Booking at ENO

[alison]

We give the Royal Opera House enough stick for its booking system on these pages, so it seems to me to be only fair to do the same for the London Coliseum when the occasion warrants.  I've been at my computer for an hour and a half now, merely trying to book a ticket for Sweeney Todd, starring Bryn Terfel (I'm not actually concerned about casting: I just love Sweeney Todd).

 

I got onto the site about half an hour before booking opened, intending to make sure I was logged in and everything to speed progress, and found myself already in the waiting-room, so I couldn't.  Got in to book by about 10.10, and selected my performance.  Then tried to log in.  Found a note saying that if you hadn't logged in in the past year please send off for a password reminder - I presume this is since they started the new, ghastly website.  So I did so, and guess what - an hour later I'm still waiting to be reminded of my password.  So I tried to start a new account with another one of my email addresses: Internal System Error.  So I'm stuck here wondering if I'm ever actually going to book myself a ticket or not before they all sell out. 

 

Very poor show.

[alison]

First temporary password has finally come through after nearly an hour.  Guess what: it doesn't work.  It's probably been superseded by all the other ones I've requested, thinking that the request hadn't gone through.  Pathetic.

[alison]

And oh look, now it's booted me back out into the waiting-room, where there are now 1200 people ahead of me in the queue.  Sound familiar?

 

GRRRRRR!!!

[LinMM]

Well in the end might have been quicker to book in person!!!

[Bruce Wall]

I had the same difficulty as Alison when I went in just after 11.00 am ... with over 1700 people ahead of me.  (I book time off for the ROH multi bookings - but refuse to do that for a musical at the Coliseum.)  I finally gave up.  Didn't have the time to waste waiting and wasn't that bothered about not seeing the Sweeney Todd if it came down to it.  I'm sure there would be standing - They are not in a position, after all, to turn away dosh.  (As it was I'd already seen Terfel sing it with Maria Friedman at the RFH - and actually didn't think it was all that fantastic .... but was interested to see Emma Thompson ... not having seen her on stage since Look Back in Anger - and that was after Me and My Girl but still a LONG time ago.)  Went in just now ... no waiting room .... and i STILL got a £10 seat.  (Wasn't going to pay any more .... )  Guess I just got lucky the second time around.  

[Fiz]

My daughter is so upset about this. She saw it in 2012 with Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton and wanted to see this version. It was filmed in New York before it came here but it isn't the same.

[alison]

Well in the end might have been quicker to book in person!!!

 

Perhaps, but since it would have cost me rather more than the ticket did to get up there and back, not to mention the loss of income (although I've actually lost quite a bit today anyway) that wasn't a viable option.

 

Anyway, in the end I rang the box office.  The first time it was engaged, but the second time I got through in about 20 minutes.  Unfortunately, the rest of the time I had to put up with having arias blasted at me - and they were on a loop which wasn't nearly long enough for the waiting time.