ROH seat prices

[FionaM]

Top price in Rome for Bayadere with Olga Smirnova and Jacopo Tissi is €75

[alison]

  Is that with decent government funding, or similar?

 

I was reminiscing with someone the other day about my early trips to the ROH, and getting standbys for £10 - that was when the top-price stalls seats were £33.  A long time ago

[FionaM]

@alison I’ve no idea on the finances on Rome Opera Ballet company.  
 

I do know there is state support in Munich and top price there for ballet is usually £90.

[Bruce Wall]

I think it's not just in London that the prices are running havoc.  I'm here in NYC for a bit (to be read NYCB of course) and having a whale of time.  Most nights - well, practically all nights - the Fourth Ring (the one I used to stand at the back of all those years ago - and twice saw Balanchine up there - and actually plucked up the courage to speak with him once) is nowadays usually closed.  Some nights the third ring is closed too.  That is SO sad. 

 

They have had two performances where ALL seats - meaning EVERY SEAT - including ones that you can otherwise buy cheaper - are $42.50 including State and City tax.  (That's roughly £34.84 in today's UK monies.)  That's far less in the US where many receive substantially higher salaries ON AVERAGE.  [Believe it or not - during the core pandemic months - nine of them - months that is - EVERYONE OVER 18 got $1,300 (£1,065.57) PER WEEK NO LESS.  Then when that was cut off EVERYONE got two $1,400 top-ups for good measure.]  

 

NYCB sponsors these Access Nights.  There have been two in the Winter Season.  One - of the new Peck (with the choreographer himself very amusingly setting it out in advance - and being cheered like a Rock Star) - was last night.  EVERY SEAT WAS TAKEN - and that included in the Fourth Ring.  IT WAS SO NICE TO SEE IT OPEN AT LAST.  Just for old times sake.  I got myself a seat in the centre of the front row of the Second Ring though - and wasn't complaining. 

 

I wonder if any of these people come back to the regular programmes when they can actually get seats cheaper?  It was just so nice to see it full.  At the end of both programmes they had a dance in the main State Theater foyer for audience members - which is enormous - certainly in Covent Garden terms.  ALL WERE INVITED.   Last night they were offering everyone free Beer and Bourbon.  I didn't stay - but it seemed the folk - very much a younger crowd - but that's true for most performances - that did were having a grand ol' time of it.  

 

 

 

Edited February 4, 2023 by Bruce Wall

[Emeralds]

I haven’t received the survey, but will just mention as a word of warning : “Frankenstein. Sleeping Beauty 17-19 January.” 

 

You can have the best cast, but there comes a point when you’ve reached the limit, and £150 in the Grand Tier, Stalls Circle Centre, and the central section of the Orchestra Stalls, £80 in the Front Amphi centre are the limits for full length ballets at this moment. Increase the prices too much like they did this season and it can backfire by having some performances with lots of unsold seats, which can work out “penny wise pound foolish”- you end up losing more money from large numbers of unsold seats than if you just keep the old prices as they were so that they do sell out.

 

I would be fine with a return to tiered pricing or special pricing (whatever you call it) for opera that they used to do when megastars like Pavarotti sang as the first cast/alternative cast in operas, which they don’t do any more. Of course that brings other problems eg do you give a partial refund if the megastar is unwell or cancels for some other reason and the singer from the “(relatively) cheaper cast” steps in? But at least they have recouped the money through the higher prices.

 

It is of course harder to do that for ballet with the partnering dynamics, where some might feel that they would pay megastar prices for Nunez with Muntagirov, for example, but not Nunez with another partner, or Muntagirov with a different ballerina.  Or some actually would pay more for certain partnerships eg Naghdi and Muntagirov. Ballet is too complicated to define by just one artist. 

 

I still say they are not doing enough true galas for fundraising purposes. Not Diamond Celebration type programming with 3 new ballets thrown in- that felt a bit like Draft Works in a mash up with a triple bill. I mean real galas, where you have pas de deux like Don Q pdd as showstoppers, with other proven popular excerpts, pdd and solos.

 

My suggestion for raising more income is that if they staged an Ashton gala, with Ashton’s Sleeping Beauty Act 1 Waltz, Sylvia pdd, his Siegfried Act 1 solo, the final pdd from The Dream, Voices of Spring pdd, the Cinderella Act 1 ending with the four season fairies, Cinderella and Fairy Godmother (great music), then in Act 2, a pdd from Ondine, a solo from Les Rendezvous, the White Couple pas de deux from Les Patineurs, the White pas de deux from Marguerite and Armand, and as the finale, the ending of Birthday Offering. They could charge quite high prices (the £200 they suggested) and because it’s a one off, people don’t mind paying it just once, and they would have no problem selling tickets.

 

There are lots of lovely Ashton works from the back catalogue (eg his Thais pas de deux, The Two Pigeons, something from his Romeo and Juliet etc etc) that would be delightful and worth the expense as a treat. They could do two RB galas a year and with the right programming (no premieres!) of all the old and seldom staged ballets that people are nostalgic for it would work. We’re also keen to see vintage or heritage de Valois, MacMillan, Cranko and Tudor excerpts or pdd that were staged for the Royal Ballet and its previous incarnations (Sadler’s Wells, Vic-Wells). It’s less risky and it’s cheaper than reviving/restoring the entire full ballets. Certainly with regards to Ashton works, we’ve been asking for it for some time now- if it’s a one night only event, it will do well.

[Emeralds]

On 29/01/2023 at 09:49, Blossom said:

To add a further dynamic to the conversation, did anyone read Richard Morrison’s article in the Times on Friday?

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-royal-opera-house-s-ditching-of-its-long-term-sponsor-bp-is-pure-hypocrisy-2n3vw6cs5

 

To quote a very small but pertinent couple of sentences which I assume is ok @mods 

 

‘The arts world should consider this: every time a sponsor is deemed not pure enough to pass muster, that’s another £10,000, £100,000 or several million that either has to be raised from ticket sales or begged from government. Ticket sales seem unlikely to rise much in the foreseeable future, so that leaves public subsidy as the only way of plugging the gap.’

 

Of course we then know how organisations like ROH suffer at the hands of ACE.

I couldn’t get through the paywall but read the top line and Telegraph article, and as ROH is an institution that can attract masses of sponsors and sponsorship that other theatres and ensembles can only dream about, I suspect that the BP sponsorship was only let go because they found another sponsor or sponsors that matched it or exceeded it...or possibly (this is just a guess) even sponsors that said “we’ll exceed what BP is donating if you ditch BP”.

 

ROH wouldn’t ditch a large donation until it found an alternative source of funds. After all, customers are still driving into BP and other fossil fuel providers to spend their money.....for many, it’s the only way they can get from A to B. Electric cars aren’t cheap and not all areas have charging points.  I don’t see protestors writing to or marching on the government to ask why they don’t subsidise hybrid cars and electric cars (like Norway has done), build more charging points in villages and suburbs,  and raise taxes on conventional cars, which is a far more effective way of combating climate change.....

Edited February 4, 2023 by Emeralds

[Guest oncnp]

 

5 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

I couldn’t get through the paywall but read the top line and Telegraph article, and as ROH is an institution that can attract masses of sponsors and sponsorship that other theatres and ensembles can only dream about, I suspect that the BP sponsorship was only let go because they found another sponsor or sponsors that matched it or exceeded it...possibly other sponsors that said “we’ll exceed what BP is donating if you ditch BP”. I have no proof, but ROH wouldn’t ditch a large donation until it found an alternative source of funds. After all, customers are still driving into BP and other fossil fuel providers to spend their money.....for many, it’s the only way they can get from A to B. Electric cars aren’t cheap and not all areas have charging points.  I don’t see protestors writing to or marching on the government to ask why they don’t subsidise hybrid cars and electric cars (like Norway has done) and raise taxes on conventional cars, which is a far more effective way of combating climate change.....

 

The gist of the article was that other sponsors have skeletons, worse than BPs, in their corporate closets.

 

The ROH would do themselves a huge favor, and save themselves a lot of abuse, if they would name the replacement sponsor(s). I suspect I know who it is...ticket buyers. 

[Emeralds]

55 minutes ago, oncnp said:

 

 

The gist of the article was that other sponsors have skeletons, worse than BPs, in their corporate closets.

 

The ROH would do themselves a huge favor, and save themselves a lot of abuse, if they would name the replacement sponsor(s). I suspect I know who it is...ticket buyers. 

Yes, I was thinking that there have been sponsors with just as many question marks. The replacement sponsors aren’t the average ticket buyers  though, not counting donors that buy tickets, or ticket buyers who might decide to add a donation of 50% or more on their tickets. Far from it.

 

If ROH and similar sized organisations had no sponsorship or subsidy, the top price tickets would have to be £300 to £500 (depending on the production) and the lowest about £50.  Most tickets sold don’t cover costs . But many (not all) sponsors need ticket buyers to attend as their sponsorship is a form of marketing/advertisers. And of course the companies (RB, RO, and Linbury performers) need audiences -many audience members- because if only sponsors or people able to pay £300 attended, the auditorium would only be 1% to 5% full every night, which would be very strange and not fun.

 

I’ve noticed Aud Jebsen and the Rausings being listed on more productions this season but I don’t know the size of their donations or increase in donations if any, and who else has increased or joined as sponsors, and of course, the possibility that any donor may have stipulated that they replace BP is definitely only a guess. They may also have received bequests and it’s impossible to have predicted beforehand who will pass away in which year. Finally, some individual  donors do not wish their names or size of donations to be publicised in case it makes them a target for crime.

Edited February 4, 2023 by Emeralds

[MJW]

27 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

Yes, I was thinking that there have been sponsors with just as many question marks. The replacement sponsors aren’t the average ticket buyers  though, not counting donors that buy tickets, or ticket buyers who might decide to add a donation of 50% or more on their tickets. Far from it.

 

If ROH and similar sized organisations had no sponsorship or subsidy, the top price tickets would have to be £300 to £500 (depending on the production) and the lowest about £50.  Most tickets sold don’t cover costs . But many (not all) sponsors need ticket buyers to attend as their sponsorship is a form of marketing/advertisers. And of course the companies (RB, RO, and Linbury performers) need audiences -many audience members- because if only sponsors or people able to pay £300 attended, the auditorium would only be 1% to 5% full every night, which would be very strange and not fun.

 

I’ve noticed Aud Jebsen and the Rausings being listed on more productions this season but I don’t know the size of their donations or increase in donations if any, and who else has increased or joined as sponsors, and of course, the possibility that any donor may have stipulated that they replace BP is definitely only a guess. They may also have received bequests and it’s impossible to have predicted beforehand who will pass away in which year. Finally, some individual  donors do not wish their names or size of donations to be publicised in case it makes them a target for crime.

 

According to their charity's funding statement, the Rausings have given £3million over the past two years to the ROH.

[Guest oncnp]

26 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

 Most tickets sold don’t cover costs .

 

But many (not all) sponsors need ticket buyers to attend as their sponsorship is a form of marketing/advertisers. And of course the companies (RB, RO, and Linbury performers) need audiences -many audience members- because if only sponsors or people able to pay £300 attended, the auditorium would only be 1% to 5% full every night, which would be very strange and not fun.

 

I’ve noticed Aud Jebsen and the Rausings being listed on more productions this season but I don’t know the size of their donations or increase in donations if any, and who else has increased or joined as sponsors, and of course, the possibility that any donor may have stipulated that they replace BP is definitely only a guess. They may also have received bequests and it’s impossible to have predicted beforehand who will pass away in which year. Finally, some individual  donors do not wish their names or size of donations to be publicised in case it makes them a target for crime.

The ROH has said in the past that they need ~95% full house (Presumably at full price) to break even but with increase in costs that may no longer be true

 

As to the marketing/advertising aspect how many companies advertise they support the ROH? I don't live in the UK so don't know

 

 

[Peanut68]

I vote Emeralds to replace O’Hare!!!

far more in sync with ticket buying audience IMHO!! 

[jmhopton]

2 hours ago, Emeralds said:

 

I still say they are not doing enough true galas for fundraising purposes. Not Diamond Celebration type programming with 3 new ballets thrown in- that felt a bit like Draft Works in a mash up with a triple bill. I mean real galas, where you have pas de deux like Don Q pdd as showstoppers, with other proven popular excerpts, pdd and solos.

 

My suggestion for raising more income is that if they staged an Ashton gala, with Ashton’s Sleeping Beauty Act 1 Waltz, Sylvia pdd, his Siegfried Act 1 solo, the final pdd from The Dream, Voices of Spring pdd, the Cinderella Act 1 ending with the four season fairies, Cinderella and Fairy Godmother (great music), then in Act 2, a pdd from Ondine, a solo from Les Rendezvous, the White Couple pas de deux from Les Patineurs, the White pas de deux from Marguerite and Armand, and as the finale, the ending of Birthday Offering. They could charge quite high prices (the £200 they suggested) and because it’s a one off, people don’t mind paying it just once, and they would have no problem selling tickets.

 

There are lots of lovely Ashton works from the back catalogue (eg his Thais pas de deux, The Two Pigeons, something from his Romeo and Juliet etc etc) that would be delightful and worth the expense as a treat. They could do two RB galas a year and with the right programming (no premieres!) of all the old and seldom staged ballets that people are nostalgic for it would work. We’re also keen to see vintage or heritage de Valois, MacMillan, Cranko and Tudor excerpts or pdd that were staged for the Royal Ballet and its previous incarnations (Sadler’s Wells, Vic-Wells). It’s less risky and it’s cheaper than reviving/restoring the entire full ballets. Certainly with regards to Ashton works, we’ve been asking for it for some time now- if it’s a one night only event, it will do well.

Exactly, Emeralds. I've often thought the same thing. We see so little Ashton   De Valois,  Ballet Russes etc why not have a gala evening and make some money (not that I want Kevin to use this as an excuse to make my favourite choreographers only available at a premium rate). The Fonteyn gala they showed several years ago was easily the best gala I've ever attended as there was so much rarely seen Ashton and traditional choreographers. Such a shame it wasn't filmed. I thought it would have been popular at the cinema. An annual gala with a different theme every year would be a great idea and if it was part of the cinema broadcast or streamed it could generate even more income. 

Edited February 4, 2023 by jmhopton

[MJW]

27 minutes ago, oncnp said:

The ROH has said in the past that they need ~95% full house (Presumably at full price) to break even but with increase in costs that may no longer be true

 

As to the marketing/advertising aspect how many companies advertise they support the ROH? I don't live in the UK so don't know

 

 

 

I don't think they do that much. 

 

Some companies advertise that they support Britain's Olympic team for example ("Proud supporters of...etc etc") but otherwise they seem pretty reticent in advertising their support for the arts etc. Unfortunately we don't have the tax breaks here in the UK that I understand the US does for charitable giving.

[Peanut68]

Couldn’t agree more jmhopton!
Honestly think they miss so many opportunities to maximise audience appeal & thus chance to maximise income on ‘one offs’ 

The Fonteyn Gala was truly wonderful (& I do think it was a rather 11th hour hurriedly put together event as felt it was only added to ROH programme after public pressure to mark a truly momentous anniversary of such a remarkable woman & dancer!) Why why why was this not planned years ahead with then the full marketing machine to maximise exposure to a) share with the world via live & repeat cinema streams, online streaming & DVD releases….& b) to make the very good money this would have raised - not just to cover costs but to actually make profits!!! And even raise money for charitable use….

honestly, I personally feel the RB has no commercial vision whatsoever…. To much ‘right on’ ‘wow, how cool are we championing this new out there stuff’ naval gazing. Good they are conducting audience surveys…. But will these be sent out to suitable cross section? Surely they need to also ask non audience members (ie. Ask ‘Why don’t you go?’ ‘What would make you go?’ Etc etc)

it’s not rocket science. 

Edited February 4, 2023 by Peanut68
To add

[serenade]

1 hour ago, jmhopton said:

Exactly, Emeralds. I've often thought the same thing. We see so little Ashton   De Valois,  Ballet Russes etc why not have a gala evening and make some money (not that I want Kevin to use this as an excuse to make my favourite choreographers only available at a premium rate). The Fonteyn gala they showed several years ago was easily the best gala I've ever attended as there was so much rarely seen Ashton and traditional choreographers. Such a shame it wasn't filmed. I thought it would have been popular at the cinema. An annual gala with a different theme every year would be a great idea and if it was part of the cinema broadcast or streamed it could generate even more income. 

I think they don't want to/can't.  The focus has to always be on the new....new productions, new works, new audiences.  Obviously new is important and I can only imagine the pressures they're under but retaining the current audience doesn't seem to be top of their priorities but just my opinion. 

 

They couldn't even do a decent classic program for the Diamond Celebration (imho) that was allegedly about friends of the Royal ballet so I doubt they will want to do the amazing sounding set that Emeralds suggested.  Unfortunately!!! 

 

[capybara]

I’ve lost count of the number of my friends who have said this season, “I’m only going the once” or “I’ve seen enough (name of ballet) over the years, so I’m giving it a miss this time.”

And these are people who used to sit in the medium to more pricey seats.

[Emeralds]

17 hours ago, MJW said:

 

According to their charity's funding statement, the Rausings have given £3million over the past two years to the ROH.

I don't suppose it mentions if it’s being increased this year, MJW? Thanks for finding out.

[MJW]

45 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

I don't suppose it mentions if it’s being increased this year, MJW? Thanks for finding out.

 

Unfortunately it doesn't

 

https://www.juliahansrausingtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/JHRT-Funding-Allocation-2021.pdf.

[Emeralds]

18 hours ago, Peanut68 said:

I vote Emeralds to replace O’Hare!!!

far more in sync with ticket buying audience IMHO!! 

That’s very sweet of you, Peanut68, but I wouldn’t want me to replace Kevin O’Hare though 😉😆 

 

Wouldn’t mind having a look at the finances and a discussion about putting the Ashton and galas on. Plus a discussion about reviving some of the Ballets Russes repertoire. 

 

I think many directors/boards have a very black and white view of productions and ballets nowadays- a work is either deemed “hot” and a box office winner that sells and must be programmed repeatedly or it’s deemed “not hot enough” and “must never be revived again”. The reality is more nuanced than that. And the marketing has a role to play, and doesn’t always deliver. Often, boards forget that art is not the same as a product. 

Edited February 5, 2023 by Emeralds

[alison]

Marketing? What's that?

[Emeralds]

19 hours ago, jmhopton said:

Exactly, Emeralds. I've often thought the same thing. We see so little Ashton   De Valois,  Ballet Russes etc why not have a gala evening and make some money (not that I want Kevin to use this as an excuse to make my favourite choreographers only available at a premium rate). The Fonteyn gala they showed several years ago was easily the best gala I've ever attended as there was so much rarely seen Ashton and traditional choreographers. Such a shame it wasn't filmed. I thought it would have been popular at the cinema. An annual gala with a different theme every year would be a great idea and if it was part of the cinema broadcast or streamed it could generate even more income. 

The fact that it was so popular suggests that they should have done a run of it as a mixed bill or 2 mixed bills. Streaming a gala or relaying it as a cinema broadcast  is a good idea too! At least try it once. 

 

I would be the first to admit that as much as I love Ondine and its whole history, it wouldn’t be something I’d repeat every season. Maybe 2 runs (the first one about 8 performances, the second about 5) every 6 years, if you have the right dancers for Ondine and Palemon. (We currently do-Hayward, Naghdi, Lamb, Takada, O’Sullivan, for Ondine, and Muntagirov, Ball, Clarke, Hirano, Bracewell, for Palemon).

 

Sylvia is so overdue a repeat run by RB- many other companies abroad are reviving it and collecting the revenue (and plaudits) that RB should be earning! Their last run was sold out (I think it might have been the only show at ROH apart from Nutcracker that sold out that year) and I couldn’t get more tickets after catching one performance. It’s definitely a hot box office item and the company definitely has the right dancers for Sylvia, Aminta and Diana.

 

Edited February 5, 2023 by Emeralds

[OnePigeon]

It’s the same with the BBC - they’re sitting on a treasure trove of programmes that never see the light of day, aren’t available to stream, or buy on DVD.  Everything is about pushing the new or repeating the same few things.  There is a lack of  valuing and celebrating the wealth of their heritage, as also seems to be the case with the RB. The RB seem to have their sacred cow production (money spinners) and ignore vast swathes of their great history.  Seeing some Massine, Cranko, De Valois, Nijinska or lesser staged Ashton and MacMillans would be truly incredible.

It would also be amazing if we could one day get access to the RB archives and see what that Golden Age of Ballet restoration project has managed to restore.  I would pay a lot of money to see more than a few seconds of Gable and Seymour dancing the Two Pigeons (I won’t even dream of ever seeing any of their Romeo and Juliet).

[jm365]

For the umpteenth time on this forum, I must speak up in support of the BBC.  It is not a lack of will that prevents the repeating of most of the early ballet programmes, it's a question of copyright.  The original contracts were for one transmission in most cases, many of the productions were co-productions with commercial companies that no longer exist.  To try to clear copyright would be extremely difficult - so many people are now dead and goodness knows what has happened to their rights.  

 

As I worked on quite a few of the programmes concerned, I must say I would be first in line to repeat them, if I thought it was possible.

[OnePigeon]

44 minutes ago, jm365 said:

For the umpteenth time on this forum, I must speak up in support of the BBC.  It is not a lack of will that prevents the repeating of most of the early ballet programmes, it's a question of copyright.  The original contracts were for one transmission in most cases, many of the productions were co-productions with commercial companies that no longer exist.  To try to clear copyright would be extremely difficult - so many people are now dead and goodness knows what has happened to their rights.  

 

As I worked on quite a few of the programmes concerned, I must say I would be first in line to repeat them, if I thought it was possible.

I wasn’t specifically referring to ballet programmes with regards to the BBC. I  understand there are copyright issues and quality issues which are probably too expensive to restore, not to mention the years of them wiping film so it could be used again.  However, there are some plays and programmes that could be made available, but have only been released in the USA on DVD and not here: a Maggie Smith boxset which includes A Merchant of Venice in which Christopher Gable co-stars (keeping this on a ballet track), for example, which has a US only release. 
 

How amazing for you to have worked on some of those programmes.  I was reading about Steps into Ballet, the children’s show Macmillan was involved with in the 50s.  What a wonderful, creative period it was.  
 

[JNC]

pragmatically I could get on board with a pricey gala as long as it’s filmed and streamed (either live and or at a later date). I don’t think this would affect people not wanting to buy tickets (particularly if a one night only thing) as it’s so much different in person.

part of me would feel a bit put out that “regulars” and those who couldn’t afford it would be missing out and creating a two tier system at roh, exacerbating the problem perhaps. 

Could they also not do an auction every now and again - things like signed programmes, old signed pointe shoes and posters, experiences like an exclusive backstage tour where your guide is a dancer, things like that could be good at raising money without maybe little overhead? 
 

not sure how profitable it would be but I’d love them to revive the yearbook or do a sort of behind the scenes look at the day to day of dancers, with photos of rehearsals and dressing rooms/sets and interviews.

 

probably a bit off topic and I appreciate as an overall percentage it wouldn’t cover the same as the increased ticket prices across the board but it does feel like some creative solutions to raise money could be employed, but I’m no expert so maybe it’s not worth the resource to plan!

[Emeralds]

19 hours ago, JNC said:

pragmatically I could get on board with a pricey gala as long as it’s filmed and streamed (either live and or at a later date). I don’t think this would affect people not wanting to buy tickets (particularly if a one night only thing) as it’s so much different in person.

part of me would feel a bit put out that “regulars” and those who couldn’t afford it would be missing out and creating a two tier system at roh, exacerbating the problem perhaps. 

Could they also not do an auction every now and again - things like signed programmes, old signed pointe shoes and posters, experiences like an exclusive backstage tour where your guide is a dancer, things like that could be good at raising money without maybe little overhead? 
 

not sure how profitable it would be but I’d love them to revive the yearbook or do a sort of behind the scenes look at the day to day of dancers, with photos of rehearsals and dressing rooms/sets and interviews.

 

probably a bit off topic and I appreciate as an overall percentage it wouldn’t cover the same as the increased ticket prices across the board but it does feel like some creative solutions to raise money could be employed, but I’m no expert so maybe it’s not worth the resource to plan!

I think previously when they had a gala item that was rarely performed but got a great response it appeared in regular programming later. So nobody really misses out.

 

Long long time ago (1980s? Early 1990s?) they had this “egalitarian” policy whereby there was a gala price with donation calculated (they would show you what was the donation and what was the cost of the performance) and if you felt too poor to pay the price with donation, there was also the choice of paying for just the show with no donation. The prices in the rear amphitheatre and slips didn’t look too different with or without the donation, but as the seats got more expensive, skipping the donation really made a big difference. I was always in two minds about this.

 

As a student with limited funds, of course I was glad there was a no-donation option but knowing how the two companies also needed funds to pay artists and crew, spend on new or rare productions/revivals, repair damaged costumes/sets/props, etc, I was also uncomfortable about taking a seat that they could have earned a donation from someone else...but I wanted to watch the show too. In the end I went for the cheaper seats so that either the donation was small enough for me to afford, or if I couldn’t pay the donation, they weren’t potentially losing too much money. They also had a box for additional or other donations, so that, for example, if you couldn’t afford £10 on top of your ticket price but you could afford £5, you could still contribute something. 

 

I never knew - not sure if it was ever asked - how many audience members chose not to donate anything at all per gala, and how many such tickets were sold and how much money they potentially “lost”. 

 

There’s also an interesting fact that I learnt from a restaurant charity who used to run these “pay what you can afford/pay what you think it’s worth” sessions in their restaurant. Many people said they would lose money, diners would just walk in and exploit them by eating for free and leaving. The interesting thing was that when diners knew it was for charity, those who could afford it never took advantage- in fact, they ended up collecting more money than if they had set their standard restaurant prices for the meals. 

 

I bet if people were told “give what you think the show was worth” after seeing incredible fouettes from Marianela Nunez, some of Marcelino Sambe’s explosive jumps, Vadim Muntagirov’s melting spins, they’d raise loads. I know there are quite a few of us here who would put money in a collecting bucket if Alexander Campbell, Laura Morera, James Hay, Melissa Hamilton or Akane Takada just appeared in the programme, full stop, never mind what they danced. 😂 And there are so many other dancers for whom the same applies. In fact, have Nela, Marci, Vadim, Alex, Laura, et al, sitting down after the show, next to their own bucket, and they would probably collect even more! 😄 (Comedy items also tend to raise more money than serious or tragic items, as you feel more positive and generous after laughing.) 

 

It’s the psychology of it - people prefer it when they get the choice rather than being dictated what they must give. 

 

I think a fundraising auction would be great too! Perhaps some signed programmes and other signed memorabilia. 

Edited February 6, 2023 by Emeralds

[Lizbie1]

1 hour ago, Emeralds said:

Long long time ago (1980s? Early 1990s?) they had this “egalitarian” policy whereby there was a gala price with donation calculated (they would show you what was the donation and what was the cost of the performance) and if you felt too poor to pay the price with donation, there was also the choice of paying for just the show with no donation.

 

I don't know about ROH but when some country house opera companies do this it's basically a tax wheeze: they can get gift aid for the "donation" bit. If you want to buy a ticket without the donation element they normally make you email or phone the box office, I suppose counting on most who'd otherwise leave it out to be too embarrassed or too worried about grabbing the ticket in time.

[jmhopton]

On 05/02/2023 at 17:18, alison said:

Marketing? What's that?

Exactly.  These days what marketing there is seems to be aimed at social media but that involves accessing the ROH page on Twitter, Facebook etc so how does this attract new members? Surely youre preaching to the converted? What happened to the lovely posters you used to see on bus stops and tube trains or even outside the ROH? Are they really so unaffordable? Or can't people be bothered to design and commission them when it's so much easier just to do a post on social media? Is it that marketing teams tend to be younger and perhaps dismiss traditional marketing as old fashioned? Do any of their surveys include traditional marketing and how effective it might be?

To me the greatest lack of publicity is in the new open up areas.  Plenty of people come in for a drink/chat/use the free WiFi or toilets yet you could be in any building in London for all the emphasis on opera and ballet there. Why aren't there attractive posters, leaflets, snippets of current and coming opera and ballets on the screen? Even the shop just plays music whereas it used to show a current or forthcoming production on dvd. So many marketting opportunities missed, and I'm sure there's many more than I just mentioned. If the marketing was better targeted perhaps the seat prices wouldn't need to be so expensive but I expect I'm in the realms of fantasy with that one. 

Edited February 6, 2023 by jmhopton

[jmhopton]

21 minutes ago, Peanut68 said:

I now know how low down the pecking list of ROH audience I am as only just got the survey email today!!! 😂

At least you got one Peanut68. I still haven't had one so it looks if I'm not on the pecking order at all!

[Emeralds]

22 hours ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

I don't know about ROH but when some country house opera companies do this it's basically a tax wheeze: they can get gift aid for the "donation" bit. If you want to buy a ticket without the donation element they normally make you email or phone the box office, I suppose counting on most who'd otherwise leave it out to be too embarrassed or too worried about grabbing the ticket in time.

That’s interesting, thanks, Lizbie1. I did wonder at one point if it was for tax/GiftAid...I think for National Gallery and V&A exhibitions you still see this too. But it’s been ages since they last had these galas at ROH  so I don’t know what they will do next time.

 

Oh, for those galas in the past, you didn’t have to email or phone them, you just ticked the box (booking by post-very ancient indeed) and the amount was you chose was deducted from your cheque/charged to the credit card . I should add here that the basic price without a donation was already higher than a normal performance, so it wasn’t like you were seeing Carreras, Guillem, Bussell et al performing a gala programme at cut price rates.....it was still about 40% more than a normal ballet or opera seat, so that they could raise funds.

[alison]

As comments re the ROH's pricing survey were rather threatening to derail this thread, I've moved them to a separate thread here:

 

 

[Guest oncnp]

Looking for tour tickets around Cinderella and noticed a new (I think it's new - don't remember seeing it when booking tours previously) pricing structure.  

 

Select number of tickets

You can purchase a maximum of 2 tickets.

Full Price | £16

Student discount | £14

Senior Citizen | £14

Unwaged | £14

Under 16 | £12

Edited February 8, 2023 by oncnp

[Dawnstar]

It would be nice if the ROH would spend a small amount of its revenue from the increased ticket prices on soap. In the downstairs ladies loos this evening there were only 5 bottles of soap for 16 baisins.