Press Release: THE AUSTRALIAN BALLET RETURNS TO ROYAL OPERA HOUSE AFTER 35-YEAR ABSENCE

[Peanut68]

well, I booked both 😃

[LinMM]

Saturday nights are difficult for me or otherwise I would do what you are planning. I’m not really going on the Wednesday because it’s the First night ….though there is always a bit of a buzz with a visiting Company or a new Production or Ballet…but because they are the most separated days!! 
At least can travel up just for the day on the Sunday! 

[alison]

1 hour ago, Peanut68 said:

well, I booked both 😃

 

Why am I not surprised  

[Benjamin]

6 hours ago, Jan McNulty said:

 

These theatres are nothing like each other.  For one thing the Coliseum is a Frank Matcham original and the ROH isn't!

 

They aren't very similar, but they have some visual similarities and are both theatres in London. 

[Guest oncnp]

11 minutes ago, Benjamin said:

They aren't very similar, but they have some visual similarities 

 

such as?

[Benjamin]

8 minutes ago, oncnp said:

 

such as?

Colour scheme, Gold, red, cream. Similar proscenium, with gold, and then curtains up the top framing it, and of course the red and gold curtain. Obviously isn’t not that similar but has similarities.

[Jan McNulty]

7 hours ago, Benjamin said:

Colour scheme, Gold, red, cream. Similar proscenium, with gold, and then curtains up the top framing it, and of course the red and gold curtain. Obviously isn’t not that similar but has similarities.

And with a heck of a lot of theatres in the UK.  Perhaps they are also similar to the Liverpool Empire!
 

All these theatres are architecturally dissimilar and, in my experience, all proscenium theatres have similarly styled curtains and many of them are red!

[zxDaveM]

8 hours ago, Benjamin said:

Colour scheme, Gold, red, cream. Similar proscenium, with gold, and then curtains up the top framing it, and of course the red and gold curtain. Obviously isn’t not that similar but has similarities.

 

they are exactly the same, except they're completely different. Though they do both have seats and a stage and everything!

[Benjamin]

37 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:

And with a heck of a lot of theatres in the UK.  Perhaps they are also similar to the Liverpool Empire!
 

All these theatres are architecturally dissimilar and, in my experience, all proscenium theatres have similarly styled curtains and many of them are red!

Most theatres look similar, they have similarities. Most theatres in the UK look similar. I don’t know why you react to me like this. Someone makes a mistake in their post and I reply with that’s a mistake I understand, they are similar. Are they not? 

[Benjamin]

Just now, zxDaveM said:

 

they are exactly the same, except they're completely different. Though they do both have seats and a stage and everything!

There are not exactly the same nor completely different. I try to back someone up, then explain myself and people reply like this, anyway…

[bangorballetboy]

9 hours ago, Benjamin said:

Colour scheme, Gold, red, cream. Similar proscenium, with gold, and then curtains up the top framing it, and of course the red and gold curtain. Obviously isn’t not that similar but has similarities.

The curtain at the Coliseum is purple, not red.  The Coli has a proscenium arch whereas the ROH has a straight top.

[Benjamin]

3 minutes ago, bangorballetboy said:

The curtain at the Coliseum is purple, not red.  The Coli has a proscenium arch whereas the ROH has a straight top.

Ha ha good point it’s purple but has a bit of red in it. The Coli has a curved arch and the ROH is flat, I know that but it’s still a proscenium arch? In gold? Red curtains are hanging below the top. 

[Jan McNulty]

2 minutes ago, Benjamin said:

Ha ha good point it’s purple but has a bit of red in it. The Coli has a curved arch and the ROH is flat, I know that but it’s still a proscenium arch? In gold? Red curtains are hanging below the top. 

 

Does it really matter???

 

What matters is the enjoyment and atmosphere that audience members experience in the theatres not what the theatres look like!

[bridiem]

The only ways in which the ROH and the Coliseum are similar are that they are both horseshoe-shaped with a lot of gold in the auditorium. Otherwise they are completely DISsimilar and also have a completely different feel about them. Personally, I greatly dislike the Coli which I find alienating and cold and I love the ROH which I find warm and welcoming.

[Benjamin]

1 minute ago, Jan McNulty said:

 

Does it really matter???

 

What matters is the enjoyment and atmosphere that audience members experience in the theatres not what the theatres look like!

Agreed, but I didn’t start this argument, I said something, and people replied.

[Benjamin]

3 minutes ago, bridiem said:

The only ways in which the ROH and the Coliseum are similar are that they are both horseshoe-shaped with a lot of gold in the auditorium. Otherwise they are completely DISsimilar and also have a completely different feel about them. Personally, I greatly dislike the Coli which I find alienating and cold and I love the ROH which I find warm and welcoming.

Then they are slightly similar, It seems. 

[Benjamin]

7 minutes ago, Benjamin said:

Agreed, but I didn’t start this argument, I said something, and people replied.

Which I believe to be one of the points of this forum.

Edited April 14, 2023 by Benjamin
Correction!

[Jan McNulty]

2 minutes ago, Benjamin said:

Which I believe to be one of the points of this forum.

 

Can we please move on from this, which is digressing from the title and purpose of this thread.

[Emeralds]

20 hours ago, Benjamin said:

That was at the London Colosseum, but I can’t blame you for thinking that, they are very similar.

To be honest, I think the most likely reason for the error is that people instantly think they meant last visit to London, not last visit to ROH. (I too imagined that but then realised they meant a different venue...which seems a bit like splitting hairs. But maybe some companies feel that dancing on the stage that the Royal Ballet dance on is more special or noteworthy than the home of English National Opera.) 

 

PS sorry to split hairs as well, Benjamin, but the Colosseum is in Rome. 😉 The theatre in London is the Coliseum. (Blame your autocorrect on your device!)

[Emeralds]

20 hours ago, oncnp said:

 

If I'm reading it correctly 12,800 Quantas points = $100 donation, 320,000 points = return airfare 

 

20 hours ago, Bluebird said:

 

Here's the text you refer to, Emeralds 

"Help us get to London

For the first time, you can donate your Qantas Points to help our dancers get to London for this special milestone event.

 

If you donate 12,800 Qantas Points, The Australian Ballet will receive a $100 donation. A donation of 320,000 Qantas points would fund the return airfare of a dancer to London. We would be so grateful for any contribution, great or small.

 

Every Qantas Points donation helps get us one step close to the Royal Opera House in London."

 

20 hours ago, Sophoife said:

I highlighted the mis-spelling of "glamorous" and the fact that the company marketing department doesn't know its own name ("The Australia Ballet"?!).

 

I'm also somewhat stunned by the begging for FF points: if Qantas are a major sponsor, why aren't they providing flights at a steep discount? Because 320K points is actually almost triple the number of points a normal FF member needs to fly to London and back from Melbourne (110,500).

Thank you, oncnp and Bluebird. I think my device tried to format it in an odd way  and squashed up the picture. 

 

That’s interesting- didn’t know that Qantas frequent flyer points could be transferred and changed into a donation. 

 

By the way, Sophoife and Bluebird, the misspellings on the message look suspicious. Are you sure it’s not a scam from a hacker who wants your personal details? Be careful. Any time I’ve received a misspelled email allegedly from an institution, it has always been a scam from a hacker who cleverly managed to copy other aspects of the company’s logo and email address to get hold of our personal information. I would delete it immediately. 

[Benjamin]

38 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

To be honest, I think the most likely reason for the error is that people instantly think they meant last visit to London, not last visit to ROH. (I too imagined that but then realised they meant a different venue...which seems a bit like splitting hairs. But maybe some companies feel that dancing on the stage that the Royal Ballet dance on is more special or noteworthy than the home of English National Opera.) 

 

PS sorry to split hairs as well, Benjamin, but the Colosseum is in Rome. 😉 The theatre in London is the Coliseum. (Blame your autocorrect on your device!)

Yeah I feel like the Royal Opera Hoaue is a more famous and well known venue, but it’s way bigger which means more seats to sell, so that could be daunting for guest companies. Also the Royal Opera Hosue has way less available dates only in July-August. Most companies are on break then or won’t have time to rehearse because they are just back from break.

[bridiem]

13 minutes ago, Benjamin said:

Yeah I feel like the Royal Opera Hoaue is a more famous and well known venue, but it’s way bigger which means more seats to sell, so that could be daunting for guest companies. 

 

The Coliseum is bigger than the ROH, in fact (2,359 seats vs 2,256).

[Lizbie1]

11 minutes ago, Benjamin said:

Yeah I feel like the Royal Opera Hoaue is a more famous and well known venue, but it’s way bigger which means more seats to sell, so that could be daunting for guest companies. 

 

I'm confused now! They're roughly the same capacity, but the Coliseum holds about 100 people more than ROH IIRC.

 

@Benjamin, I'm sorry if you think we're getting at you, but you make quite a few assertions that aren't necessarily true! You do make me laugh though, so please don't go away.

[capybara]

Actually, the capacity of the Coli is greater than that of the ROH.

However, as Jan has already said, please let’s move on and return to the purpose of this thread - i.e. the summer visit of Australian Ballet.

 

(Apologies for duplicating bridiem’s post.)

 

 

 

Edited April 14, 2023 by capybara

[Emeralds]

21 hours ago, cavycapers said:

Do you think that means including interval or plus interval? 🤔

Cavycapers, to be on the safe side, I would calculate 90 minutes plus 2 intervals of about 25 or 30:minutes each (I suspect they’ll only need 25 to change the sets, but some companies want 30). If you are calculating in order to catch public transport  or drive home, it is safer to over estimate than underestimate. 

 

All the companies that have ever performed Jewels in London (including Russian companies) have had two intervals. Australian Ballet might be able to have only one interval in Australia if their stage equipment is different or stage crew work differently, but there’s no guarantee they will be doing the same in London. Again, safer to estimate 1h 45mins or 1h 50mins and have time to spare than to be caught out by underestimating. 

Edited April 14, 2023 by Emeralds

[Benjamin]

7 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

I'm confused now! They're roughly the same capacity, but the Coliseum holds about 100 people more than ROH IIRC.

 

@Benjamin, I'm sorry if you think we're getting at you, but you make quite a few assertions that aren't necessarily true! You do make me laugh though, so please don't go away.

Wait it does? To be honest I didn’t realise, Coli looks smaller, Thank you for saying this because I would have never known. But now I’m starting to see that, should have looked it up. I probably am doing making some assertions, but I’m glad you find me funny!

[Benjamin]

8 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

Cavycapers, to be on the safe side, I would calculate 90 minutes plus 2 intervals of about 25 or 30:minutes each (I suspect they’ll only need 25 to change the sets, but some companies want 30). If you are calculating in order to catch public  or drive home, it is safer to over estimate than underestimate. 

 

All the companies that have ever performed Jewels in London (including Russian companies) have had two intervals. Australian Ballet might be able to have only one interval in Australia if their stage equipment are different or stage crew work differently, but there’s no guarantee they will be doing the same in London. Again, safer to estimate 1h 45mins or 1h 50mins and have time to spare than to be caught out by underestimating. 

I wonder too, maybe they will do the stay in the theatre, keeps the lights down 5 minute interval in-between each jewel, but I think 2 intervals makes more sense.

[Emeralds]

Just to echo others, Benjamin, your enthusiasm is sweet and sometimes funny (I mean as in amusing, I don’t mean as in laughable), but we often do correct errors - not to be unkind or overly strict, but so that other readers don’t get misled or misinformed, so please don’t feel you are being pulled apart. Sometimes the corrections are also informative for other readers. 

[Sim]

14 hours ago, Peanut68 said:

what is the 'gala' element? was a bit disappointed by recent ROH gala....just felt like a pretty usual night to me! Had expected some 'bells & whistles'!

There were bells and whistles….but you had to pay through the nose for them!  😂

[Benjamin]

9 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

Just to echo others, Benjamin, your enthusiasm is sweet and sometimes funny (I mean as in amusing, I don’t mean as in laughable), but we often do correct errors - not to be unkind or overly strict, but so that other readers don’t get misled or misinformed, so please don’t feel you are being pulled apart. Sometimes the corrections are also informative for other readers. 

Thank you, Sorry but I thought it was coming across the other way. But now I understand. I really should fact check what I’m saying. Sorry!

[bangorballetboy]

Sorry but I'm going to keep on the tangent for a little longer, as I think it's a rather interesting topic.

 

It's not unsurprising that people do not think the Coliseum is the largest theatre (by seating capacity) in central London - this is usually attributed to the Palladium but it lies between the Coliseum and ROH in terms of the number of seats.  I say "central", as the Hammersmith Apollo has the most seats of any theatre in the UK (but IMO it's a bit of a monstrosity). 

 

The Coliseum has the deepest stage amongst UK theatres but not the widest proscenium opening (or stage width) - that is the Barbican Theatre!  The Coliseum's proscenium opening is about 3 metres wider than the ROH.

[Emeralds]

21 hours ago, Lizbie1 said:

The timings when the RB did it in 2017 were:

 

Emeralds 35 minutes

Rubies 20 minutes

Diamonds 35 minutes

 

Plus two intervals, each of 25 minutes. (I don't know if "1 interval" is an error, it seems strange.)

 

So it's 90 minutes plus interval(s), though the George Balanchine Trust website thinks it should be 81 minutes of dancing.

9 minutes extra for handing out bouquets, bowing to the orchestra, leading out the conductor and (non disruptive) photo ops at curtain calls and red runs. 😁 

 

Even NYCB’s bows are quicker- a quick curtsey on bent foot and off they go, rather than the elaborate reverences, bowing to partners and nowadays, hugs for partners as well 😂, that RB do.

 

I love the theatre of it, but I know some of my friends are always bemused that it lasts an extra 10 minutes sometimes, while ENB and other companies do quick bows with the conductor staying in the pit, and then everyone rushes for the exit (or tries to). 

Edited April 14, 2023 by Emeralds

[bridiem]

6 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

9 minutes extra for handing out bouquets, bowing to the orchestra, leading out the conductor and (non disruptive) photo ops at curtain calls and red runs. 😁 

 

Even NYCB’s bows are quicker- a quick curtsey on bent foot and off they go, rather than the elaborate reverences, bowing to partners and nowadays, hugs for partners as well 😂, that RB do.

 

I love the theatre of it, but I know some of my friends are always bemused that it lasts an extra 10 minutes sometimes, while ENB and other companies do quick bows with the conductor staying in the pit, and then everyone rushes for the exit (or tries to). 

 

I HATE it when the bows are very quick. This is the opportunity for the audience to show their appreciation to the dancers/conductor/orchestra and it strikes me as incredibly discourteous to both sides if time is not allowed for this. Are the audience irrelevant? Do the dancers not deserve acclaim? (Well, usually they do!). It's all part of the live theatre experience and if it doesn't happen the performance is not really complete.