Royal Ballet Casting for Autumn 2023-24

[San Perregrino]

Today’s matinee casting is online. 
Leo Dixon is debuting as Espada replacing previously advertised Valentino Zucchetti.

Yuhio Choe debuts as Mercedes 

Other debuts too I think including, James Hay as Gamache (?), Meaghan-Grace Hinkis as Amour (?) notwithstanding Anna-Rose O’Sullivan as Kitri. 

Much to look forward to 🙂

Edited October 7, 2023 by PeterS

[Lindsay]

5 minutes ago, FionaM said:

normal availability is showing for me on the other dates ?

I had the same experience for Fiona last night - was actually looking at booking for one of first two shows and only boxes available. Swathes of seats showing for later shows but I can’t make those dates.  Shambolic 

Edited October 7, 2023 by Lindsay

[JohnS]

14 minutes ago, PeterS said:

Today’s matinee casting is online.

I could only access the matinee cast sheet via the What’s On Don Q page, not via cast sheets.

[San Perregrino]

3 minutes ago, JohnS said:

I could only access the matinee cast sheet via the What’s On Don Q page, not via cast sheets.

Yes that’s where I saw it

[bridiem]

29 minutes ago, Mary said:

I haven't booked yet and got the offer.

 

I haven't booked, and didn't get the offer. 

[Jan McNulty]

I haven’t booked but did get the offer.

 

I did see The Cellist first time around though.

[Dawnstar]

3 hours ago, bridiem said:

Me too. I'm afraid Hinkis does absolutely nothing for me whereas I would have scurried to get a ticket for Gasparini. 

 

I feel as though I'm the only person one here who actually likes Hinkis. She's not one of my absolute favourites but I do like her, especially for her acting.

 

45 minutes ago, JohnS said:

I’d be very interested to know how the ROH goes about offering discounts, for example whether it is targeting people who are already going, or those not currently booked but who might have gone last time?

 

I'd love to know how to get discounts from the ROH. I don't recall I've ever been sent any in the coming up for 20 years I've been going there.

 

24 minutes ago, PeterS said:

Leo Dixon is debuting as Espada...James Hay as Gamache (?), Meaghan-Grace Hinkis as Amour

 

I seem to be missing almost all the dancers in supporting roles who I'd like to see.....

[bridiem]

4 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:

I haven’t booked but did get the offer.

 

I did see The Cellist first time around though.

 

So did I. (Which is why I'm not booking this time!). Unless the ROH can read my mind, I have no idea why I wouldn't have received the offer.

[JohnS]

3 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

I'd love to know how to get discounts from the ROH. I don't recall I've ever been sent any in the coming up for 20 years I've been going there.

 

I wonder what would happen if you (or others) were to ask for the discount at the Box Office?

[bridiem]

Just now, JohnS said:

I wonder what would happen if you (or others) were to ask for the discount at the Box Office?

 

Interesting question!

[serenade]

3 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

I feel as though I'm the only person one here who actually likes Hinkis. She's not one of my absolute favourites but I do like her, especially for her acting.

 

No you’re not the only one! Though she is actually one of my favourites. I am disappointed I can’t see her in Don Q as j would have absolutely booked but I don’t think I can make the dates work. 
 

ever since I saw in Les Patineurs a few years ago I thought she was brilliant in it and she became a favourite. I think she’ll be a great Kitri 

[Candleque]

I also received the offer email today. First time ever IIRC. I did see the Cellist last time, but haven't booked for this year.

Interestingly, I actually received two emails. They are testing subject lines and copy. Which is best practice, but typically you don't send them to the same person one after another 😆

 

1st email

Stalls tickets from £50...
> Experience extraordinary ballet from some of the best seats in the house with our exclusive offer: get 25% off selected tickets. Simply use the discount code DUPRE25* to redeem!

2nd email
25% off tickets...
> we're also offering you a 25% discount on the first three performances of this mixed programme with our discount code GODS25*.

 

[serenade]

3 minutes ago, JohnS said:

 

I wonder what would happen if you (or others) were to ask for the discount at the Box Office?

Worth a try! 

It actually really annoys me that I don’t ever get any offers…just makes no sense that you wouldn’t send the offers to everyone on your mailing list if the goal is to actually sell the most tickets (and I can’t think what other goal they would have in this scenario). 

[Guest oncnp]

10 minutes ago, JohnS said:

 

I wonder what would happen if you (or others) were to ask for the discount at the Box Office?

I tried booking on the website without logging in and it worked

[Guest oncnp]

5 minutes ago, Candleque said:

I also received the offer email today. First time ever IIRC. I did see the Cellist last time, but haven't booked for this year.

Interestingly, I actually received two emails. They are testing subject lines and copy. Which is best practice, but typically you don't send them to the same person one after another 😆

 

1st email

Stalls tickets from £50...
> Experience extraordinary ballet from some of the best seats in the house with our exclusive offer: get 25% off selected tickets. Simply use the discount code DUPRE25* to redeem!

2nd email
25% off tickets...
> we're also offering you a 25% discount on the first three performances of this mixed programme with our discount code GODS25*.

 

 

I believe they are separate offers

[AnnabelCharles]

5 minutes ago, serenade said:

ever since I saw in Les Patineurs a few years ago I thought she was brilliant in it and she became a favourite. I think she’ll be a great Kitri 

I'm also a fan of Meaghan Grace Hinkis - and think she is sometimes underrated on this forum.

 

To me a liveliness and sense of character always comes through in her dancing - thought she made a terrific Gertrudis in Like Water for Chocolate.

 

Agree Kitri is hugely demanding - have just rewatched the DVD with Carlos Acosta and Marienela Nunez (hard to beat, in my opinion) and the dancer playing Kitri has to be able to balance, jump and turn - while maintaining a distinctive character and sustaining a huge amount of energy - for much of the ballet. Daunting.

[capybara]

57 minutes ago, JohnS said:

Do I take it you haven’t received the offer @capybara? I haven’t had the offer but am going 3 times plus the General Rehearsal.

No. But, if they manage their data effectively (which is what data is for, surely), I am a ‘sitting target’ in terms of extra purchases.

(And, actually, I have been waiting for a reduction!!!)

[Emeralds]

29 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

I feel as though I'm the only person one here who actually likes Hinkis. She's not one of my absolute favourites but I do like her, especially for her acting.

 

 

I'd love to know how to get discounts from the ROH. I don't recall I've ever been sent any in the coming up for 20 years I've been going there.

 

 

I seem to be missing almost all the dancers in supporting roles who I'd like to see.....

You, @serenade and @AnnabelCharles aren’t the only persons, Dawnstar; I like Meaghan Grace Hinkis too (although I’m generally invisible 😄) - she always dances with energy and passion when I see her, although I don’t attend every single performance.

 

Am actually thinking of booking one of her Don Q dates but currently debating the surreal seat choices of Slips Seats versus taking out second mortgage and seemingly nothing in between. The same seats I booked for Nutcracker are 22% more expensive for Don Q, which makes no sense. 

 

Likewise the box office never sends me any discount (once again, I’m generally invisible) I can actually go to, and only once sent me a discount that I couldn’t possibly use - it was obvious from box office records of my address that I couldn’t attend without taking the train  (a complete ASLEF strike day).

 

They need some better algorithms or strategies, whichever way they’re doing it. I don’t know why they don’t just send it to everyone who has booked a ticket for the season. A sale is a sale- who cares if it’s someone who doesn’t usually go? (There’s evidently a reason why they chose not to book again!) The best kind of sale is the customer who pays, full stop.

 

Well done and thank you to all forum members 👏💐👍 who have taken the time and efforts now and in the past to share the codes so that a) fellow members can benefit, b) ROH can actually sell more seats. 

Edited October 7, 2023 by Emeralds

[San Perregrino]

It can’t help potential sales that Anemoi/Cellist is at number 23 in the What’s On listings way below many minor or sold out events including teas, tours and other ephemera. If I hadn’t been looking specifically for it I would have given up before I saw it. 
ROH need to WAKE UP and give their MAJOR HEADLINE events the importance and priority they deserve. 

Edited October 7, 2023 by PeterS

[Mary]

It's the first offer email I have had for ages, although there were plenty of other productions i had not booked for and the forum reported people getting offer emails, which I did not receive. So why me, why now?

I can't say.

 

Would it be unethical to share the discount code on here? Would it work?

 

[Dawnstar]

Having tried the offer codes posted on here, they only seem to work, at least for me, for the first three performances. Given how short the run is, even if they get rave first night reviews will that really suddenly sell out the latter 4 performances at full price at only a few days' notice?

 

I've checked back with my tickets for Dances At A Gathering/The Cellist in 2020 and then, with the subscription discount (18%?), I paid £47.56 for stalls A28. The same seat would be £72 even with the 25% discount this time. I know inflation has been high in the last couple of years but I don't think it's been that much.

 

Also, with all due respect to Anemoi which I have yet to see, can it really be considered equal to Dances At A Gathering? Certainly in terms of casting the star power of the DAAG casts with half a dozen Principals per cast (admittedly some of them only became Principals more recently than the performances so were First Soloists at the time) was far greater than that for the Anemoi casts, which don't have anyone above Soloist level. I'm not saying that they aren't good dancers but if you want to attract audiences then maybe a bit more star power would be helpful.

 

A further thought: why not have a triple bill rather than a double bill? The running time is currently showing as only 2 hours & that includes a 30 minute interval. You could add a third ballet of about half an hour & a second interval and still get the full programme in under 3 hours if you had two 20 or 25 minute intervals. I gather Anemoi doesn't have much (any?) scenery so a half hour interval can't be needed for set change purposes. If the third ballet was something like Symphony In C (probably not actually that as it's been done fairly recently) then you can use several Principals, which would both give the Principals more performances, per the frequent plaints on here, and have more star power to attract audiences.

Edited October 7, 2023 by Dawnstar
Added last paragraph.

[capybara]

5 minutes ago, PeterS said:

ROH need to WAKE UP and give their MAJOR HEADLINE events the importance and priority they deserve. 

As I’ve tried to get across to Alex Beard more than once!

[Emeralds]

1 minute ago, Mary said:

It's the first offer email I have had for ages, although there were plenty of other productions i had not booked for and the forum reported people getting offer emails, which I did not receive. So why me, why now?

I can't say.

 

Would it be unethical to share the discount code on here? Would it work?

 

You’re helping ROH to improve poorly performing box office sales, so it’s not unethical.....more the opposite.  I don’t think the offers ever say “please don’t share” (or words to that effect) do they? (The [useless] one they sent me didn’t.) 

[Guest oncnp]

3 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

You’re helping ROH to improve poorly performing box office sales, so it’s not unethical.....more the opposite.  I don’t think the offers ever say “please don’t share” (or words to that effect) do they? (The [useless] one they sent me didn’t.) 

It's already been posted on separate thread

 

 

Edited October 7, 2023 by oncnp

[capybara]

3 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

Certainly in terms of casting the star power of the DAAG casts with half a dozen Principals per cast (admittedly some of them only became Principals more recently than the performances so were First Soloists at the time) was far greater than that for the Anemoi casts, which don't have anyone above Soloist level. I'm not saying that they aren't good dancers but if you want to attract audiences then maybe a bit more star power would be helpful.

I suggested up thread that maybe, for this outing, Anemoi needed to feature a couple of Principals.

Even though the more junior casting is super, only RB regulars will know that.

[Guest oncnp]

16 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

Having tried the offer codes posted on here, they only seem to work, at least for me, for the first three performances. Given how short the run is, even if they get rave first night reviews will that really suddenly sell out the latter 4 performances at full price at only a few days' notice?

 

 

Having re-read the e-mails all the way to the bottom this time both offers are only for the first 3 nights

Edited October 7, 2023 by oncnp

[Emeralds]

Yes, Anemoi + The Cellist is a weak pairing in terms of sales (not in terms of dancing quality), although the two ballets work well  if paired with other pieces. Both need to be with a strong, reputable, classic (like Dances at A Gathering was) such as one of the Ashton or MacMillan ballets later this season.

 

I watched both twice first time round (Cellist with DAAG, Anemoi in a mixed bill during the Covid period of socially distanced seating, finishing with Act 3 of Sleeping Beauty), and wouldn’t watch them again in this pairing unless both ballets had completely new casts. That said, I would highly recommend watching Marcelino Sambe as the Cello and the embodiment of du Pre’s music in the first cast with Lauren Cuthbertson and Matthew Ball, if anyone has not seen their cast before.

 

I would certainly have bought tickets if they had been programmed with other works such as Les Rendezvous/Anemoi/Rhapsody  or Danses Concertantes/The Cellist, for example. 

Edited October 7, 2023 by Emeralds

[balletfanatic]

3 hours ago, MAX said:

I think Isabelle Gasparini and M.G Hinkis are good and efficient first soloists but don't have the qualities we can expect from a principal dancer at The Royal Ballet.

I haven't ever seen MG Hinkis but I think Gasparini is terrific and could definitely be a principal one day.  Out of interest what kind of qualities do you think she's lacking?

 

[Linnzi5]

2 hours ago, Mary said:

Related to the mystery of disappeared casting for Anemoi/Cellist, I've just had TWO emails from ROH offering me 25% off and cheap stalls seats- but I am sure that is just because of sales, not casting. Not having casting up won't help tempt people of course.

 

I am no expert but could have predicted this show would not sell, what a huge shame it really is- all that talent really deserves to be seen, shown off and enjoyed.

 

 

Yes. I received this but am not interested enough to go. I’ve booked a lot of DQ, as well as later productions so am not looking to buy more tickets for something that I don’t want to see, as much as I’d love to support the dancers and ROH.

[EVWS]

5 hours ago, bridiem said:

 

Me too. I'm afraid Hinkis does absolutely nothing for me whereas I would have scurried to get a ticket for Gasparini. 

Totally agree with this!

[Dawnstar]

56 minutes ago, oncnp said:

Having re-read the e-mails all the way to the bottom this time both offers are only for the first 3 nights

 

Thanks. I've not had any emails from the ROH (as usual), I've just seen the codes posted on here. I still wonder why the offers are only for the first 3 performances though. It's not as if the other 4 performances look to be selling significantly better.

 

55 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

Yes, Anemoi + The Cellist is a weak pairing in terms of sales (not in terms of dancing quality), although the two ballets work well  if paired with other pieces. Both need to be with a strong, reputable, classic (like Dances at A Gathering was) such as one of the Ashton or MacMillan ballets later this season.

 

I watched both twice first time round (Cellist with DAAG, Anemoi in a mixed bill during the Covid period of socially distanced seating, finishing with Act 3 of Sleeping Beauty), and wouldn’t watch them again in this pairing unless both ballets had completely new casts. That said, I would highly recommend watching Marcelino Sambe as the Cello and the embodiment of du Pre’s music in the first cast with Lauren Cuthbertson and Matthew Ball, if anyone has not seen their cast before.

 

I would certainly have bought tickets if they had been programmed with other works such as Les Rendezvous/Anemoi/Rhapsody  or Danses Concertantes/The Cellist, for example. 

 

I saw The Cellist first time round but not Anemoi (I couldn't attend any of those summer 2021 performances), so I feel it's worth seeing the latter once, plus a partly new cast for The Cellist given it involves Magri. I'm not keen enough to pay a high ticket price for the double bill though.

Edited October 7, 2023 by Dawnstar
Typo. I always seem to be typing "performance" incorrectly, which is unfortunate for a regular theatregoer!

[Balletfanp]

I’m feeling rather sorry for Meaghan. From her Instagram it plainly means a lot to her to be given this chance, and it’s rather sad that people are returning their tickets. Perfectly understandable, if you have paid to see a dancer you like, and she is now being replaced by someone you aren’t keen on - but still a shame for her.

 

Whilst she isn’t in my ‘must see’ list of dancers, one way or another I have seen a lot of her in various roles over the years, and I have to say she is one of very few dancers I don’t think I’ve ever seen put a foot wrong technically over the years in some tricky roles (and I can’t say as much for quite a few Principals!). You know that you are going to see, at the very least, a solid performance from her, and I’ve been impressed by her in some roles (she was a very moving Justine in Frankenstein, for instance, and a sweet and exuberant Vera in Month). I’m almost wishing I had bought a ticket for that Don Q cast now because I don’t think I’d be returning it - I’d be curious to see what she makes of it, and I think she’ll be a good match for Luca. Sadly, I have to save my money now for performances later in the season as a trip up from Plymouth each time isn’t cheap!

[offmenu]

Put me in the pro-Meaghan camp. I think she’s a fabulous dancer and will make an exceptional Kitri, if her Gertrudis is anything to go by.