Autumn 2024-25 Royal Ballet & Opera pricing

[Fonty]

It seems to me to be totally hypocritical that the people in charge of the ROH should keep going on about ballet and opera being seen as elitist, and wanting to make the experience more "inclusive".   Then they ramp the prices up to such an eye watering level that it looks as if they are actually trying to increase the number of wealthy people attending.  While those of us regulars on more normal incomes have to think very, very carefully about going at all.  .  Is this all part of a Cunning Plan of some sort?  And if so, what, I wonder?  Who exactly are they trying to "include"?

[zxDaveM]

6 minutes ago, Fonty said:

Who exactly are they trying to "include"?

 

youngsters with wealthy parents

[OnePigeon]

It’s just a tick box exercise in inclusivity, so they run the young ROH scheme, school matinees, Friday Rush for those of us able to access our accounts at 1pm (not me, I’m at work earning my not very high wage) and those very cheap standing tickets they like to mention.  Then there are the NHS and other chosen organisations that they possibly/allegedly give discounted tickets to on some occasions, possibly.  They welcome a new audience by encouraging social media influencers and programme some works that might engage a different audience and it’s tick that box, job done.  Meanwhile, many of us find ourselves feeling increasingly priced out. 
 

The arts is in a difficult position at the moment and I do have a lot of sympathy for the ROH:  it must be a nightmare with funding being slashed, ACE dictating so much of your programming decisions and now paying back the COVID loan, but pricing out and alienating your key audience is really not the way forward.

[Fonty]

I was just thinking back to when I was a child.  Apart from the touring companies coming to my local town, my mother used to take me to see matinees at the ROH from the age of about 8.  She was a housewife, and my father was a nurse, so nobody would have described us as a wealthy family by any stretch of the imagination.  Yet she managed to afford to buy two tickets to see some of the most wonderful dancers in the world.  I look back now and think how lucky I was, and feel sad that so many children from ordinary backgrounds will probably never get the chance to experience such beauty.  

[San Perregrino]

45 minutes ago, OnePigeon said:

Friday Rush for those of us able to access our accounts at 1pm (not me, I’m at work earning my not very high wage)

I dont believe that Friday Rush tickets are priced any cheaper than regular tickets? 
Similarly standing tickets are cheap because they come without a seat (and generally but always with some kind of restricted view).

Edited May 5 by San Perregrino

[Dawnstar]

Yes, the Friday rush tickets are not reduced, they're the same price as other tickets in their vicinity. The only reason they're at the mid to lower end of the price range is because they're either restricted view (row C side stalls circle benches), a very distant view (amphitheatre somewhere around row S), or standing places (balcony).

[OnePigeon]

3 hours ago, San Perregrino said:

I dont believe that Friday Rush tickets are priced any cheaper than regular tickets? 
Similarly standing tickets are cheap because they come without a seat (and generally but always with some kind of restricted view).

Friday Rush tickets are usually offered in the cheaper seating areas.  My point is that they use Friday Rush and the cheap standing tickets as positive examples of how they offer tickets in a range of prices which demonstrate how even those less well off can still attend, which they do up to a point, but realistically there are not many of them and the point is that all other ticket prices are far too high.

[FionaM]

From what I can gather, ticket prices are insufficiently high to cover the real cost of ballet and opera at RBO.

 

The RBO therefore have to rely on state support and private sponsors to keep ticket prices at this level.  I doubt there is much they can do to squeeze costs anywhere including on the quality and lavishness of productions.   That is what distinguishes the RBO from elsewhere. 
 

Whilst productions are selling well, if not as fast as before, then with my financier’s hat on I can see why they are testing higher prices. 

[alison]

I'm just wondering what the top prices for Nutcracker this year were, and how they compare with those for Cinderella?  I seem to remember that the standing tickets were £8, as compared with £14 for Cinderella.  Wonder whether all this actually represents an increase in income for the ROH, or whether that is offset by the costs incurred by the extra length?

[zxDaveM]

Nutcracker SC standing was £12 last December/January

[bridiem]

13 hours ago, FionaM said:

From what I can gather, ticket prices are insufficiently high to cover the real cost of ballet and opera at RBO.

 

No, but they never will/could be - the question is how to balance ticket prices/income with income from the other sources, and whether the right decisions are being made in this respect.

[Linnzi5]

16 hours ago, alison said:

I'm just wondering what the top prices for Nutcracker this year were, and how they compare with those for Cinderella?  I seem to remember that the standing tickets were £8, as compared with £14 for Cinderella.  Wonder whether all this actually represents an increase in income for the ROH, or whether that is offset by the costs incurred by the extra length?

I sat towards the back of the stalls for Nutcracker and my tickets were £153 each - not the most expensive but the next tier down. I think nearer the front they were £165ish or maybe £170?  I'm sure someone can correct me if I'm wrong. I sat in the stalls for Cinderella last run (similar seats to the ones for Nutcracker) and paid £161 each last time - so more expensive than Nutcracker. As far as I can see, if seating tier  prices in the stalls remain the same, then the equivalent ticket for me the next run would be £169 - so an increase of £8 per ticket. I am not upset about that increase, personally.  Alice is a similar price, which does seem expensive to me, but I'm not as motivated to see that, I may not go. Not sure yet. I'll be interested to see the prices for R&J and Onegin, but am guessing they'll be similar?

[MJW]

Top price for the Nutcrcacker last Winter was £160

[alison]

8 hours ago, zxDaveM said:

Nutcracker SC standing was £12 last December/January

 

Thanks. It must be the previous year I was thinking of, then.

[JohnS]

I’ve moved the pricing posts that were in RB SEASON 24/25 Announced into this topic so hopefully all the pricing comments are together.

 

I’ve been in touch with Friends and Customer Services about the suspected Fidelio error and flagged up another oddity. For Maddaddam the highest price Amphitheatre ticket is shown as £63, some 43% of the £145 top price. All other ballets charge 60% of the top price for best seats in the Amphitheatre. Also there are 5 prices for Stalls and no other ballet has 5 prices. I wonder if the £83 shown as the 5th price in the Stalls should actually be the top price for the Amphitheatre? Hopefully there’ll be an amended price grid. But it’s the seat maps which are needed as seats move between price categories for different productions and we end up with multiple seat maps. Whilst that might generate additional revenue if tickets are sold without discounting, it raises all sorts of questions as to fairness. Why are Swan Lake prices for stalls circle sides bench seats more expensive than for all opera (save Das Rheingold) and from what I recall even the Pappano Gala (sold out so the seat map isn’t available)?

[Dawnstar]

2 hours ago, JohnS said:

Why are Swan Lake prices for stalls circle sides bench seats more expensive than for all opera (save Das Rheingold) and from what I recall even the Pappano Gala (sold out so the seat map isn’t available)?

 

I feel like I've said this already recently but can't find it on this thread, so apologies if I'm repeating myself. The row C side stalls circle bench seats are £55 for the Pappano Gala vs £75 for Swan Lake. Given the top prices are £175 vs £500 (at least that's the most expensive price I've seen for the Gala, though as there are various dining & reception packages I suppose they could be more), it seems very odd for some of the mid-price seats to be £20 cheaper for the Gala.

[alison]

It's all so completely random, isn't it?

[bridiem]

6 minutes ago, alison said:

It's all so completely random, isn't it?

 

You do get that impression, which is pretty worrying (and annoying!).

[Dawnstar]

The seat map for the Pappano Gala is currently viewable, as there are a few seats available (only at £500 before anyone gets their hopes up!), so I've been able to have another look at the sides of the stalls circle & in addition to row C at £55, the row B benches are split between £90 for the 5 seats nearest the stage on each side and £130 for the rest of the two benches (compared to £118 for the whole benches for Swan Lake) and row A in front of the benches is £255 (compared to £159 for Swan Lake). So, working forward, the prices go from being cheaper to being more expensive compared to Swan Lake. I for one can't make any sense of it.

[JohnS]

Many thanks @Dawnstar. I was pretty sure some of the bench seats for the Gala are cheaper than Swan Lake so I’m very grateful you’ve been able to confirm that. I think the real problem leading to all the inconsistencies/unfairness has been the multiplicity of seat maps with seats moving from one price category to another depending on the production and different numbers of price categories per production. Let’s see what the Autumn 2024 seat maps reveal.

[San Perregrino]

1 hour ago, JohnS said:

Many thanks @Dawnstar. I was pretty sure some of the bench seats for the Gala are cheaper than Swan Lake so I’m very grateful you’ve been able to confirm that. I think the real problem leading to all the inconsistencies/unfairness has been the multiplicity of seat maps with seats moving from one price category to another depending on the production and different numbers of price categories per production. Let’s see what the Autumn 2024 seat maps reveal.

might different prices for different productions for the same seat reflect how restricted the view is for that particular production? eg a side view for Swan Lake will miss seeing half the corps at times whereas from a side view for Carmen it is still possible to see the singers as they are generally centre stage. 

[alison]

Somehow, I suspect that nobody's really considered that

[JohnS]

26 minutes ago, San Perregrino said:

might different prices for different productions for the same seat reflect how restricted the view is for that particular production? eg a side view for Swan Lake will miss seeing half the corps at times whereas from a side view for Carmen it is still possible to see the singers as they are generally centre stage. 

 
But Swan Lake Stalls Circle sides bench seats are £118 (B16 to B26). For Carmen they’re £97 (B26) or £78 (B16).

[Dawnstar]

31 minutes ago, San Perregrino said:

might different prices for different productions for the same seat reflect how restricted the view is for that particular production? eg a side view for Swan Lake will miss seeing half the corps at times whereas from a side view for Carmen it is still possible to see the singers as they are generally centre stage. 

 

By that logic the row C side stalls circle bench seats should be much more expensive for the Pappano Gala than for Swan Lake, rather than £20 cheaper! And yes, I agree with @alison that in general that doesn't seem to be considered, given how frequently in the last couple of seasons ballet tickets have been more expensive than opera ones for the side stalls circle bench seats.

[JohnS]

I’ve had a fair amount of email correspondence with Friends Membership (copied to Customer Services) and in the last few days with Alex Beard.

 

The upshot is that the ROH have confirmed that the pricing grid circulated by Friends on 3 May is correct.

 

I have to say I am very surprised. 

 

I was fully expecting that a revised pricing grid would have been circulated. But with the prices being confirmed, questions are now more about the justification for what seem to be quite bizarre decisions.

 

I’ve included my the correspondence below. There is some duplication in first contacting Alex Beard but I thought it easier for completeness to include the text.

 

My last email (no 10) asks questions as to the justification for pricing decisions.

 

Correspondence with Friends/Customer Services

 

1. On 3 May 2024, at 17:54, Friends of the Royal Opera House The Friday Friends newsletter including the Autumn pricing grid.

 

2. My email to Friends May 6, 2024 5:37 PM

 

Many thanks for the email and the Autumn prices in the grid you included.

 

I’m pretty sure there are some errors in the price grid. Fidelio shows £152 as the highest price for the Amphitheatre but it looks to me that £152 should have been displayed as the 5th price for the Stalls. That would then mean Fidelio had the same pattern of prices as Figaro and Traviata which all have the same top price (£245).

 

I spoke to the Box Office on Saturday and they thought Fidelio was incorrectly shown.

 

Having looked again at the grid, I wonder if there’s an error with Maddaddam? The highest price Amphitheatre ticket is shown as £63, some 43% of the £145 top price. All other ballets charge 60% of the top price for best seats in the Amphitheatre. I wonder if the £83 shown as the 5th price in the Stalls should actually be the top price for the Amphitheatre? No other ballet shows 5 Stalls prices.

 

Given the likely errors in the grid sent out, I do wonder if there may well be other problems and what more could be done to improve the robustness of data.

 

I think the grid would be much more usable if productions were grouped by price so that there were fewer rows and less chance of transportation errors. Figaro, Traviata and Fidelio could all be shown against one row of prices. Similarly Eugene Onegin, Tosca and Boheme on one row; and Alice and Cinderella on their row.

 

Hoffman, Hansel & Gretel, Encounters and Maddaddam would each need their own row as they have their own prices.

 

But 7 rows rather than 12 is easier to read and it would be clearer to sense check the pricing patterns.

 

I’m rather hoping when we have the seat maps we’ll see some useful lessons have been learned from the current season’s experimental pricing. I’m really concerned that ballet Stalls Circle sides bench seats are far too expensive - £118 for a very poor seat for the current Swan Lake (67% of the top price), more expensive than for all operas, and even the Tony Pappano gala. It’s the same price charged for the slightly restricted Balcony seats A33 & A55 which I often book and which provide excellent value for money - a comfortable seat, fabulous acoustics, and a pretty good view. I can guess that for Cinderella and Alice the price of the bench seats comes down to £114 (60% of the top price) although still more expensive than all opera bar Hoffman. But without the seat maps, it’s not possible to be definitive. The Box Office suggested we’re likely to have to wait until the end of the month for the seat maps to be published on the web and I’ll look forward to seeing them.

 

I’d be very grateful if you’d pass my comments on to colleagues who prepared the grid as I think you might want to circulate a revised grid.

 

3. On 9 May 2024, at 13:20, Membership wrote:

 

As you have mentioned, this is a new way of presenting prices to our Friends and Patrons, and the feedback has generally been very positive. I do appreciate that for a large booking period such as the autumn there is a lot of information to convey and absorb. Most Friends and Patrons prefer to look at pricing by individual production so we will not be reconfiguring and recirculating but thanks again for the suggestion.  

 

I am pleased to confirm that there are no errors, the prices sent out are accurate and the seat maps will be available before booking for Friends to see pricing by individual seat.  

In terms of our wider pricing strategy, we are always optimising our pricing, attempting to balance the cost with the relative value of each seat according to the experience it gives. Therefore, this Season some ticket prices will have gone up, some will have gone down, and others will have stayed the same. Having a range of prices across the House means we can offer more accessible and affordable tickets in our venue. As I am sure you know tickets all across the House are subsidised by generous funding from philanthropic donations and our Arts Council England grant. Whichever seat Friends and other ticket buyers book, they are recipients of this subsidy.  

 

4. My email to Friends 9 May 2024, at 17:22:

 

I’m afraid I struggle very much with your confirmation that there are no errors in the price grid circulated to Friends.

 

Figaro, Traviata and Fidelio all have the same top price for the best tickets in the Stalls/Grand Tier -£245. I would have expected the prices for seats in other parts of the house to be the same for the three productions. And to a large extent they are. But there are three crucial differences.

 

The grid shows Fidelio most extensive amphitheatre price as £152. For Figaro and Traviata the most expensive Amphitheatre price is £101. Hoffman, the most expensive opera with top price tickets at £300, is £141 for the best Amphitheatre seats. 

 

The second key difference is that Figaro and Traviata have 5 Stalls prices whereas Fidelio only has 4 Stalls prices. The fifth price for Figaro and Traviata is £152. 

 

Thirdly Figaro and Traviata have 5 Amphitheatre prices but Fidelio has 6. The extra Fidelio price is £152.

 

I have to say it looks highly likely that the £152 is shown incorrectly for Fidelio as an Amphitheatre price when it should be a Stalls price. When I showed the Box Office team the grid, they thought that was the case.

 

So as I say I struggle to see how the grid circulated can be confirmed as being correct.

 

I also think there’s a problem with the Maddaddam prices as I set out in my first email.

 

Might it be the case that whoever is confirming prices are correct doesn’t have the price grid that was circulated to Friends? I wouldn’t be surprised if prices are correct [in schedules by production] but have they been properly displayed in the price grid circulated to Friends? I just can’t see how they can be.

 

I wish I could cut and paste the grid you circulated to highlight the problems - simply showing Figaro, Traviata and Fidelio prices for Stalls and the Amphitheatre but it’s a PDF so I can’t readily do that.

 

5. My email to Friends Friday, May 10, 2024 7:47 AM

 

Here are the extracts from the price grid circulated last Friday which hopefully flag up the points I set out again in my email yesterday evening:

 

Production	Stalls	Amphitheatre
Figaro/Traviata	£245 £229 £199 £178 £152	£101 £81 £51 £24 £12
Fidelio	£245 £229 £199 £178	£152 £101 £81 £51 £24 £12
Maddaddam	£145 £120 £112 £105 £83	£63 £44 £25 £12 £8

 

The Fidelio £152 is shown as the top price for the Amphitheatre whereas it is shown as the 5th price in the Stalls for Figaro and Traviata. It seems highly likely to me that the Fidelio £152 Amphitheatre is an error and should be shown as the 5th price in the Stalls. Hoffman, the most expensive opera, has £141 as the top price for the Amphitheatre so it seems extraordinary for Fidelio to have a higher price.

 

I think there is a strong likelihood that the Maddaddam £83 shown in the Stalls should actually be the top price for the Amphitheatre. That would sit much more comfortably with other ballets where the top amphitheatre price is some 60% of the most expensive Stalls/Grand Tier seats. I cannot be as sure about Maddaddam as there are too few ballets to compare and no other ballet with a £145 top price but I think it is likely there’s an error and certainly well with checking again.

 

If these errors are confirmed, I do wonder if there may be other (probably less significant) errors as something might have gone awry in taking prices from several data sets and putting them into the pricing grid circulated. Hopefully the seat maps will be correct as any problems may be more to do with the compilation of the price grid.

 

I’ve taken an interest in pricing in recent years and have corresponded with Alex Beard, particularly on the current season’s experimental pricing. I’m afraid my old audit and accounting skills still make me look critically at figures and sense check patterns in data.

 

I hope this is helpful.

 

6. On 10 May 2024, at 12:11, Membership wrote:

 

I am happy to confirm once again that the pricing we sent last Friday is correct. 

 

Correspondence with Alex Beard

 

7. My email to Alex Beard 10 May 2024, at 12:58:

It’s some time since I was last in touch about pricing and I think you were going to publish some lessons learned about experimental pricing which I’m sure will be of interest.

Rather than wait for your article, I thought I should write now as I have some questions about the pricing information that has been released. Friends circulated a price grid last Friday prior to publishing seat maps on the website. I have had some correspondence with Friends and Customer Services, and Friends have confirmed that the price grid is correct.

 

The table below provides extracts from the price grid circulated last Friday which hopefully flag up the points I have raised with Friends and Customer Services and when talking to the Box Office team last weekend:

 

Production	Stalls	Amphitheatre
Figaro/Traviata	£245 £229 £199 £178 £152	£101 £81 £51 £24 £12
Fidelio	£245 £229 £199 £178	£152 £101 £81 £51 £24 £12
Maddaddam	£145 £120 £112 £105 £83	£63 £44 £25 £12 £8

 

The Fidelio £152 is shown as the top price for the Amphitheatre whereas it is shown as the 5th price in the Stalls for Figaro and Traviata. It seems highly likely to me that the Fidelio £152 Amphitheatre is an error and should be shown as the 5th price in the Stalls. Hoffman, the most expensive opera, has £141 as the top price for the Amphitheatre so it seems extraordinary for Fidelio to have a higher price.

 

I think there is a strong likelihood that the Maddaddam £83 shown in the Stalls should actually be the top price for the Amphitheatre. That would sit much more comfortably with other ballets where the top amphitheatre price is some 60% of the most expensive Stalls/Grand Tier seats. I cannot be as sure about Maddaddam as there are too few ballets to compare and no other ballet with a £145 top price but I think it is likely there’s an error and is worth checking.

 

If these errors are confirmed, I do wonder if there may be other (probably less significant) errors as something might have gone awry in taking prices from several data sets and putting them into the pricing grid circulated. Hopefully the seat maps will be correct as any problems may be more to do with the compilation of the price grid.

 

I have to say I find it very difficult to believe that Friday’s price grid is 100% correct.

 

As regards your lessons learned, I think experimental pricing is bedding down. The one area that still really concerns me are the ballet prices for Stalls Circle sides bench seats which are £118 for Swan Lake. That is more than for all operas and for some seats even more than for the Tony Pappano Gala where for example B16 is £90. I’m looking forward to seeing the Seat maps when they are available.

 

I hope this is helpful and would of course be happy to discuss.

 

8. My email to Alex Beard Monday, May 13, 2024 9:55 AM
 

Further to my email below, I wondered if there was a glitch in my iPad and I’d picked up a corrupted price grid. But I get the same price grid when I use my iMac so I do struggle to believe the price grid is correct.

 

I thought a little further about the grid and realised there are already prices for this summer’s Tosca with a top price of £245. I appreciate Tosca next season has a £270 top price but there are of course three operas next season with a £245 top price.

 

When I look at this summer’s Tosca, the most expensive Amphitheatre tickets are £118 so that yet again raises questions as to whether the Amphitheatre seats are correctly shown - £101 for Figaro and Traviata and £110 for next season’s Tosca.

 

Or has there been a massive rethink and Amphitheatre prices are being cut - save for the £151 for Fidelio which first caught my attention?

 

But if there is a major rethink of prices, I’m very surprised there hasn’t been any announcement and we simply have a circulated price grid. However, I doubt that prices would be cut given inflation and the Royal Ballet & Opera’s financial position.

 

So I rather suspect the price grid includes a few gremlins despite the assurances I’ve received that prices are correct.

9. On 14 May 2024, at 11:19, Alex Beard wrote:

 

Thank you for your emails. The comparisons between next year’s prices and current seat maps are impacted by some further optimising of bands, attempting to align better cost with the relative value of each seat according to the experience it give, and forecast demand for individual titles. Therefore, some tickets prices have gone up, some have gone down, and others have stayed the same. On the specific points raised, the tables supplied are correct. The Fidelio Amphitheatre top price is £152, Tosca £110 and Maddadam £63.  

 

Our pricing strategy is designed to give us insight, feedback and intelligence which will inform future pricing. We are determined to keep our prices at an affordable and accessible level and this intelligence will help us do that despite the financial pressures we continue to face. I can assure you that all our pricing decisions are data led and done carefully on a production-by-production basis. 

As you mentioned I did suggest that we share some of our learnings in the Friends' magazine. As we are still testing now is not the time, but I know the editorial team would like to commission an article at some point exploring the wider decision making process around programming a season and it seems to me pricing would fit well in that context. 

10. My email to Alex Beard 15 May 2024

 

I’m very grateful to have your reply but have to say I don’t think I’ve ever been more surprised as I was convinced some errors had crept in when compiling the price grid. But as you have confirmed that the price grid is correct, I’m afraid that leads to many questions about the pricing decisions.

 

For Fidelio how can the £152 for best Amphitheatre seats be justified? That’s 62% of the top price (£245).

 

For Figaro and Traviata, the same £245 top price, best Amphitheatre seats are £101, 41% of the top price.

 

For Eugene Onegin, Tosca and Boheme, all £270 top price, best Amphitheatre seats are £110, again 41% of the top price.

 

For Hoffman, the most expensive opera with a £300 top price, best Amphitheatre seats are £141, 47% of the top price.

 

I don’t know how well tickets have sold during the current season and what discounting has been undertaken but I’d got the impression that seat maps in the Spring and Summer had become reasonably stable with some fine tuning (for example having extra price categories for Stalls and Grand Tier albeit opera not ballet). With the publication of the Autumn price grid, I can’t help but wonder if experimental pricing is beginning afresh, but perhaps a new variant. 

 

If there’s a concern that this season’s experimental pricing has been too ambitious with prices being set too high, charging £152 for Fidelio best Amphitheatre seats seems even more extraordinary and so completely at odds with all other productions.

 

I note your assurance that:

 “… all our pricing decisions are data led and done carefully on a production-by-production basis.”

I’d be fascinated to see what evidence there is to justify the £152 for Fidelio best Amphitheatre seats and yet that evidence supports charging just £245 for the top price.

 

I think I welcome your comments about:

“attempting to align better cost with the relative value of each seat according to the experience it gives.”

A little too impenetrable for me but I applaud the wish to have a closer relationship between the ticket price for the seat and the value of the experience from that seat. It’s also about ensuring there is fairness in pricing: paying more for good seats with unrestricted views and good acoustics and less for poorer seats with restricted views and possibly unbalanced acoustics. But the easiest way to demonstrate fairness is to have much greater consistency in seat maps and where there is a clear pattern when comparing the seat price as a percentage of the top price albeit there may well be good reasons for having different maps and patterns for opera and ballet. I know I’ve banged on about the need for greater consistency in seat maps and pricing for a long time but the Fidelio £152 for best Amphitheatre seats screams out as being wrong. The Swan Lake £118 for the Stalls Circle Sides bench seats is another example which to me looks grossly unfair. 

 

Tosca seats for July are of course on sale now. The best Amphitheatre seats are £118. But in the Autumn, the price falls to £110. Putting to one side casting and specific dates, why would Amphitheatre audiences book for July? Why not return tickets already booked? And there may well be a ripple effect across the Amphitheatre with other prices being lower for the autumn than for July but we’ll have to wait for the seat maps for the detail. What consideration has been given to bookings for July’s Tosca when announcing lower prices for Autumn’s Tosca?

 

When seat maps are published I’ll be very interested to look at a number of specific seats across productions as it’s only when the detail is available that proper analysis can be undertaken. I’d like to think that analysis has been carried out in house by those who proposed Autumn pricing and for all those who are responsible for approving pricing. Do you have any plans to publish the analysis?

 

Publication of the pricing grid has attracted comment on Ballet Forum and I’ll update the Forum with the confirmation that the pricing grid is correct, most probably when travelling to London tomorrow for the Tony Pappano Gala.

 

 

[Dawnstar]

Thank you for all that information @JohnS, though their doubling down on some of the pricing decisions, for me especially that of the side stalls circle bench seats, is somewhat depressing.

[bridiem]

Thank you so much for all your work on this, @JohnS. I find the ROH responses baffling, infuriating and depressing in about equal measures. It feels as if they are just playing around with pricing (regardless of logic and regardless of the impact on 'customers') to see what happens, so they can then claim that any future changes are 'data-led'. I won't say any more because there's clearly no point.

[JohnS]

Many thanks @Dawnstar. I think when we get the seat maps there will be some lower prices for some seats. Swan Lake top prices £175 and £118 in the Amphitheatre: next season Cinderella/Alice top prices £190 and £114 (I think) in the Amphitheatre best seats. But without the seat maps we can’t tell whether there have been any changes for the Stalls Circle sides bench seats. B16 at £90 for the Tony Pappano Gala plus a free glass of champagne suggests to me that prices for the seats nearest the stage should be well below £90.

[Dawnstar]

8 minutes ago, JohnS said:

B16 at £90 for the Tony Pappano Gala plus a free glass of champagne suggests to me that prices for the seats nearest the stage should be well below £90.

 

I quite agree with that. I'm still baffled that my seat for the Pappano Gala tonight is £20 cheaper than my Swan Lake seats. And I won't even be having the free champagne as I only drink water!

[Blossom]

@Sophoife posted this insightful article about ROH's commercial plans to offset their c£17.5m deficit in this morning's links. I think it provides some much needed perspective. Hopefully these sorts of corporate partnerships will be fruitful and will longterm impact things like pricing. Until then, it feels that ROH are between a rock and a hard place...

[San Perregrino]

43 minutes ago, Blossom said:

@Sophoife posted this insightful article about ROH's commercial plans to offset their c£17.5m deficit in this morning's links. I think it provides some much needed perspective. Hopefully these sorts of corporate partnerships will be fruitful and will longterm impact things like pricing. Until then, it feels that ROH are between a rock and a hard place...

For me, what is depressing is that the ‘ideas’ of the new, I assume, salaried Chief Commercial Officer have all been mooted repeatedly by members of this forum. Free, gratis and for nothing. 
 

I’ve heard recently that the recent name change will necessitate a new website, it’s not “as simple” as highlighting “Royal Opera” and replacing with “Royal Ballet & Opera”….
 

[Geoff]

2 minutes ago, San Perregrino said:

I’ve heard recently that the recent name change will necessitate a new website, it’s not “as simple” as highlighting “Royal Opera” and replacing with “Royal Ballet & Opera”….

Oh my sainted aunt. A new website? Costing as much as the current one? And supplied by the same company who has given us the last years of hell???
 

Is there no end to this? 

[JaneHartley]

So I thought I'd make my first post here, after being a lurker. The prices shocked me when I saw them for the new season, even more so due to their inability to shift tickets at their current price. 

 

The Winter's Tale is now being discounted at 40% (although notably not for Nunez or Cuthbertson's performances) from £140. I am willing to wager that Alice is going to be really difficult for RB to shift at £190, particularly since of the 10 performers announced in principal roles 4 of them are not principals and it doesn't include any of the most popular principals - Nunez, Osipova or Vadim (and not even Cuthbertson who created the role) whose ticket sells out quickest for all the ballets. 

Edited Friday at 17:54 by JaneHartley