Royal Ballet 2022/23 Winter Ticket Prices

[bridiem]

Very much agree with you, JNC. It's becoming impossible for people on limited incomes (which is actually most people) to be or become regulars. Does the ROH want to become a 'destination experience' rather than a performing arts venue? Is that acceptable in terms of its remit? 

[JNC]

We’ve spoken before about ROH also receiving government subsidy. I presume this is still the case?

 

I know ROH is now priced similar (or higher) to some west end shows. Do west end shows also receive government subsidy (I presume not?) as that would justify their prices given they need to make profit. 
 

I’m assuming the ROH is a not for profit organisation? 
 

There are ways (that they must already be doing surely) where they can increase margins on the “non essentials” of gift shop, food and drink, tours etc. Not so high that you lose money as no one wants to buy, I would presume they are already don’t this but the priority should be ensuring enough “affordable” tickets.
 

Even increasing prices of the programmes - £8 is not cheap by any means and I think they’re going up to £8.50 next year but in Paris they are 12 euro and appear to sell well, so could they charge £10 for those? (ENB charge £6 for ones with only about 10 pages of proper content so ROH I have always felt a good deal in some way by comparison and again it’s very much a choice to purchase.) I do note the Friends magazine appears to be more cheaply produced (cheaper matte paper not glossy) which is a little contribution. (Not suggesting at all the programme production should be cheapened as then no one will buy!)

 

I’m probably stating the obvious but I very much hope ROH management have considered all the options and ticket prices are seen as a last resort inside the organisation. I’m surprised they haven’t introduced a streaming library for revenue. 
 

I don’t think it’s an easy task by any means and I know there will be genuine cost issues at the root of this so I’m not unrealistic but the same tickets I was buying back in 2018 have genuinely doubled in price (I’m thinking of Mayerling/La Bayadere in 2018 vs Mayerling/Nutcracker etc in 2022, only 4 years later) which is a ridiculous increase. (£30 to £58 for Mayerling, that same seat is £68 for Nutcracker). 

 

There appears to be a lack of goodwill/understanding towards the makeup of Friends and regulars - is the assumption that we are all wealthy and live in London? 

 

Recent price raises to some things but not others makes me wonder. 

Edited July 15, 2022 by JNC

[Lizbie1]

I think it's a risky strategy for occasional visitors, let alone regulars. Many people will have to trim some fat from their budgets; higher ticket prices make the decision simpler.

 

I recognise that the ROH might not have had much choice, but the timing is horrible.

[JohnS]

There’s also a note in the Winter magazine (p17) that Friends membership prices will increase from 1 September 2022 but I don’t as yet see what the increase will be. Prices last increased in September 2019. By September 2022, general prices may well be some 15% higher than they were in September 2019 (CPI inflation). I’ve no idea what factors are taken into account when setting Friends membership prices or whether there’s any link to general price inflation but I wouldn’t be surprised to see some significant increases.

[Fonty]

@JNCAs someone who mentioned the £100 seat limit, I did stress this was the absolute maximum for a very special occasion, not the price I would normally pay.  However, I cannot agree with you that the best stalls seats and some of the boxes should be so expensive they become "an exclusive experience".   I have been going to the ROH since I was a child, my preference is for Stalls seats if possible, as I like to sit closer to the stage.  Until relatively recently it was perfectly possible for me to buy one for at least one performance of each production without feeling I have to take out a bank loan in order to do so.  Why should those now be reserved for the ultra wealthy, or for those entertaining business clients on expenses?  If they do that, then the argument that the ROH only caters for an elitist minority will be true.  It was bad enough when prices rose so much, my special occasion choice became best seats in the Amphitheatre for £60.  I thought that was pushing it.  Now it looks as though I won't be able to sit there either; I flatly refuse to sit up in the roof and pay over £100 for the privilege.  Yes, there are cheaper Amphi seats, but the view is not great, and I am so far away the performers look like miniature matchstick men and women moving about.  What is the point of that?  

 

I do go to other theatres in London, and yes, many of them are equally expensive.  But the difference is that they have a wide variety of more reasonably priced seats, many of the shows have cut price ticket offers, and the booth in Leicester Square offers great value for money if you are prepared to queue on the day.  Oh, I know it is different for those theatres, as they do long runs of the same production, but even so, if the idea is to encourage more people to enjoy ballet, the ROH is failing miserably.  

[Emeralds]

ROH is subsidised (quite heavily) by the taxpayer; West End musicals are not. The health of RB ticket sales is still more reliant on loyal regulars in the middle to low price bracket seats (£20-£60) going frequently than on occasional (eg once a year) attendees or tourists ticking it off a bucket list splashing out on seats that are £100 or more. 

 

With fuel cost rises, recent airport/air travel delays and ongoing Covid restrictions abroad (eg in China) occurring, they will lose a significant number of their audiences from abroad, but regulars always find a way to attend, unless you drive them away. West End musical bosses eg Lloyd Webber, found this to their cost when costs of tickets to blockbuster musicals rose higher and higher (while standards of service, maintenance and facilities dropped), alienating regular theatregoers, who switched to attending plays at small or subsidised theatres instead. When I was at university, students took it for granted that West End musicals giving student discounts would be available to them. Now that pretty much no longer exists- so instead, they flock to NT, RSC, the Globe, ENO, ENB, Wigmore Hall (£5 at WH), Royal Festival Hall and Barbican Hall.

 

RB need to be very careful that if regular attendees are squeezed so much,  they don’t bother coming back. The damage can be extensive and take years to fix. Eg when a friend of mine stopped attending full length story ballets (eg Swan Lake, Cinderella, Nutcracker)  altogether in protest at Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty prices smashing through the £100 barrier for the first time in the 2010s, it took ages for her to return- after attending just mixed bills, she stopped going altogether after a few disappointing premieres and only returned much later when persuaded to join us.

 

They’re not the only classical company around, and as LinMM has pointed out, if it works out cheaper to get a return rail ticket (even with price rises for those) to BRB or ENB performing Nutcracker/Cinderella/Romeo and Juliet/Swan Lake/Sleeping Beauty at a cheaper theatre in another southern city, that’s where the audiences will go instead of Covent Garden, especially with the current depth of talent in those two companies as well.

 

I cut my Friends membership some time ago already- if faced with choosing between the membership and one/two extra show tickets, I’d always choose the tickets. After all, Friends membership doesn’t give you free tickets to dress rehearsals or events- you still have to pay for those separately! 

 

Edited July 15, 2022 by Emeralds

[Lizbie1]

I always try to be fair to ROH despite various frustrations, so I think it's worth mentioning that the average public subsidy per ticket sold is far lower than many comparable companies, at least as far as opera is concerned (I haven't seen figures for ballet).

[postie]

I'm quite visual and have a sense of being pushed further back, stressing online for standing, moving further up in the auditorium, while others exit altogether.

 

So who is moving into those vacated, expensive seats? We are experiencing major socio-economic shifts in this post-pandemic era. I'd love to see the ROH dataset because there does seem a confidence in the pricing and it can surely only be based on analysis. Some thoughts:

 

Escapism into ballet/opera from increasingly fraught daily life

Earlier retirement/equity release

As above but from overseas: regulars becoming more regular, and newcomers

Surge in Bucket list-types as so many delayed trip to London are finally taken (often hoovering up last-minute availability at high prices)

 

I also wonder if there is - for the ROH - a financially positive relationship between price increases and growing Friends membership ... perhap leading to a modification of the business model.

 

 

[JNC]

@Fonty thanks for your views! 
 

I think I was suggesting if there are more exclusive experiences generally ROH could consider (separate to tickets alone) that could boost revenue (eg bundle with a fancy dinner and drinks available as an add on at check out etc or more exclusive things). 
 

I also like the idea someone mentioned of an annual gala priced with high tickets that is either a one off or only a few performances - high prices justified as a fundraising exercise and ability to see unique pieces (exclusive premieres?) or little performed works. This may annoy people if they choose to do (for example) Ashton pieces that haven’t been seen on stage for a while, but a compromise might be to stream it for extra revenue - and if it means “regular” performances are priced more fairly (and if Ashton really does appeal for example that could then transfer over to a main open for all bill) I think people would understand. 
 

there probably is no perfect solution but ultimately I do think of sitting in the stalls/stalls circle as a real luxury experience, I have never been able to afford it personally. I’m not really bothered by this as that’s just the reality of my financial position. Maybe one day if they did one of my favourite ballets with perfect casting I could splash out but it’s not really happened yet.

 

I agree it’s sad regulars are priced out of stalls seats and it would be nice if they were priced at a point where the average ballet lover could maybe sit there every now and again for a special cast/occasion. Having said that I don’t think it’s realistic in our financial climate and with a government that doesn’t fund the arts as maybe we’ll as others do to expect the average regular/person to be able to sit in the stalls regularly, but that’s just my opinion! I think in Paris at the Garnier for example the stalls are usually between 130-150 euros, which is a lot of money. But it means the entire amphi is only about 30-35 euros. I do quite like the ROH having multiple bands across the amphi to allow for minimal row differences to factor into pricing, I’m not sure who does it “better” but looking into things like subscriptions (buy x tickets get x% off), obviously there was package booking which has gone now etc could smooth over increased ticket prices in some small way.

 

I’d always rather have the lower prices not increase, or increase only minimally in proportion to more expensive tickets as it will likely hit those who can afford it less (in my view). Although this is not ideal as obviously nothing stops those who can afford expensive tickets buying the cheaper ones anyway (and who decides who can afford what anyway?). It’s all very complex! 
 

I do agree it would be very sad for stalls to only be accessible to super wealthy and corporate entities who don’t really care about the arts. And I agree that non wealthy regulars shouldn’t just be consigned to sidelines and restricted views and very very far up in amphi. 
 

I don’t think I have all the answers or whether my thinking is correct but I find it very interesting to read diverse opinions on this. 
 

It would be interesting to see if ROH did pricing surveys or focus groups on this type of thing to get a general sense of pricing bands and what people are willing to spend and in which seat locations the average person’s “cut off” would be. 

[Dawnstar]

2 hours ago, Fonty said:

@JNCAs someone who mentioned the £100 seat limit, I did stress this was the absolute maximum for a very special occasion, not the price I would normally pay.  However, I cannot agree with you that the best stalls seats and some of the boxes should be so expensive they become "an exclusive experience".   I have been going to the ROH since I was a child, my preference is for Stalls seats if possible, as I like to sit closer to the stage.  Until relatively recently it was perfectly possible for me to buy one for at least one performance of each production without feeling I have to take out a bank loan in order to do so.  Why should those now be reserved for the ultra wealthy, or for those entertaining business clients on expenses?  If they do that, then the argument that the ROH only caters for an elitist minority will be true.  It was bad enough when prices rose so much, my special occasion choice became best seats in the Amphitheatre for £60.  I thought that was pushing it.  Now it looks as though I won't be able to sit there either; I flatly refuse to sit up in the roof and pay over £100 for the privilege.  Yes, there are cheaper Amphi seats, but the view is not great, and I am so far away the performers look like miniature matchstick men and women moving about.  What is the point of that? 

 

I completely agree with this (though I only started going to the ROH when I was 18). If I can only afford amphitheatre seats then I won't be attending, as I found that I do not enjoy performances enough from the amphitheatre to make it worth going - and I made that decision nearly a decade ago when front amphi seats were a lot more reasonably priced. Paying over £100 for the amphitheatre seems absolutely ridiculous to me, especially for ballet.

 

41 minutes ago, JNC said:

there probably is no perfect solution but ultimately I do think of sitting in the stalls/stalls circle as a real luxury experience, I have never been able to afford it personally. I’m not really bothered by this as that’s just the reality of my financial position. Maybe one day if they did one of my favourite ballets with perfect casting I could splash out but it’s not really happened yet.

 

Try doing 4 hours of Wagner on the side stalls benches: I can assure you it doesn't feel like a luxury experience! I put up with the uncomfortable bench seats & missing a chunk of the stage in order to get close enough to the stage that I can actually see the acting without spending a large fortune on tickets. Though with the cheapest side stalls circle bench seats now being at around the £70 mark for the more popular ballets & operas, I'm still spending a small fortune if I want to see several casts.

[JNC]

@Dawnstar I do agree £70 for side stalls is ridiculous, particularly on a bench! 
 

It is frustrating they appear to keep taking away many of the “compromise” seats for regulars - these plus the sides of the amphi etc.

 

I’ll admit I would rather be further away and central then off side but they need to cater to all and reflect a side viewing in pricing! 

[zxDaveM]

anyone want to buy an arm or a leg?

Asking for a friend...

[alison]

18 hours ago, bridiem said:

Does the ROH want to become a 'destination experience' rather than a performing arts venue?

 

I've been getting the impression for some time that that is a serious marketing approach for them.  But it must take a lot of effort attracting newcomers compared with having a "tame" audience that can be relied on to buy tickets.

[The Sitter In]

The inflated cost of going to the ballet at Covent Garden runs contrary to the founding principles of Ninette de Valois and Lilian Baylis.

I could understand when the Hochhausers rented the ROH to bring over Russian companies and had to pay for it all themselves, but, as others have noted, the ROH and its companies are state subsidised - £96 million for 2018-2022.

The problem with charging £170 for a stalls seat for Beauty is, of course, who will be dancing it.  The current RB policy is, seemingly, ‘let as many people as possible have a go’.  What that means is that there will almost certainly be a raft of inexperienced Auroras, Florimunds etc.  Some will be good, some not.  But for those buying top price seats, it will be more difficult to shrug their shoulders if the performance is not up to standard.  

I am all for lower ranking dancers being brought on, but the idea of building a dancer up to the greatest roles in the repertoire has largely gone out of the window, probably because today’s choreographers choose across the ranks and often favour younger artists because physicality is to the fore in their works.  The same is simply not true of roles in Giselle, Beauty, Swan Lake etc. etc.

Debuts must always happen, and they can be simply amazing, but to charge such inflated prices without some idea of quality (as opera-goers have when booking for favoured, proven singers) may well be counter-productive: ‘once bitten, twice shy’ could reduce the number of returners at these prices if the performance they see isn’t of the highest standard.

 

[Scheherezade]

8 minutes ago, The Sitter In said:

The inflated cost of going to the ballet at Covent Garden runs contrary to the founding principles of Ninette de Valois and Lilian Baylis.

I could understand when the Hochhausers rented the ROH to bring over Russian companies and had to pay for it all themselves, but, as others have noted, the ROH and its companies are state subsidised - £96 million for 2018-2022.

The problem with charging £170 for a stalls seat for Beauty is, of course, who will be dancing it.  The current RB policy is, seemingly, ‘let as many people as possible have a go’.  What that means is that there will almost certainly be a raft of inexperienced Auroras, Florimunds etc.  Some will be good, some not.  But for those buying top price seats, it will be more difficult to shrug their shoulders if the performance is not up to standard.  

I am all for lower ranking dancers being brought on, but the idea of building a dancer up to the greatest roles in the repertoire has largely gone out of the window, probably because today’s choreographers choose across the ranks and often favour younger artists because physicality is to the fore in their works.  The same is simply not true of roles in Giselle, Beauty, Swan Lake etc. etc.

Debuts must always happen, and they can be simply amazing, but to charge such inflated prices without some idea of quality (as opera-goers have when booking for favoured, proven singers) may well be counter-productive: ‘once bitten, twice shy’ could reduce the number of returners at these prices if the performance they see isn’t of the highest standard.

 

 

Top price potential returners could indeed approach future performances with caution but, and more importantly to my mind, the massive price increases at the lower end will mean that those on a budget will not be able to afford to attend at all, added to which (and apart, of course, from the giveaway prices for students and under 25s), casual attendees or those who have never previously attended a performance will be unwilling to 'give it a try' if the only reasonably priced tickets are in the back row of the amphitheatre or close to the stage in the upper slips where the view is so massively restricted that it is almost impossible to see anything at all.

[Bluebird]

24 minutes ago, Scheherezade said:

 

Top price potential returners could indeed approach future performances with caution but, and more importantly to my mind, the massive price increases at the lower end will mean that those on a budget will not be able to afford to attend at all, added to which (and apart, of course, from the giveaway prices for students and under 25s), casual attendees or those who have never previously attended a performance will be unwilling to 'give it a try' if the only reasonably priced tickets are in the back row of the amphitheatre .....

 

Assuming the pricing structure for Beauty is the same as the pricing structure for Nutcracker, even the four restricted view seats in the very back row (row W) will be priced at £22.  These seats used to be the same price as Stalls Circle Standing -  i.e. in the former pricing structure they would have been only £12!  It is worth noting that, if the Nutcracker pricing structure is used for Beauty, the rest of the seats at the very rear of the Amphitheatre will be £34! 

[Scheherezade]

 

32 minutes ago, Bluebird said:

 

Assuming the pricing structure for Beauty is the same as the pricing structure for Nutcracker, even the four restricted view seats in the very back row (row W) will be priced at £22.  These seats used to be the same price as Stalls Circle Standing -  i.e. in the former pricing structure they would have been only £12!  It is worth noting that, if the Nutcracker pricing structure is used for Beauty, the rest of the seats at the very rear of the Amphitheatre will be £34! 

 

  

[FLOSS]

Before the redevelopment the ROH was much more obviously a working theatre; details of the week's performances were displayed in a glazed frame on the wall in Floral Street and information about cast changes was displayed in the box office and on the glass of the main doors of the theatre. At that time it was financially, if not, necessarily physically accessible and its audience was far more socially diverse than it is today. Since the redevelopment the ROH has become far more physically accessible but less and less financially accessible.and its audience, at least as far as the Amphi is concerned, is much less socially diverse because of ticket prices.

 

As far as cost is concerned the ROH organisation decided that it should reduce its dependence on its ACE subsidy, in part because the whole redevelopment plan and its spiralling costs had made the cost of running the place and its companies a real political issue. If you know that the size of the subsidy paid to your arts organisation is going to become a bigger issue with every year that passes as an argument over funding of these two companies  will help distract attention from the fact that the government is not funding the arts adequately it may well make sense to reduce reliance on state funding.The downside to this approach is that it inevitably means higher prices at the box office. Mr Beard and his minions have moved away from the old policy that prices in the Amphi should be kept low to ensure that the theatre is genuinely accessible to those who are interested in the lyric theatre whatever walk in life they come from and has increasingly made the place a middle class ghetto where access to what goes on inside its walls depends on the length of your pocket.

 

This of course means that the possibility of the audience renewing itself naturally as a result of curiosity and the ability to buy a cheap ticket without doing serious damage to the weekly or monthly budget, all but disappears. The increased cost to the paying public also leads to a narrowing of the repertory since fewer and fewer people will take a chance on buying a ticket for a work of which they have no knowledge, and the works of which they have no knowledge gets bigger with each season that passes. As far as ballet casting is concerned I might agree with the concerns expressed over casting junior dancers in major roles in what remains of the company's core repertory if I had had a bad experience with them but so far I have not done so. The worst experience, or rather the most disappointing experience which I have had, was probably Hayward's debut as Odette/Odile which sort of lost energy and petered out but one of the most satisfying in that run was the Calvert Edmond's performance. I know that I go on about casting dancers according to suitability rather than seniority but I think that is more of a problem with the Ashton repertory and with other rarely performed works where the original choreographer obviously had a specific type of dancer in mind for a particular role to give the ballet its light and shade and contrasting characters. The biggest problem comes when purely classical dancers are allocated to demi-character roles a prime example of this was the decision to cast Cuthbertson and Muntagirov as the leads in The Two Pigeons. Both dancers were far too classical in their approach to their choreography which needs to be performed far more expressively than either could manage and both have stage persona's which suggest sophistication rather than the fallibility of youth. Much as I admire Cuthbertson she would be equally unsuitable for Lise.

 

As far as the overall costs of the organisation are concerned while I am willing to accept that the opera company needs music staff and the ballet company now employs a range of specialists whose services would once only have been available to dancers on a private basis I do not begin to understand the need for quite so many people to be employed in marketing or seemingly as support staff to Mr Beard himself. Perhaps the cost problem can be boiled down to the additional costs incurred as a result of appointing a man with no practical experience of running arts events, selling goods and services to the paying public, running a theatre or providing entertainment?

Slightly off topic but perhaps we should look at the organisation's attitude to money by looking at the amount of money which the opera side of the business has wasted on staging unnecessary new productions which will never cover their costs because they are all but unrevivable and the terms on which the music director is employed which as I understand it includes a basic salary far bigger than the director of the ballet company is paid and also includes fees for every performance he conducts. When I look at the list of opera house employees there seem to be far more whose functions,to be kind, are far from obvious and in some cases whose presence seem to superfluous. I should love to know what all those people in the marketing department are actually doing.

 

I will end by saying that I sincerely hope that the ballet company has not been persuaded that it has some sort of moral obligation to support the opera financially. At one time it dis so and it was all but bled dry by the opera company.There is only one world class company resident in Bow Street at present and that is the Royal Ballet, sadly the Royal Opera Company is a pale shadow of what it once was and is simply basking in the reflected glory of the work undertaken by irs music directors from Frankel to Haitink and its General Administrators and Directors from Sir David Webster to Jeremy Isaacs. These were men who actually understood their audiences, their psychology and what drew them to the theatre.The current regime does want to know and is not at all interested in finding out because if it did find out it might have to change its policies and that would never do.

[Bluebird]

1 hour ago, Bluebird said:

 

Assuming the pricing structure for Beauty is the same as the pricing structure for Nutcracker, even the four restricted view seats in the very back row (row W) will be priced at £22.  These seats used to be the same price as Stalls Circle Standing -  i.e. in the former pricing structure they would have been only £12!  It is worth noting that, if the Nutcracker pricing structure is used for Beauty, the rest of the seats at the very rear of the Amphitheatre will be £34! 

 

Just noticed that the price map for Beauty is now on the website:

https://www.roh.org.uk/seatmap?performanceId=51328

[Jan McNulty]

23 minutes ago, Bluebird said:

 

Just noticed that the price map for Beauty is now on the website:

https://www.roh.org.uk/seatmap?performanceId=51328

 

I've just had a look and my eyes are watering!

 

For a comparison BRB at the Hippodrome for a "gold-priced" performance of Nutcracker is charging £69.50.

 

I know there are some very cheap seats at ROH but even so...

[Bluebird]

On 14/07/2022 at 09:36, bangorballetboy said:

 

I'm not sure that's right.  Aren't the slips seats under "slips" rather than "amphitheatre"?  In which case, the best slips seats for Flute are £28, not £15, which is what I would expect.

 

The price chart is now up and the best Upper Slips seats for The Magic Flute are £15 (as opposed to £22 for Beauty). 

 

https://www.roh.org.uk/seatmap?performanceId=51369

 

All I can think is that the department which sets the prices for ballet is not the same as the one that sets the prices for opera.

[LinMM]

It’s ridiculous to charge more for the Ballet in the Slips than for Opera. 
Something has gone wrong here I’m sure. 

[Scheherezade]

4 minutes ago, LinMM said:

It’s ridiculous to charge more for the Ballet in the Slips than for Opera. 
Something has gone wrong here I’m sure. 

 

It's absolutely crazy! Ballet is a visual art form, opera primarily aural and on the evidence of many recent productions, the visual aspect matters not a jot.

[alison]

2 hours ago, Jan McNulty said:

I know there are some very cheap seats at ROH but even so...

 

Are you sure about that, Jan?

[capybara]

2 hours ago, Bluebird said:

 

Just noticed that the price map for Beauty is now on the website:

https://www.roh.org.uk/seatmap?performanceId=51328

 

I don't this that this can be correct. For example, the side Stalls (front block) are shown at £151 - i.e. much more expensive than the middle Stalls.

Although a notice flashes up to say that seats are not yet on sale, a number of spaces appear to have been booked.

[Bluebird]

9 minutes ago, capybara said:

 

I don't this that this can be correct. For example, the side Stalls (front block) are shown at £151 - i.e. much more expensive than the middle Stalls.

Although a notice flashes up to say that seats are not yet on sale, a number of spaces appear to have been booked.

Could this be because of the colour  display on the device you're using?  On my desktop, the extreme sides of the front block of the Stalls are £151, the next price in is £161 and the centre block is £170.

[Dawnstar]

3 hours ago, FLOSS said:

The biggest problem comes when purely classical dancers are allocated to demi-character roles a prime example of this was the decision to cast Cuthbertson and Muntagirov as the leads in The Two Pigeons. Both dancers were far too classical in their approach to their choreography which needs to be performed far more expressively than either could manage and both have stage persona's which suggest sophistication rather than the fallibility of youth. Much as I admire Cuthbertson she would be equally unsuitable for Lise.

 

Oh dear. I really enjoyed Cuthbertson & Muntagirov when I saw them in Two Pigeons in 2019, my first time seeing the piece. I'm now feeling guilty about my enjoyment, which was evidently due to ignorance of the piece.

 

3 hours ago, Bluebird said:

Just noticed that the price map for Beauty is now on the website:

https://www.roh.org.uk/seatmap?performanceId=51328

 

I can't believe the cheapest stalls price increase. I paid £94.30 in the last run, with package booking, for seats that are now costing £151! I suppose I should be relieve that the far side stalls circle bench seats have gone up by a mere £4 from £66 to £70, though I still feel £70 for a significantly restricted view is pretty damn expensive.

[maryrosesatonapin]

I suggest that if anyone isn't already ensuring they go to see BRB, Scottish Ballet, Northern Ballet, ENB, visiting companies from abroad etc at Sadler's Wells at every opportunity, or at other theatres near to them, then do so immediately as the quality is brilliant and the prices are a fraction of the now extortionate RB.  I cannot understand why non-RB companies are comparatively such incredible value.

[JNC]

Poor people aren't welcome at the ROH it seems.

 

Sorry if this is blunt but it feels true. I would actually say I'm more comfortable than the average person and I would be unable to justify all but the bottom four bands, of which the bottom three mainly restricted view (excepting the coveted central SCS tickets) and the fourth you're right at the back of amphi. I therefore might push myself out of my comfort zone to go for the fifth band (but certainly wouldn't consider it value for money or reasonable), but the top seven bands are vastly beyond my means. 

 

When will this stop? Will we see these steep increases in prices on a seasonal, yearly basis now? It appears yes. I tried to swallow the big increases in the 21/22 season by saying 'the pandemic, they did lose a lot of money...' but to continue this rise is unfair and unjustifiable in my book. There are other cuts that should come first (reducing new costly productions is one example mentioned, or seeking increased private donations to fund those - if private backers aren't willing to fund it may indicate it wouldn't be a success with the general public). Ultimately it's not for those on this forum to come up with solutions (though there have been helpful ones) but for ROH staff to do this. 

 

I'm also curious - part of the whole point of 'opening up' (aside from having a front to be 'welcoming' and 'inclusive') is surely so the cafe and shop can provide increased revenue from non-customers. And indeed, the cafe area has always been reasonably busy whenever I've visited. Is some of this money not going into keeping ticket prices not extortionate? (I almost put 'low' but they haven't been properly reasonably since before the pandemic). 

 

Lots of questions, hardly any answers from ROH and no justification apart from constantly repeating they lost £3 out of every £5 during the pandemic. Surely considering the organisation is not in serious risk of collapsing likely a purely private enterprise, they should be able to balance the books over a longer period? I'm not an accountant or expert by any means but if these prices really are 'necessary' I think a more detailed explanation should be provided, so we can at least understand, even if we don't agree. 

[Lizbie1]

I'd quite like to know how far below expectations ticket sales for this last season fell. That might explain a lot.

 

(Edited to add that by that, I mean revenue not volume. There seems to have been a lot of heavily discounted selling going on.)

Edited July 22, 2022 by Lizbie1

[alison]

Let's face it, even "bulletproof" productions like Romeo & Juliet and La Traviata didn't sell out (hardly surprising with the latter, given the amount it appears to have been over-scheduled in recent years).

[JNC]

53 minutes ago, alison said:

Let's face it, even "bulletproof" productions like Romeo & Juliet and La Traviata didn't sell out (hardly surprising with the latter, given the amount it appears to have been over-scheduled in recent years).

 

My guess might be Romeo and Juliet's prices perhaps were a factor? That combined with the sheer volume of performances. 

 

will be interesting to see how well Beauty sells. I feel the most 'bulletproof' ballets are Nutcracker (seasonality plus an element of 'tradition') and Swan Lake (most well known ballet generally). Romeo and Juliet I can see appealing as well due to a well known story and may be one that attracts a 'younger' crowd or new ballet audiences who are moving away from the tutus. 

 

As much as I personally love Sleeping Beauty, I wonder if it has the same broad non-ballet audience appeal as Swan Lake and Nutcracker, without the more grown-up appeal of Romeo and Juliet. It doesn't have much of a story to be honest, or at least no real characters of depth in my view (maybe Carabosse comes closest?), and is pretty much pure classical dance piece from beginning to end. That's why I love it, and I think the music, the costumes and the choreography are sublime. But I can understand why others may struggle - the prologue/first act I recall are over an hour before first interval. 

 

I could be wrong and would happy for this to sell well, although part of me I will admit is perhaps meanly hoping it doesn't as maybe then ROH will rethink the price increase. It feels an odd position to say I hope it doesn't sell well...

[Lynette H]

Seat prices for Woolf Works are up as well

 

https://www.roh.org.uk/seatmap?performanceId=51374