Royal Ballet Spring 2024

[alison]

It didn't meet the "in all areas" criterion, I guess.  The offer I got reduced seats to just over £50.  The ROH must have sufficient data on me to know that I never pay that much.  What they wouldn't have known was that there was no way I'd even contemplate paying anything like that for that particular bill.  I did go, in the end, but on a far cheaper ticket.  

 

They did send me a couple of good offers for operas last summer, but unfortunately I was in the throes of moving house at the time and couldn't consider them.

[bridiem]

12 minutes ago, PeterS said:

I know of one offer of 25% discount on top 5 price bands for the first 3 performances of Anemoi/The Cellist that went to people who had previously booked a ballet at the ROH.

 

I didn't receive this offer, so it wasn't sent to everyone who had booked before (or even to all Friends - I'm a Friend). 

[Emeralds]

56 minutes ago, PeterS said:

@Emeralds We all have our views on the current pricing model however this is quite an accusation. 
Can you tell me how many performances are affected and how many tickets? 

 

I know of one offer of 25% discount on top 5 price bands for the first 3 performances of Anemoi/The Cellist that went to people who had previously booked a ballet at the ROH. This would seem to be, at least in part, what you wanted?

If the uptake wasn’t sufficient then I suppose this or another offer was extended to others. 

Nope, that's not what I advised, @PeterS- you didn't  read it properly.  25-30% for ALL prices.

 

I didn't say embezzlement, fraud or corruption or whatever you think mismanagement means. If you have a job and you don't carry it out sensibly but make ludicrous decisions, that's mismanaging. 

 

It's  both petty and (more importantly) financially unsound to just restrict the first discount to the top 3 prices. If audiences were not sufficiently convinced to pay £50, £29 or £26, they are not going to be enticed by £110 being reduced to £77!

 

Logically you only restrict the discounts to the top 3 prices if ALL the other prices have sold out while the top three prices remain unsold. It's what you do at a supermarket, market stall or cake stand ...sales knowledge  101. I fear some of the sales leadership/decision makers may possibly have never actually sold any  merchandise before they took such a high responsibility job at ROH! 

 

What you don't do is slash only the top price when everything is struggling...then attempt to unload everything at a ridiculous reduction to only a select group with limited means. 

 

There also seems to be a strange obsession at ROH with not reducing the lower priced tickets which is very poor marketing technique. A loss of £1 or £2.90 per ticket makes no difference if your house can go from  half empty to three quarters full or even 99% full.

 

But hanging on to 100% price for the lower prices tells your customers, "if you won't pay more than £50 we are not giving you the same treatment", to which the automatic gut reaction is "If that's your attitude then I'm not coming. At all. Although I could afford £80 a ticket. And I live just 10 minutes away by tube." 

 

Don't forget, they also didn't offer it to all Friends or most patrons who booked. 

 

Currently, 25 Oct has over one thousand seats unsold. All the remaining 5 dates have similar problems (faring slightly better on the Cuthbertson/Ball/Sambe dates, unsurprisingly). 

 

As a comparison, the Ashton triple bill just 2 seasons ago with 5-6 principals every show cost just £96 in one area....that same area for this double bill is now £116. And while some dates for Anemoi/Cellist have 3 principals, the other dates don't.  And unlike the Ashton triple bill, none of the Anemoi-Cellist dates have Nunez, Muntagirov or Osipova (whom the sales leadership should know now are major creators of box office income). I should emphasise this isn't the fault of the dancers- they are excellent at what they do. But with overpriced seats and a too-long run, they are put in an unfair position. 

Edited October 23, 2023 by Emeralds
For clarity and a typo over the date

[Emeralds]

20 minutes ago, Mary said:

Isn't this the Khan Giselle thread?

 

It is, Mary,   🙂 but I got asked the question so I answered  and I don't have the authority/responsibility to move posts, or I'd offer to help do it.

 

I  think as a discussion point and an educational point (should the ROH board/management care to get some free feedback/teaching without paying management consultants and whatnot) this topic would benefit many in the theatre business (or I wouldn't have bothered to answer). 

 

The ROH still have over 2000 unsold seats less than 1 week away from the performances. I really don't care how they sell them- whether it's by giving away a free main course at their restaurants per ticket or by reducing everything by 50% to everyone....just do it. I have actually bought 3 tickets for this bill to help them out but declined to use either the 25% discount or £30 offer (which one of my 2 friends actually qualifies for) - we don't want to end up sitting in 3 different levels of the house. 

Edited October 23, 2023 by Emeralds
For clarity

[Jan McNulty]

I very rarely have a drink before a performance unless it is with a meal.

 

Many years ago, I was going to BRB's Sleeping Beauty with a work chum and we were persuaded to go to the pub before we went to our meal.  Suffice to say, I've never done that again!  I was seeing 2 Princess Auroras (and the rest of the cast) through the performance!

[Fonty]

26 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:

I very rarely have a drink before a performance unless it is with a meal.

 

 

Your post has reminded me of the times when I used to go to the ROH with a dear departed friend and we would occasionally treat ourselves to a meal in the Amphitheatre restaurant.  In those days it was a 2 or 3 course set menu, which didn't break the bank, and we used to share a bottle of the house red.  As your table was reserved for you throughout the performance. we could slowly sip our wine during the intervals and feel very pampered.  Ah, happy days.  Looking at the menu now I wonder if they are having a laugh.  £12 for a bowl of soup?  £26 for chicken and mushroom pie?  And extra for any vegetables?  You must be joking!  And yet underneath this, there is the message "Thank you for supporting the future of ballet, opera, dance and music."  I wonder how much of the price paid for the meal goes to support those causes?  And would they get more if they charged less (if you get my meaning)?  That restaurant used to be buzzing.  I haven't looked recently, is it still full?

Edited October 23, 2023 by Fonty

[art_enthusiast]

2 hours ago, Emeralds said:

It's  both petty and (more importantly) financially unsound to just restrict the first discount to the top 3 prices. If audiences were not sufficiently convinced to pay £50, £29 or £26, they are not going to be enticed by £110 being reduced to £77!

 

Ha, I agree. I was though, am going tonight as I used that discount for my favourite Orchestra Stalls seat. But mainly because this is my first time seeing the Cellist live.

 

I agree that this double bill is massively overpriced for what it's offering - as others have suggested, the inclusion of a third work like Tchaikovsky pas de deux or Dances at a Gathering may have justified such steep prices.

[San Perregrino]

2 hours ago, Emeralds said:

Nope, that's not what I advised, @PeterS- you didn't  read it properly.  25-30% for ALL prices.

 

I didn't say embezzlement, fraud or corruption or whatever you think mismanagement means. If you have a job and you don't carry it out sensibly but make ludicrous decisions, that's mismanaging. 

 

It's  both petty and (more importantly) financially unsound to just restrict the first discount to the top 3 prices. If audiences were not sufficiently convinced to pay £50, £29 or £26, they are not going to be enticed by £110 being reduced to £77!

 

Logically you only restrict the discounts to the top 3 prices if ALL the other prices have sold out while the top three prices remain unsold. It's what you do at a supermarket, market stall or cake stand ...sales knowledge  101. I fear some of the sales leadership/decision makers may possibly have never actually sold any  merchandise before they took such a high responsibility job at ROH! 

 

What you don't do is slash only the top price when everything is struggling...then attempt to unload everything at a ridiculous reduction to only a select group with limited means. 

 

There also seems to be a strange obsession at ROH with not reducing the lower priced tickets which is very poor marketing technique. A loss of £1 or £2.90 per ticket makes no difference if your house can go from  half empty to three quarters full or even 99% full.

 

But hanging on to 100% price for the lower prices tells your customers, "if you won't pay more than £50 we are not giving you the same treatment", to which the automatic gut reaction is "If that's your attitude then I'm not coming. At all. Although I could afford £80 a ticket. And I live just 10 minutes away by tube." 

 

Don't forget, they also didn't offer it to all Friends or most patrons who booked. 

 

Currently, 25 Oct has over one thousand seats unsold. All the remaining 5 dates have similar problems (faring slightly better on the Cuthbertson/Ball/Sambe dates, unsurprisingly). 

 

As a comparison, the Ashton triple bill just 2 seasons ago with 5-6 principals every show cost just £96 in one area....that same area for this double bill is now £116. And while some dates for Anemoi/Cellist have 3 principals, the other dates don't.  And unlike the Ashton triple bill, none of the Anemoi-Cellist dates have Nunez, Muntagirov or Osipova (whom the sales leadership should know now are major creators of box office income). I should emphasise this isn't the fault of the dancers- they are excellent at what they do. But with overpriced seats and a too-long run, they are put in an unfair position. 

 

this seems to be a very emotive topic for some people.

i sought merely to provide input to the discussion and to get information to support your claims of "mismanagement" and that management were "throwing money away wantonly this season". 

i certainly don't know the whole picture and unless you work within the ROH there must be things that you don't know too.

 

i don't appreciate being told what i am or i am not thinking.  these days i don't always know what i 'm thinking so you can't possibly presume to know. 

i shall refrain from further comment.

 

 

[Sim]

1 hour ago, Jan McNulty said:

I very rarely have a drink before a performance unless it is with a meal.

 

Many years ago, I was going to BRB's Sleeping Beauty with a work chum and we were persuaded to go to the pub before we went to our meal.  Suffice to say, I've never done that again!  I was seeing 2 Princess Auroras (and the rest of the cast) through the performance!

On a very early date with my husband I got tickets for us to see Collier/Baryshnikov in R&J.  We met after work and went to a wine bar and had a bottle of wine with just a few nibbles to eat.  I had purchased good amphi seats (back in the days when they were still affordable) and was very excited.  Also, this was a deal-breaker.  If he hated it, we were done!    Anyway, the lights went down, the overture started....and within two minutes there was a low, rumbling sound in my ear.  Yep...he had fallen asleep before the curtains had risen.  I nudged him in the ribs and said that if he fell asleep again, there wouldn't be another date.  34 years later, here we are, and he loves the R&J music and ballet.  But I too learned never to drink before a show unless I had food in me as well. 

[Rachel H]

The last time I had a drink before a performance, it was when the Bolshoi were at the ROH, and were dancing 'Spartacus.' A late friend's birthday coincided with a double show day, and we went for a drink (or couple!) between shows to celebrate. 'Spartacus' after a drink is quite an experience! (Best way to watch it, some might say). I nearly jumped when that bombastic music started up, and thank goodness I didn't sing along. 😆 

[LinMM]

I know I shouldn’t …..but Sim as you mentioned Baryshnikov and Collier …..do you ever remember him dancing Fille? I remember a fantastic performance of him in Fille but can’t remember who was Lise but could have well been Collier. 

[Sim]

1 hour ago, LinMM said:

I know I shouldn’t …..but Sim as you mentioned Baryshnikov and Collier …..do you ever remember him dancing Fille? I remember a fantastic performance of him in Fille but can’t remember who was Lise but could have well been Collier. 

Sadly I never saw him dance Colas, but can only imagine how fab he was in the role!  It might well have been Collier as they danced together quite regularly whenever he guested at the RB.

 

Anyway, I think we should stop here before someone complains that we are throwing the thread off course!  Do please DM me if you find out who his Lise was.  

[Jane S]

Just to squeeze in one more - yes, it was Collier  - I saw them!

 

Edited to add:

 

But I think he did a couple with Jenner too

Edited October 23, 2023 by Jane S

[Odyssey]

33 minutes ago, Jane S said:

 

 

Edited to add:

 

But I think he did a couple with Jenner too

Yes, how I wish there was a recording of Jenner’s Fille.  She’s widely recognised as one of the best Lises.  

[Jamesrhblack]

1 hour ago, Jane S said:

Just to squeeze in one more - yes, it was Collier  - I saw them!

 

Edited to add:

 

But I think he did a couple with Jenner too

He certainly did. My late father took me to see them and I can still see them in my mind’s eye in the Fanny Essler pas de deux coda. I don’t think I have ever seen two people move quite as quickly again …

[LinMM]

I’ve continued Baryshnikov in the Ballet Miscellaneous thread!! 

[FLOSS]

I accept that both opera and ballet are labour intensive art forms and thus expensive to stage at the best of times and that there is no way that either resident company can escape the effects of inflation. As both companies are, at the very least, required to cover their operating costs some increase in ticket prices was to be expected.I assume that the ROH  received some financial support from the government while the house was closed during covid and that at some point it will be required to pay back the money the government lent it. 

 

Whether you are talking about the opera or ballet the repertory on offer this season is far from enticing.The ROH has been reduced to papering the house for both opera and ballet performances. Both resident companies seem to have lost touch with their audiences as far as repertory choices are concerned and neither seems to be aware that many people who used to attend the theatre on a regular basis lost the habit of regular theatre going during the pandemic. If either company wants audiences to attend their performances they have to offer something more enticing than operas in lacklustre modern productions which stage the opera the director thinks the composer and librettist should have written rather than the one they actually wrote and a ballet season largely based on Kevin's commissions of new works and new productions of after Petipa ballets. i am sure that there are those who will disagree with me but I don't think that it is the casting which is keeping audiences away from ballet performances but the actual choice of repertory  combined with what feel like pretty substantial price hikes.

 

The Royal Ballet is a company whose core repertory consists of ballets in which classically based dance vocabulary is used to create mood, character and express emotions.I am not sure that it needed to acquire Don Q a work which during the twentieth century was reduced by Soviet choreographers and ballet masters to little more than a "display of dance". Acosta's staging is awkward and over elaborate and does not make a convincing case for it. In addition it has been allocated far too many performances.Kevin had many other works in the back catalogue that he could and should have revived this season beginning with Fille perhaps followed by Sylvia.

 

As far as The Cellist mixed bill is concerned. Marston's Cellist is far too long and only manages to use the corps as so much moving scenery. She has great facility at creating steps and movements but for me they are devoid of meaning, characterisation or emotional depth. I congratulate those who manage to find something in it to cry over. Anemoi is a decent enough piece which does its job in providing an opportunity for the junior ranks of the company to show what they can do but it needs a much stronger companion work than The Cellist can provide. The Nutcracker still has not sold out its post Christmas performances and then there is the misconceived wrongheaded Swan Lake which Kevin commissioned from the late Liam Scarlett.

 

All in all this is a lacklustre season which only picks up with the Ashtonfest with which it ends. I just hope that the powers that be do not try to recover all their losses with these performances. 

 

 

 

 

[Bruce Wall]

46 minutes ago, FLOSS said:

The Royal Ballet is a company whose core repertory consists of ballets in which classically based dance vocabulary is used to create mood, character and express emotions.

 

@FLOSS I think your definition is a tad out of frame with the current times - certainly in light of the clear defines of the current Director for the Royal in terms of its foreseeable future prospects.   I fear mightily that you may always be disappointed under this regime.  Certainly I would have been suffering alongside you had I not made certain provisions for my own cultural 'balletic' needs / investments.  We can - as I've said elsewhere - only EVER live in the time that we do.  I have learned to celebrate the Royal Company for what it IS NOW.  I would find it hard to honestly criticise something or someone for not doing that which they never really intended to do/honour in the first place.  

 

Edited October 24, 2023 by Bruce Wall

[Dawnstar]

38 minutes ago, FLOSS said:

If either company wants audiences to attend their performances they have to offer something more enticing than operas in lacklustre modern productions which stage the opera the director thinks the composer and librettist should have written rather than the one they actually wrote

 

I completely agree with this. There are fewer & fewer ROH productions I am prepared to sit through nowadays, let alone that I actually find visually enjoyable. Admittedly since I'm seeing a lot of ballet instead the ROH is actually getting more money out of me but I imagine that will not be the case for a lot of operagoers.

[bridiem]

1 hour ago, Bruce Wall said:

 

@FLOSS I think your definition is a tad out of frame with the current times - certainly in light of the clear defines of the current Director for the Royal in terms of its foreseeable future prospects.   I fear mightily that you may always be disappointed under this regime.  Certainly I would have been suffering alongside you had I not made certain provisions for my own cultural 'balletic' needs / investments.  We can - as I've said elsewhere - only EVER live in the time that we do.  I have learned to celebrate the Royal Company for what it IS NOW.  I would find it hard to honestly criticise something or someone for not doing that which they never really intended to do/honour in the first place.  

 

 

When he was appointed director in 2011, KOH was quoted as saying: "I plan to bring together the most talented artists of the 21st Century to collaborate on the same stage - world-class dancers, choreographers, designers, and musicians," and "I will aim to use all the traditional and new platforms now available to engage our audiences in our classic repertoire, and The Royal Ballet's unique heritage." So he clearly did intend not just to look to new creators but also to honour the company's classic repertoire AND its 'unique heritage'.

[Bruce Wall]

5 minutes ago, bridiem said:

 

When he was appointed director in 2011, KOH was quoted as saying: "I plan to bring together the most talented artists of the 21st Century to collaborate on the same stage - world-class dancers, choreographers, designers, and musicians," and "I will aim to use all the traditional and new platforms now available to engage our audiences in our classic repertoire, and The Royal Ballet's unique heritage." So he clearly did intend not just to look to new creators but also to honour the company's classic repertoire AND its 'unique heritage'.

 

Thanks for this, @bridiem - and I'm sure he may well have done.  Still @FLOSS was I believe speaking about works that the current Royal Director had brought in/was supporting in terms of his Company's defining future.  It was this I sought to  comment upon, or certainly intended to in any event.  Sorry for the confusion.  

 

[Fonty]

@FLOSS I enjoyed Don Quixote.   I see nothing wrong with a light hearted ballet that enables a number of dancers to show off their technique in a selection of solos, with a less than serious story wrapped around it.  Whether or not it should have been commissioned in the first place I couldn't say.  There may be other ballets languishing in the RB's back catalogue that might have served the purpose equally well, but again I don't feel knowledgeable enough to pass comment.  

 

@Bruce Wall  You have written a number of posts saying we need to celebrate the Royal Ballet as it is now, with regard to its current productions and presumable the company's eager embracing of the modern contortion style of the likes of McGregor.  Well, sorry, but I for one don't feel the same way.  On that basis, surely the company could dance anything in any style, and we would be expected to "celebrate" it.  Hip hop?  Jazz?  Belly dancing?  I am always interested to see something new, and have enjoyed many of ENB's  works.  I applaud a choreographer experimenting with different styles of music.  I haven't seen the Black Sabbath production, but it sounds interesting and fun.  However, I am less than enthusiastic about choreographers producing a new piece that seems to be so far removed from classical ballet that I wonder why the RB is performing it in the first place. 

 

I know that MacMillan pushed the boundaries with many of his dramatic works, but it was still clearly based on classical ballet, and recognisable as such.  He also produced works created specifically in order to maintain the dancers' classical technique, so he was well aware of the pitfalls of being too experimental.  Wayne McGregor doesn't fit into that category at all.  Obviously he has his fans on here, and I have enjoyed some of his stuff, but I want the resident choreographer of a classical ballet company to be able to produce a new classical ballet work once in a while, or what's the point of them being there in the first place? If they are unable to do this, then either the RB brings in someone who can, or they mix McGregor's stuff with the back catalogue of classical works from MacMillan and Ashton.  Many of these are now seen so rarely that they would be new to much of the audience.  

 

At the moment, the balance is wrong, which is why I am going less and less.  

[Guest oncnp]

Seat map for Swan Lake and Danses concertantes mixed. A few seats not priced but better than last time. 

 

To add: if you click on the un-color-coded seats some will show a price 

 

Select your own seat (roh.org.uk) (Swan Lake)

 

Select your own seat (roh.org.uk)  (Danses concertantes mixed)

Edited October 25, 2023 by oncnp

[OnePigeon]

@Fonty I couldn’t agree more!  I don’t know why we need to just accept the premise that the RB is now a largely contemporary company - I’m not sure many of us want this and we need to make this clear, by talking here and anywhere else and voting with our feet.  I don’t accept that we should just forget about seeing Balanchine, Robbins, Cranko and most of Ashton and embrace McGregor.  If our British based dancers never get the opportunity to dance works by these choreographers, of course they won’t be able to do them enough justice, but I believe there is enough talent in the ranks that they could perform them given the opportunity.  It’s very narrow of the RB to place such emphasis on a handful of modern choreographers, many of whom have a questionable ballet background, some none at all, when there are interesting choreographers such as Peck and Ratmansky, or David Dawson, out there who could create work for the RB (if their contracts allow.) I have only seen a little of Zucchetti’s work, but it was certainly recognisably ballet and I would be more interested in his talent being nurtured than the programming of endless contemporary dance projects. 

[bridiem]

4 hours ago, oncnp said:

Seat map for Swan Lake and Danses concertantes mixed. A few seats not priced but better than last time. 

 

To add: if you click on the un-color-coded seats some will show a price 

 

Select your own seat (roh.org.uk) (Swan Lake)

 

Select your own seat (roh.org.uk)  (Danses concertantes mixed)

 

I can't believe that I'm actually relieved that 'my' Amphi tickets for Swan Lake are £55!!! (Manon = £63, so beyond the pale and I'm sitting further back and have booked fewer performances than I would have.) But will still have to restrict how many I book at that price (NOTE TO SELF...). 

[Dawnstar]

9 minutes ago, bridiem said:

I can't believe that I'm actually relieved that 'my' Amphi tickets for Swan Lake are £55!!! (Manon = £63, so beyond the pale and I'm sitting further back and have booked fewer performances than I would have.) But will still have to restrict how many I book at that price (NOTE TO SELF...). 

 

The variations in ticket prices between different seats & different ballets are making no sense this year. "My" stalls circle tickets are £49 for Manon & £75 for Swan Lake, which is a pretty big price difference, so how can other seats be cheaper for Swan Lake than for Manon?!

[Linnzi5]

1 hour ago, Dawnstar said:

 

The variations in ticket prices between different seats & different ballets are making no sense this year. "My" stalls circle tickets are £49 for Manon & £75 for Swan Lake, which is a pretty big price difference, so how can other seats be cheaper for Swan Lake than for Manon?!

That makes no sense. That Swan Lake tickets in the Amphi are less than Manon ones (as bridiem says) also makes no sense. My tickets, as I've said multiple times already, are really expensive for Swan Lake! if I decide to stay with my stalls seat, it is £168 for Swan Lake, when it was £138 in 2022. In comparison, my Manon one in January is £120! How can Swan Lake be so much more? 😡

[HelenHelen]

5 hours ago, oncnp said:

Seat map for Swan Lake and Danses concertantes mixed. A few seats not priced but better than last time. 

 

To add: if you click on the un-color-coded seats some will show a price 

 

Select your own seat (roh.org.uk) (Swan Lake)

 

Select your own seat (roh.org.uk)  (Danses concertantes mixed)

 

Phew, "my" front side amphitheatre seat is £35 for Swan Lake when it was £29 for the 2022 run. A relief after the prices for Don Quixote (£52) and Manon (£49). I can't understand the logic. Is that because they have noticed a difference in sales for those affected zones or because they know Swan Lake will sell out and make its money without requiring discounts, who knows.

Here's hoping the seat map stays the same by the time booking opens. I won't be booking multiple casts like last time (four plus SCS for the Ukraine gala, oops) so I will keep my fingers crossed for a Kaneko/Bracewell pairing and hope I can resist further temptation (or at least book an SCS spot that's not behind a high seat for another cast).

[Linnzi5]

16 minutes ago, HelenHelen said:

 

Phew, "my" front side amphitheatre seat is £35 for Swan Lake when it was £29 for the 2022 run. A relief after the prices for Don Quixote (£52) and Manon (£49). I can't understand the logic. Is that because they have noticed a difference in sales for those affected zones or because they know Swan Lake will sell out and make its money without requiring discounts, who knows.

Here's hoping the seat map stays the same by the time booking opens. I won't be booking multiple casts like last time (four plus SCS for the Ukraine gala, oops) so I will keep my fingers crossed for a Kaneko/Bracewell pairing and hope I can resist further temptation (or at least book an SCS spot that's not behind a high seat for another cast).

I don't think the increase for yours sounds awful but I think it's about a 20% increase? I guess mine is a similar amount too? Mine just sounds worse!  🤣 I think my maths is correct? 🤫 

Edit: I am really, really hoping for a Bracewell/Kaneko pairing. I didn't get it for Manon, so it's only fair it happens for Swan Lake, right? 🤫

Edited October 25, 2023 by Linnzi5

[HelenHelen]

1 minute ago, Linnzi5 said:

I don't think the increase for yours sounds awful but I think it's about a 20% increase? I guess mine is a similar amount too? Mine just sounds worse!  🤣 I think my maths is correct? 🤫

You're correct and normally I'd be huffy about that, but I was expecting it to be so much worse! Welcome to 2023, hey. (I know things are really tough for arts organisations and they need to raise money...)

[Guest oncnp]

8 minutes ago, Linnzi5 said:

!  

Edit: I am really, really hoping for a Bracewell/Kaneko pairing. I didn't get it for Manon, so it's only fair it happens for Swan Lake, right? 🤫

'Can't see KOH breaking up the pair that made the roles in 2018 so I think you will get your wish

[Bruce Wall]

6 hours ago, Fonty said:

At the moment, the balance is wrong, which is why I am going less and less.  

 

I entirely agree with you, @Fonty.  Please don't get me wrong in what I have written.  I, too, am going to the Royal Company less and less - JUST LIKE YOU.  In absolute fairness, I feel the Company's title should be rebranded given the future looking dedications of its current Director - such as I have heard with my own ears.  Will this happen?  I doubt it.  I have respected both what I heard and seen (in many ways I feel I have no choice) and have moved heaven and earth in terms of my own professional career so that, ultimately, I can achieve the balance you quote; one that we unquestionably share.  For ME it is THAT important.  I recently said to an authority at State Theater in NYC - If NYCB wasn't here I wouldn't be either!'.  I meant it.  It is just for this damned 'balance' issue.  As I have written previously we can ONLY live in the time we do and I believe I was patient in watching to see if the very real balance with the Royal might modify.  It hasn't. You can't make things other than they are in real time with wishing I've found.  Perhaps fate will be kinder to you - but certainly in the meantime we all - ALL OF US - have to make provisions based on our own judgements.  It seems @Fonty that THIS is EXACTLY what you are I currently doing and from recent ROH marketing reports it seems, sadly, that we are simply falling into line with certain chartered desires.  

 

[bridiem]

50 minutes ago, HelenHelen said:

Phew, "my" front side amphitheatre seat is £35 for Swan Lake when it was £29 for the 2022 run. A relief after the prices for Don Quixote (£52) and Manon (£49). I can't understand the logic. Is that because they have noticed a difference in sales for those affected zones or because they know Swan Lake will sell out and make its money without requiring discounts, who knows.

 

I think/hope that this may well be in response to the very poor sales in particular sections (especially) for recent programmes. e.g. front/side Amphi and side orchestra stalls were very obviously not selling at the higher prices. (Though I haven't checked the SL prices for side orchestra stalls, and I wouldn't know how they compared to previous prices anyway.) I hope that the persuasive info sent to Alex Beard by @JohnS has actually been absorbed too, so many thanks to him for all his work/analysis.