  If the thinking is, "Well, at least we have covered our costs" it seems an odd one.  Better, surely, to have a full to capacity theatre?  Better atmosphere, better for the performers who must find it demoralising knowing there are so many seats unsold, better all round.   

Edited to add I have just had a horrible thought.  You don't think these extremely high prices are a cunning plan to show that ballet enthusiasts, who were more likely to take the cheaper seats in the amphitheatre, are no longer interested in traditional ballets, and want something more contemporary and meaningful, do you?   

 

Edited January 9, 2022 by Fonty

[alison]

No.

 

I see the supporting cast is out for tomorrow's performance:

---

Conducted by Alondra de la Parra

CastMarianela Nuñez, Federico Bonelli, Luca Acri, Ryoichi Hirano, Téo Dubreuil

[zxDaveM]

16 hours ago, bangorballetboy said:

 

Also worth remembering that ROH lost a significant amount of income when closed.

 

...but empty seats doesn't seem to be a way of getting the coffers refilled. Saying that, I dare say they will get filled eventually

[Lizbie1]

But if, say, 10% of seats are unsold (a very rough guess at this stage!) in broad terms they're ahead financially on anything over a 10% price reduction - and that's assuming that the empty seats would have been sold at the lower price.

 

I don't say this to endorse the policy - R&J is a lot pricier than I'd like! - but in purely commercial terms a 95% full house might be seen as vindication of the higher prices. IIRC a former chairman said a couple of years ago that the speed at which the last Ring cycle had sold out demonstrated that they'd priced it too cheaply. I don't like that thinking at all - it's overly simplistic in a number of ways - but it *is* logical.

[bangorballetboy]

Interestingly, having looked at all the upcoming performances, apart from a couple of performances the £91 amphi tickets are very well sold.  It's the next couple of price brackets down from that where there sales aren't so good (though there are a couple of shows that are pretty much sold out).

 

[Scheherezade]

I feel that the take up would have been far higher had the seats been more realistically priced. I endorse what Fonty said, as I would not - indeed could not - pay the prices currently sought for most of the amphi seats but would almost certainly have purchased more seats had there been a greater choice of cheaper seats. Is the thinking along the lines of sell as many of the more expensive seats as possible then offer any seats that remain unsold to students etc at vastly reduced rates. If so, discrimination, surely, against those audience members who do not fit the young, student profile and find themselves priced out of attending what they would love to see.

[bangorballetboy]

I think the thinking is to sell as many tickets as possible at the best possible price.  There may be contingency plans but they are not the main intention.

 

Interestingly, I see there are four shows which are pretty much sold out.

 

That said, I do think the weekday matinée should be significantly cheaper.

[Dawnstar]

This article in today's links, as well as being an interesting read, gives some names for not-yet-announced secondary roles https://www.culturewhisper.com/r/dance/the_royal_ballets_brand_new_romeos/16696 I believe those named in the 4th paragraph from the end, Leo Dixon as Benvolio & David Yudes as Mercutio, are both role debuts?

[Sim]

It's also a misleading read as it says that this is Alexander Campbell's first go at Romeo, which of course it is not.  It is his first go with the Royal Ballet, but he has danced the role with Birmingham Royal Ballet...and with Perm Ballet guesting in the UAE with Yasmine Naghdi as Juliet.  So not his debut at all, really...

[Dawnstar]

@Sim My apologies for posting it, but as it was already in today's links I thought it would be alright. I'm afraid I can't remove my post now as its over an hour but if you or another moderator wishes to remove it as misleading then please feel free to do so.

[Sim]

1 minute ago, Dawnstar said:

@Sim My apologies for posting it, but as it was already in today's links I thought it would be alright. I'm afraid I can't remove my post now as its over an hour but if you or another moderator wishes to remove it as misleading then please feel free to do so.

Not at all Dawnstar.  It is a legitimate post and link...we posted it too!  It's just that it is misleading for readers who don't know Mr Campbell's history as it makes it sound like this is a debut when it manifestly is not.  It's just his first time dancing it with the RB. 

 

[Dawnstar]

@Sim Okay. I was worried in case I'd inadvertantly breached the forum's rules about misleading information, especially given the strong warning post from the moderators this morning.

[Dawnstar]

16 hours ago, alison said:

No.

 

I see the supporting cast is out for tomorrow's performance:

---

Conducted by Alondra de la Parra

CastMarianela Nuñez, Federico Bonelli, Luca Acri, Ryoichi Hirano, Téo Dubreuil

 

Mercutio has now changed to Sambe on the ROH's website. I was looking at seat availability, out of curiosity, & suddenly realised "That's not what it said yesterday!" I wasn't expecting Sambe to be doing Mercutio during this R&J run, given he's doing Romeo, but I suppose at the moment a lot of last-minute filling-in is required.

[art_enthusiast]

12 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

Mercutio has now changed to Sambe on the ROH's website. I was looking at seat availability, out of curiosity, & suddenly realised "That's not what it said yesterday!" I wasn't expecting Sambe to be doing Mercutio during this R&J run, given he's doing Romeo, but I suppose at the moment a lot of last-minute filling-in is required.

Where are you viewing the cast lists?

[Sim]

45 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

@Sim Okay. I was worried in case I'd inadvertantly breached the forum's rules about misleading information, especially given the strong warning post from the moderators this morning.

Not at all.  The strong post this morning was about people treating each other with respect...and that if they don't, this forum is not the place for them.

[Rob S]

31 minutes ago, art_enthusiast said:

Where are you viewing the cast lists?

https://www.roh.org.uk/events/xbqqy

[JennyTaylor]

I've just returned from an R&J rehearsal which featured Alexander Campbell and Yasmine Naghdi and I think we can expect the casting to be "flexible" as it was with the Nutcracker post Christmas. The rehearsal was a working one with only the principals in costume and everyone else in practice clothes and also masks. It gave a tremendous insight into how challenging it must be to prepare for a show in these circumstances. 

 

In terms of casting - and there is of course, no guarantee that anyone but the 2 Principals will be scheduled on Wednesday - but Mercutio was one of the more junior dancers who is being given a chance as David Yudes is having to self isolate. I won't say who it is in case it doesn't happen in this uncertain world.  It looked like Leo Dixon as Benvolio though as we were in the Balcony and they were wearing masks, I can't say for certain.  Ben Gartside was Tybalt and Tom Whitehead was Lord Capulet.  I'm afraid I couldn't identify the 3 harlots. 

 

Anyway, I'm delighted that I have just picked up a Return ticket for Saturday so will be going to see it in performance then.  I'm really looking forward to seeing Alex in particular.   

[bangorballetboy]

Cast sheet for tonight is now online.

[Mary]

31 minutes ago, JennyTaylor said:

It gave a tremendous insight into how challenging it must be to prepare for a show in these circumstances. 

It must be very difficult indeed for all concerned and I can imagine people tearing their hair out.

 

However, when things do get more normal, it would be fascinating to read inside accounts or even see a documentary, about what it was like and how things were managed, - and I wonder whether, by then, management or dancers might feel anything at all good came out of the experience (despite all the acknowledged serious negatives like loss of income) ? If only a lot of practice in being flexible, quick-thinking and spontaneous...

[alison]

39 minutes ago, Mary said:

It must be very difficult indeed for all concerned and I can imagine people tearing their hair out.

 

Yes, I've been wondering if some of the candidates for various artistic directorships who didn't get chosen have spent the last year or so thanking their lucky stars for the fact!

[Rob S]

41 minutes ago, Mary said:

It must be very difficult indeed for all concerned and I can imagine people tearing their hair out.

 

However, when things do get more normal, it would be fascinating to read inside accounts or even see a documentary, about what it was like and how things were managed, - and I wonder whether, by then, management or dancers might feel anything at all good came out of the experience (despite all the acknowledged serious negatives like loss of income) ? If only a lot of practice in being flexible, quick-thinking and spontaneous...

It would make a change to see a behind the scenes documentary series about the RB ….had enough of the endless series of Traffic Cops and the ones about my employer, Great Western Trains! 

Edited January 10, 2022 by Rob S

[JohnS]

6 hours ago, bangorballetboy said:

I do think the weekday matinée should be significantly cheaper.

 

If I recall the matinee discounts ceased in Winter 2018. If discounts were offered they were the same be it weekend or midweek. When matinee discounts were last offered there was a very wide range of discounts - 20% Nutcracker, 16% Mayerling, 8% Bayadere, no discount for Hansel & Gretal (opera). I’m pretty sure where there were discounts, the same rate of discount applied whatever seat was bought - so for Nutcracker 20% off the evening price of Stalls, Stalls Circle, Grand Tier, Balcony and Amphitheatre/Slips tickets.
 

I assume the ROH took a commercial decision to end the matinee discount and to date has found it can still attract good audience levels. It may also have found that when it was offering matinee discounts, some audience members who could attend matinees as well as evenings, chose matinees in preference to evening performances which may have depressed sales in the evenings and hence overall income. I think more junior dancers were often cast in matinees but in recent months principals with years of experience may well be cast in matinees.

 

I guess when the ROH finds it has a glut of unsold seats for some performances (matinees or evenings), it uses a variety of methods to generate sales. I’ve noticed a fair amount of Romeo & Juliet material on the ROH’s media platforms in the last few days and hope it results in good attendance. And the ROH can offer discounted tickets to Young Friends or other target groups much later if it has unsold seats. It’s never bothered me that tickets may be offered at a discount at a very late stage as I’ve had the certainty of being able to book my seat with a full house adding to the atmosphere of a live performance in the theatre. And hopefully the ROH generates additional income which it desperately needs.

 

That said I do think the ROH should be looking very carefully at the prices it charges for Amphitheatre tickets and I do wonder how it will be performing against its overall target of ensuring x% of tickets are sold at under £y. In the latest Annual Review, (for 2018-19 dated December 2020 so hopefully another review will be published soon), more than 30% of tickets were £35 or less.