MacMillan Triple bill info

[Fonty]

31 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:

If not everyone has received an emailed discount code then it is obviously targeted and not for sharing on a public forum.

 

We are more than aware that the companies do keep an eye on the Forum and we would not want to be censured by them.  Hence no discount sharing unless it is in the public domain eg on the likes of Travel Zoo etc.

 

Oh ok, fair enough. I don't want to cause a problem.  However, the ROH won't be reading my private messages (or emails)..... 

[Peanut68]

I agree wholeheartedly with your first paragraph TSR101 but also am mindful that moderators may well have to be rather restrictive where businesses/charities are concerned hence suggest not sharing on forum. 
 

Edited March 3 by Peanut68

[Jan McNulty]

14 minutes ago, TSR101 said:

 

I don’t see why moderators are essentially compounding this by acting as unpaid guardians of the ROH, enforcing a moral code not even required by the institution itself.

 

This would apply to any company where the offer was targeted and not in the public domain.

[Emeralds]

Never mind, wait long enough and they will be on Today Tix at 50% off    😉 

 

If they had cast Yasmine Naghdi on those dates in Danses Concertantes they wouldn't have this problem 😀.

 

Also, marketing dept needs to get their act together and make more announcements about it on social media instead of advertising the £1 streaming service offer endlessly.

[San Perregrino]

1 hour ago, Peanut68 said:

gift so many as they seem to do to RBS students & ROH staff to fill seats

 

can you please provide documented evidence to back up this statement? 

a lot of ill will was generated in the autumn season by discussion of hearsay and the spreading of gossip about 'free seats to friends & family'  and the 'papering' of the house.  however, when requested forum members were unable to provide documented evidence to support these rumours.

[Peanut68]

Certainly I cannot provide documented info! But do hear that students I know get tickets very regularly. Again, these will most often be last minute opportunities for unsold tickets. I have no real problem with this except that it is not money generated & as it is clear shows can sell out I feel RIH needs to address their marketing/sales/programming/pricing so all shows sell out! 

[Missfrankiecat]

2 hours ago, PeterS said:

 

can you please provide documented evidence to back up this statement? 

a lot of ill will was generated in the autumn season by discussion of hearsay and the spreading of gossip about 'free seats to friends & family'  and the 'papering' of the house.  however, when requested forum members were unable to provide documented evidence to support these rumours.

I can't provide documents - who other than an employee whistle-blower could?  But I certainly spoke to a BRB dancer seated beside me (2nd Row Stalls Circle) for Woolf Works last year who was open that he and others had been comp'ed tickets that day if they could make it.  He plainly knew others who were seated in the balcony.  I should add, I have no issue with dancers and students getting free tix if not sold - frankly I think them more deserving than supporters who can afford regular paid attendance getting discounts - but it is pretty naive not to believe it is happening for the non-classical shows.

Edited March 3 by Missfrankiecat

[Emeralds]

I don't see any logic to this "privileged access" to discounted tickets offered to some patrons and not to others.

 

I don't feel "priviliged" or "special" when I get sent offers by ROH for shows I cannot attend (how are they to know? They have my address, duh, and they know 2,255 of us do not drive in because there aren't 2,200 parking spaces on the ROH premises)when it's a rail strike day or if it's for a production I have already had a mailing about and did not book. I feel irritated more than anything else Because it's a waste of my time.

 

Never mind whether it is secretive or not, it's not really my job to pass on discount codes to other patrons that ROH have neglected to email! (That said, of course if a member here was asking to go to a production I had a code for, I might offer it privately out of kindness. If I bought a ticket for them to attend with me it's the same thing.)

 

But I stress again- it's not our job. They should be mailing it out to everyone who is a Friend or everyone who has booked this season (depending on how desperate they are.....and judging by 200 or more unsold seats per show- pretty desperate.)

 

The notion that they don't want the entire auditorium to pay only 60% is also nonsensical. They've only limited it to the top 2 prices. They can also limit which seating areas eg if they feel the front or best row should not be discounted then make that area off limits for discounting- the software does it for Young ROH already. 

 

That said, with 20 March looming in less than 3 weeks I don't really see how they can be fussy. In being unrealistically fanciful that 100 people will suddenly emerge from nowhere to pay over £50 for a ballet ticket when they haven't already done so ....that's basically cloud cuckoo land thinking.

 

As of this moment, there are still over 200 unsold seats for opening night. And opening night is usually well filled up because free tickets go out to critics to review and publicise your show plus tickets obtained for family, colleagues and friends of performers to watch debuts (some friends and relatives buy their own tickets) so to have so many unsold seats (even the slips!) means hardly anyone has bought tickets. 

 

Better to offer 30% or 40% off everything unsold to your most loyal supporters and fill up all the seats thah to sell just a small number at full price and a handful at a discount while huge swathes are left unpaid and unbought. I fear that nowadays the finance department doesn't have basic skills in arithmetic or are possessed of more optimism than common sense. Also- still no posters advertising the triple bill or advertising on social media at all this weekend. 

 

Fact: there has been only ONE post on Facebook about the MacMillan triple bill.since 2024 began and that was on 18 Feb. That's all! Nothing else since. I don’t subscribe to Instagram or Twitter but I doubt they're posting weekly about the triple bill if there are no emails or FB posts. The ROH Streaming service is advertised on FB 3 or 4 times a week. Manon has had posts at least once a week. The MacMillan triple bill is pretty much being staged iin secret .....what gives? 

 

Edited March 4 by Emeralds

[Blossom]

7 hours ago, Emeralds said:

 

 

That said, with 20 March looming in less than 3 weeks I don't really see how they can be fussy. In being unrealistically fanciful that 100 people will suddenly emerge from nowhere to pay over £50 for a ballet ticket when they haven't already done so ....that's basically cloud cuckoo land thinking.

 

As of this moment, there are still over 200 unsold seats for opening night. And opening night is usually well filled up because free tickets go out to critics to review and publicise your show plus tickets obtained for family, colleagues and friends of performers to watch debuts (some friends and relatives buy their own tickets) so to have so many unsold seats (even the slips!) means hardly anyone has bought tickets. 

 

Better to offer 30% or 40% off everything unsold to your most loyal supporters and fill up all the seats thah to sell just a small number at full price and a handful at a discount while huge swathes are left unpaid and unbought. I fear that nowadays the finance department doesn't have basic skills in arithmetic or are possessed of more optimism than common sense. Also- still no posters advertising the triple bill or advertising on social media at all this weekend. 

 

Fact: there has been only ONE post on Facebook about the MacMillan triple bill.since 2024 began and that was on 18 Feb. That's all! Nothing else since. I don’t subscribe to Instagram or Twitter but I doubt they're posting weekly about the triple bill if there are no emails or FB posts. The ROH Streaming service is advertised on FB 3 or 4 times a week. Manon has had posts at least once a week. The MacMillan triple bill is pretty much being staged iin secret .....what gives? 

 

I would return to the original topic of the thread- the issue is that the information is so limited that nobody really knows what these pieces are about or who MacMillan is. The challenge is selling something blind, offering discounts for first night has certainly filled most of the house but for sustainable sales, they really need to get some preview material out into the public domain 

[alison]

Yes.  When I looked for photos of Different Drummer online, the only thing I came up with was the two black-and-white ones from the original production (and the programme for last time).  Surely they must at least still have some photos from 2008 which would arouse more interest.  (Unfortunately, any photos the original Ballet.co had wouldn't be accessible).  Something similar presumably applies to Danses Concertantes, although that dates from even earlier.  Just something to at least give some visual interest - along with Requiem, which has loads of lovely sculptural images (I know - I would have one or two on my wall if they weren't still in storage). 

[bangorballetboy]

There are loads of pictures of Different Drummer to be found online, some particularly wonderful ones of Ed Watson & Leanne Benjamin.  

[Ian Macmillan]

Possibly here?   

 

[alison]

1 hour ago, bangorballetboy said:

There are loads of pictures of Different Drummer to be found online, some particularly wonderful ones of Ed Watson & Leanne Benjamin.  

 

Obviously I didn't use the same search parameters as you did, then  

[Fonty]

I think the one thing we can say with complete assurance is that two out of the three ballets will not exactly be a bunch of laughs.  I am assuming that Dances Concertantes will be the first of the triple, which will lure those unfamiliar with the other works into thinking this will be a feel good evening.  

[bridiem]

7 minutes ago, Fonty said:

I think the one thing we can say with complete assurance is that two out of the three ballets will not exactly be a bunch of laughs.  I am assuming that Dances Concertantes will be the first of the triple, which will lure those unfamiliar with the other works into thinking this will be a feel good evening.  

 

I'm not sure that anyone is going to expect a ballet called 'Requiem' to be a bunch of laughs... but I find it upliftingly beautiful, which is perhaps even better.

[alison]

And I will make sure I take tissues this time ...

[Dawnstar]

16 hours ago, Emeralds said:

Fact: there has been only ONE post on Facebook about the MacMillan triple bill.since 2024 began and that was on 18 Feb. That's all! Nothing else since. I don’t subscribe to Instagram or Twitter but I doubt they're posting weekly about the triple bill if there are no emails or FB posts. The ROH Streaming service is advertised on FB 3 or 4 times a week. Manon has had posts at least once a week. The MacMillan triple bill is pretty much being staged iin secret .....what gives?

 

I've just checked Twitter and indeed there's only been a single one, on 18th February, on there as well. I assume they will have some more posts nearer the time but given they are evidently not happy with the advanced sales, given the discount some people have been offered, then more posts further in advance would seem to be a good idea.

[DelphiumBlue]

Interesting points .

 

For what it’s worth, I have seen fairly regular posts about the MacMillan triple bill on Instagram. But as was mentioned earlier, with zero information about the 3 ballets themselves. 

I really was in 2 minds about booking …even or perhaps especially when I looked up the ballets - but eventually took the plunge and have bought a seat for opening night. Not in the price range to be discounted though - were I ever to splash out to that degree, it would have to be for something I absolutely wanted to see, such as Fille.  

 

[JNC]

9 hours ago, Blossom said:

I would return to the original topic of the thread- the issue is that the information is so limited that nobody really knows what these pieces are about or who MacMillan is

I agree with this. Why aren’t there more photos on the website page for it? It’s just one picture of leotards that doesn’t tell me much, and it’s only even for one ballet out of three.

 

There’s one brief paragraph of background with each ballet getting one sentence. There’s a lot of “ballet insider” information in there as well - name checking de Valois and Cranko and so to someone new/unfamiliar with ballet it’s probably not really helpful information to be honest. I would have focussed on MacMillan as a choreographer and perhaps the music used (classical etc) and perhaps the number of dancers and types of formations etc (the type of wording you might see more in a review in the paper for example). The titles of the works themselves also don’t really tell you much (with the exception of requiem perhaps). It’s all too abstract - if you know you know and if you don’t well go off and research it yourself! Not great. 
 

But ultimately I think more photos or a short video clip embedded into the webpage would communicate and sell this better. At the moment if you don’t know MacMillan or haven’t seen the ballets before there’s nothing that would make you book. And to be honest, how many people are going to go and search for more information themselves? You lose a lot of people by this way, and the people who would do this are more likely to be interested and would have booked anyway to give it a go.

 

to be honest I have only booked because I enjoyed MacMillan’s concerto and for the “novelty” of seeing works I haven’t seen before in ROH. But honestly I have no idea if I’ll like these pieces or no idea of what to expect at all really given the information is so limited. As I’ve booked I’m happy to go in “blind” and hope for the best but if I was trying to sell this to friends, or I was someone with no ballet knowledge I would really struggle to take the risk and pay out. 

Edited March 4 by JNC

[OnePigeon]

Yes indeed, I’m going to see this on my own as nobody else I know was interested.  They’re not exactly my first choice Macmillan works either.  The only advertising I see about it on Facebook is the red RB graphic which merely says Macmillan casting now announced, with no other info - not exactly enticing is it?

[Lizbie1]

I don't think it's been ROH marketing's finest hour (come to think of it, what was their finest hour?) but looking at the seat maps I can't see that sales to date are disastrous.

[Fonty]

10 minutes ago, OnePigeon said:

Yes indeed, I’m going to see this on my own as nobody else I know was interested.  They’re not exactly my first choice Macmillan works either.  The only advertising I see about it on Facebook is the red RB graphic which merely says Macmillan casting now announced, with no other info - not exactly enticing is it?

 

Requiem is beautiful, but it is also very sad.  I haven't seen it for years, but I remember seeing it with Leanne Benjamin years ago and thinking it was wonderful.  In order to find out more about the other ballets, I did a web search which took me straight to the Kenneth MacMillan web page.  Very interesting and informative, and why on earth the ROH couldn't have taken a couple of sentences from the information about each ballet, or even provided a web link I do now know.  

[JNC]

Presumably they’ll have the same issue with enticing people to the cinema live streams as well…

 

A few years back I remember thinking they also did a terrible job promoting La Bayadere. It was just a sort of blurry/long exposure picture of a bunch of dancers standing in a group of white tutus. No photos of the majestic shades scene, or the other dramatic costumes or plot. I didn’t book initially but then did my own research and found out the shades scene was meant to be among the best in classical ballet and I’m so glad I went. But they could have sold it so much better to people who know Swan Lake, Giselle etc…

[Mary]

I do agree, and given the success of this run of Manon, they could have connected the triple bill with that, in a more informative and imaginative marketing campaign. They could even advertise the next production in the building, which did use to happen I think, rather than just having pictures of old productions, ballet shoes etc pretty as they are.

 

It would be nice if a bit more effort was made to educate and inspire the audience.

 

The question is, why is this not happening? It seems very strange.... and what do the RB themselves think about it? If they ran the marketing of themselves, what would they do, I wonder?

 

 

 

 

[Dawnstar]

39 minutes ago, JNC said:

I agree with this. Why aren’t there more photos on the website page for it? It’s just one picture of leotards that doesn’t tell me much, and it’s only even for one ballet out of three.

 

I confess I'm not actually sure which ballet it is that the photo is from. I'm guessing it's Danses Concertantes, given I assume Different Drummer will have individual character costumes rather than a group & when I saw Marianna Tsembenhoi dancing an extract from Requiem 2 years ago she was wearing a dress rather than a leotard, but I'm not actually certain.

[Blossom]

40 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

I confess I'm not actually sure which ballet it is that the photo is from. I'm guessing it's Danses Concertantes, given I assume Different Drummer will have individual character costumes rather than a group & when I saw Marianna Tsembenhoi dancing an extract from Requiem 2 years ago she was wearing a dress rather than a leotard, but I'm not actually certain.

Actually it's for Requiem

[Dawnstar]

25 minutes ago, Blossom said:

Actually it's for Requiem

 

Thanks. Interesting. That's not how I was imagining Requiem. I suppose that's another indication that the ROH could do more to inform potential audiences about the 3 ballets.

[Roberta]

3 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

That's not how I was imagining Requiem

 

There is a three minute extract from Requiem embedded here, PDD. dating from 1987.  Vladimir Klos, Susanne Hanke Stuttgarter Ballett Japan Tour 1987. Date : Oct, 1987.

 

 

https://www.kennethmacmillan.com/requiem-1

 

There is also a YouTube of Leanne Benjamin  search for Requiem Leanne Benjamin from Kabaiivansko2  YouTube channel. Music is divine 

 

 

• First performance: Württembergische Staatstheater, Stuttgart, 28 November 1976

• Company: Stuttgart Ballet

• Cast: Marcia Haydée, Birgit Keil, Richard Cragun Egon Madsen, Reid Anderson

• Music: Gabriel Fauré, Requiem

• Design: Yolanda Sonnabend

• Benesh notation score: Jane Bourne, Georgette Tsinguirides (1976). Working score

 

Edited March 4 by Roberta

[alison]

When I looked at it, YouTube kindly provided me with a trailer for Initialen R.M.B.E. (hope I've got those in the right order!) followed by Requiem, so you may be able to get at that too.

[Emeralds]

13 hours ago, alison said:

When I looked at it, YouTube kindly provided me with a trailer for Initialen R.M.B.E. (hope I've got those in the right order!) followed by Requiem, so you may be able to get at that too.

Initials R.B.M.E. (or Initialen R.B.M.E. in Germany)....lovely ballet by Cranko and affectionate tribute/gift to dancers Richard Cragun, Birgit Keil, Marcia Haydée and Egon Madsen. 

 

(But I must admit I always double check  online before quoting as I can never trust myself that RBME is the correct order!)

[Emeralds]

I think a lot of our members and readers who haven't seen any of the ballets will like Danses Concertantes and Requiem. Requiem used to be programmed really  frequently (I feel like I can see it in my sleep!) that to have a number of members not knowing it means it's really been out of the repertory for too long. 

 

@Dawnstar, at the Dance for Ukraine gala in 2022, the closing solo danced by Marianna Tsembenhoi in the white costume is from Requiem- it's the Pie Jesu solo for the central role ballerina. I think Lauren Cuthbertson (who is dancing it on the first night) used to dance the Agnus Dei role (solo danced to Agnus Dei) which is traditionally for a tall ballerina and the Pie Jesu for a more petite ballerina but Cuthbertson can do both as she's medium height.

 

The Faure Requiem is one of the most beautiful Requiems ever written, imho. It's actually quite an uplifting ballet at the end although the first part is full of sorrow of course, like the music.  If you look closely at the photo on the website you can just about spot Marianela Nunez in the front I believe (in the Agnus Dei role which she is dancing again- the Agnus Dei ballerina is the only one with purple spashes and lines on the leotard) in one of the group dances. 

 

Different Drummer has wonderful music (MacMillan always picked great music- the marketing team could have emphasised that if it decided to start doing some marketing of the triple bill) even though it is quite an expressionist ballet in some parts. It's the bleakest of the three ballets in this triple bill but nowhere as bleak as Akram Khan's Creature, The Invitation or even Anastasia (whether full length or just Act 3). It's also very short compared to a full length Anastasia or Creature. 

 

For Danses Concertantes the Georgiadis costumes look a bit like a noir, chic version of those for Rubies from Jewwls - similar type of "skirt" (no clicking "jewels" though).... coincidentally the music is also by Stravinsky! On the surface the choreography feels like a mash up of Rubies and Ashton's Scenes de ballet- although DC is older than Jewels - quirky, fast and witty, but classical. It is probably the one MacMillan ballet that doesn't feel MacMillan-ish (looks nothing like Manon or Mayerling or Concerto, and nobody dies!) yet in the choreography when you look closely you can see his beautiful classical invention and musicality, which are very MacMillan. 

Edited March 5 by Emeralds

[Blossom]

Finally, a proper preview piece on Gramilano. I’m sure @Jan McNulty will have this in tomorrow’s links!

[Roberta]

20 hours ago, alison said:

When I looked at it, YouTube kindly provided me with a trailer for Initialen R.M.B.E. (hope I've got those in the right order!) followed by Requiem, so you may be able to get at that too.

 

Was it this? Official link, and a very interesting and informative comment underneath the trailer.