Guest Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 Calvert has now reappeared at one performance only (May 14) Something very strange going on with the website! Or changes of plan on the part of the choreographer? Or (again!) insufficient time to rehearse multiple casts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duck Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 Oh, so that's Osipova is it, with the old guttering candle cliché? If the candle is representing a specific person, I would think it may be Alessandra Ferri who, based on an article referred to earlier in this blog, is playing the role of Virginia Woolf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duck Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 Calvert has now reappeared at one performance only (May 14) Something very strange going on with the website! It looks like an error on the web site to me. Currently the cast on May 14th has one more male dancer/ one less female dancer than all the other performances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booklover89 Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 Oh, I don't know - I hadn't even realised it was supposed to be anyone in particular, so I doubt anyone will be looking at those posters and going "OMG, it's Osipova! I must go and see it" I didn't even realise it was a candle! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavycapers Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Can anyone tell me why the tickets for Woolf Works are so much cheaper than for the normal run of productions at the ROH? I myself am beyond excited at the prospect of seeing Alessandra Ferri finally. The rest of the line up is pretty stunning as well. So why are the tickets so much cheaper? Alessandra Ferri, dancing Juliet when she was young, is the only person who has ever really convinced me that Juliet was only 14 years old. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 I assume because it is a new work by a more contemporary choreographer based on relatively obscure/difficult subject matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavycapers Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Yes, I guess so, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPD444 Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Looking at the tickets still unsold for most nights it appears they are still over-priced. The management will have to do a fire sale or the theatre will be 3 parts empty which could be very embarrassing for Macgregor. I have bought for the first night but am feeling a bit of trepidation over what I might have to sit through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 There *is* usually one "contemporary" bill per season which is sold at particularly low prices. That's usually top price of around £40, so actually pricing it at the standard mixed-bill rate is maybe a little high. Also, I doubt that it will be a "full-evening" work in the usual sense of 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLOSS Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 I understand that targets are set for ticket sales. If insufficient tickets are sold for a particular work it puts a big question mark over the possibility of revival in later seasons. Management may have felt that only allowing students to buy tickets in the Amphitheatre for first night was going to ensure that there was an enthusiastic audience response to this work.The popular ticket prices were clearly intended to get the audience in and so far the strategy has not worked that well. 100+ tickets unsold for every other performance of a new work except the premiere is not something that I have seen before. I wonder how long they can afford to use price hikes for popular works to cross subsidize McGregor's works like this? It is another one of his works that is being supported in the same way next year. It suggests that there is not a ready audience of any size for such pieces and that they are experiencing some difficulty in building one. There is a danger that at some point people will stop paying up for anything except Nutcracker and other really popular works. A theatre like Covent Garden can not survive on passing trade.It is one of the reasons why the first booking period is so long and expensive for regular ballet and opera goers. It gives them money upfront for the best part of five months as the season opens. . What happens if the new work gets panned by the critics and then the regulars who will be there on the second and subsequent nights start warning everyone off and put any other tickets that they may have for back for resale? Worse still for Kevin what happens if the casting for next season does not persuade us to spend? The consensus seems to be that next season is not very exciting on paper. Then there is the American Tour. I wonder how well tickets are selling? There is some suggestion that not everyone is that happy about the programmes being offered at the Kennedy Centre which I understand has been changed to Don Q and at the Koch Theatre where one of the ballets is being replaced by a somewhat eclectic offering of gala odds and ends. Potentially a very interesting summer for the Royal Ballet management team. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duck Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 The ROH web site now shows "Ballet Essentials" for Woolf Works - http://www.roh.org.uk/news/ballet-essentials-woolf-works, and the response to a web site comment states that rehearsal footage will follow. Wayne McGregor said at the Insight Evening that the cast for Orlando would have two sets of costume each - one female, one male. I am currently reading Virginia Woolfe's Orlando, and have just got to the events when Orlando wakes up as a woman and puts on clothing that can be worn by a man or a woman. Bearing mind that McGregor's choreography will be non-narrative, I am looking forward to seeing how the different kits of costume will be used by the dancers (and whether the three female figures that appear during Orlando's sleep make any appearance in the ballet). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 I think I must be just a bit ahead of you there, Duck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duck Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 I think I must be just a bit ahead of you there, Duck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arky Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 As you say, Floss, there are well over 100 tickets left for each performance (apart from the dedicated student amphitheatre one) & a look at the seating plans shows just how poor the sales are. Taking two performances at random - 1. 100+ in both amphitheatre & orchestra stalls, 59 balcony, 52 grand tier, & 68 stalls circle makes a total of 379 plus - life's too short to count & discover how many over 100 in the amphi!. 2. !00 + in amphi, balcony, stalls circle and orchestra stalls, and 74 in grand tier gives a total of 474 plus. After Raven Girl I am not even tempted to buy one ticket, even though some of my favourite dancers will be performing. What a pity that next season Connectome has been placed with Raven Girl - I would have liked to see Connectome again, but there are limits!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxDaveM Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 After Raven Girl I am not even tempted to buy one ticket, even though some of my favourite dancers will be performing. What a pity that next season Connectome has been placed with Raven Girl - I would have liked to see Connectome again, but there are limits!! The tickets are so cheap, you could watch Connectome and then get an early night! :-) Whilst I wasn't a huge fan of Raven Girl (mainly cos of the gloom and that darn scrim/screen all the way through), there WERE some lovely parts to it (e.g. the final pdd was glorious, I thought; the part where all the crows/ravens flew over the rooftops; the arm to wing transition (virtually the only part where the scrim was valid, to my mind)) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mallinson Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 My impression from what was said at the season preview was that there will be more light on the scene. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arky Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 zxDaveM, yes, but there's still the train fare into London on top, so it's hardly worth it, though I suppose that I could find something else to do in London beforehand to justify the trip ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Arky, we must have taken different dates at random, then. For the ones I looked at, my reaction was "Eek! I thought people said there were loads of tickets left?" 100+, on its own, is not all that uncommon for performances at the ROH, and when spread around the house it's not necessarily that many. I've often looked at the amphi when it's shown as 100+, thinking, oh, there are plenty of tickets still available, and it hasn't seemed like much at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunrise Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 It could be that the tickets start to sell once the performances start and the reviews are out (good or bad)? Alessandra Ferri might still be a draw to those who won't know she's in it until there's more publicity in the media. I agree, 100+ seats on their own is not that uncommon - there were a few Filles with that many empty seats last month, but they've all pretty much sold out in the run up to performances. Having said that, I'm content with my memories of Ferri last time she was here, and to wait and see what everyone else says first :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arky Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Alison. It's far from the odd hundred, though figures will alter day by day; down as sales are made and up with returns.! Mon 11 May 25 (student amphi ) Wed 13 May 370+ Thur 14 May 426+ Fri 15 May 303+ Wed 20 May 384+ Thur 21 May 474+ Sat 23 May 386+ Tues 26 May 452+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Well, that's still an 80% or so sales rate, isn't it? I thought from the fuss that was being made that it was about half that! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLOSS Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 They may all sell. But that number of unsold tickets for a new work is not usual. It is not I think something that the management will be taking that lightly.The impression I got when Alex Beard spoke to the London Ballet Circle was that everyone was very happy with ticket sales for the ballet. and that all the time the Director shows that he knows what he is doing, knows his audience and can grow it and is able to meet whatever targets ACE decides to set all is well and there will be little or no interference from the Board.But if sales are not up to the mark and/or the US Tour does not go to plan that could all change particularly as the cuts in public funding begin to bite.I wonder what the Board's view will be if ticket sales are slow for booking period one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxDaveM Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 I'd guess that folk are hanging back, awaiting reaction to it. If hugely positive, the remainder will get snapped up. If rather negative, then.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxDaveM Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Well, that's still an 80% or so sales rate, isn't it? I thought from the fuss that was being made that it was about half that! depends on how big the '+' is - on quick inspection (visually - I wasn't going to count empty seats) some do look more towards the 50-60% sold. I personally hope its terrific - beautifully lit, strongly but exquisitely danced, and with a striking production/staging, and goes on to sell like hot cakes 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 I'd guess that folk are hanging back, awaiting reaction to it. If hugely positive, the remainder will get snapped up. If rather negative, then.... And possibly some, like me, are hanging back because they know they can: if I can fit them onto next month's credit card bill rather than this month's along with the rest of my summer bookings, then so much the better. I grabbed the things I knew were going to sell fast, and decided to wait for the others, especially since I had no idea what my schedule was going to be like in May. Some other people will also doubtless be hanging back in the hopes of getting some bargain offers, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleaden94 Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 For those who were not there in person to watch this insight event, here is a video of Woolf Work rehearsals that has just been uploaded onto Youtube I personally can't wait to watch this when I get back from the library! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Wall Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 Was the full name of 'Virginia Woolf' actually ever mentioned by McGregor in that almost 15 minute clip? I am uncertain. Liked the Sibelius suggestion of the Richter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duck Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 (edited) For those who were not there in person to watch this insight event, here is a video of Woolf Work rehearsals that has just been uploaded onto Youtube I personally can't wait to watch this when I get back from the library! Thank you so much for posting this. I was lucky to get a return ticket for the Insight Event for Woolf Works, and watching the video has transported me right back to the event. I am still fascinated by how quickly and fluidly any corrections are taken up and integrated into the dancing. I can't wait to see the finished product in less than two week's time. Edited to remove the link to the video in the quotation so as to shorten my post. Edited April 29, 2015 by Duck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 Very interesting. I like the point McGregor makes that he never sits down in rehearsal, as he likes to walk round and see the dance from all angles. (Perhaps he might try seeing it from some of the cheaper seats too!) Isn't Ed Watson marvellous ( very unoriginal comment!) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duck Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 Was the full name of 'Virginia Woolf' actually ever mentioned by McGregor in that almost 15 minute clip? I am uncertain. Liked the Sibelius suggestion of the Richter. I believe the presenter mentioned Virginia Woolf as part of her introduction to the evening and then handed over to Wayne McGregor for the first rehearsal. As the first rehearsal has now been put on-line in full, I am hopeful that this will also be done for the second rehearsal (with Alessandra Ferri and Federico Bonelli) and some of the panel discussion, all before the opening night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booklover89 Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 Ed loves those practice clothes, doesn't he Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 Barely ever wears anything else, from what I can see 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleaden94 Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 Does anyone find it weird that the cast has been altered without letting us know? Calvert and Nunez have disappeared from the lists Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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