ROYAL BALLET AND OPERA: autumn booking and experiences 2024

[oncnp]

More information on the multi-buy orchestra stalls offer Orchestra Stalls offer (roh.org.uk)

 

THE OFFER
Buy tickets for three or more performances within a single transaction to get 15% off the total. This offer is available for Main Stage performances that are on sale at the same time. The tickets can be for performances of the same production or for different productions.

 

ACCESSING THE OFFER

You can choose any seats within the Orchestra Stalls through either our 'Use our seatmap' or 'Help me find a seat' functions. Adding tickets for three or more performances to your basket (in one transaction) activates the offer. The limit of nine tickets per performance applies. The offer will be automatically applied to your basket at checkout.

 

In the Autumn booking period, the offer is not available for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

 

 

[bangorballetboy]

Just to confirm that the 15% off stalls multi-buy offer worked fine on my booking this morning.  Applied automatically (and shown) once you put the ticket(s) for the third performance into your basket.

[JohnS]

Booking worked well for me although I hadn’t twigged Alice was excluded from the multi-buy - it’s clearly set out on the deals webpage so I’ll pay more attention for Winter booking.

 

Also the voluntary donation has changed from £3 to 4%, capped at £30. I’ve suggested it might be helpful to flag the change as I was unaware of  the new practice.

[oncnp]

19 minutes ago, JohnS said:

Booking worked well for me although I hadn’t twigged Alice was excluded from the multi-buy - it’s clearly set out on the deals webpage so I’ll pay more attention for Winter booking.

 

Also the voluntary donation has changed from £3 to 4%, capped at £30. I’ve suggested it might be helpful to flag the change as I was unaware of  the new practice.

Thank you for the heads up about the donation. I don't remember seeing anything about it (probably intentional - hoping no one will notice)  . They should put a big flag on it but suspect they won't

[Lizbie1]

15 hours ago, alison said:

Yep, and McAfee has taken a dislike to the new pages, flagging them as suspect   Guess we need to wait for them to "bed in", and be accepted by lots of people, before it decides they're okay.

 

Friends+ booking opened this morning (great timing!). I had a longer wait than usual on the sofa and it then took several minutes for the eventual redirect to happen, but after that everything seemed to work OK.

 

I'm not aware of any particularly hot tickets this Autumn and I followed my usual procedure so it may be that things are indeed still bedding in. I was pretty grateful that it wasn't Ashtonfest booking day - my nerves would have been shredded.

[Richard LH]

Happily booking went very smoothly for me this morning. Booked tickes are showing in the correct date order. The  site layout changes seem fine to me, although I can't see past bookings at the moment; fortunately I have these on a spreadsheet ☺️

[MJW]

This is the first time since I became a Friend that I haven't booked anything on the first day available. Although I will book something in due course for Alice, Cinderella and the contemporary works, nothing there causes me to rush out and buy!

 

 

[Lizbie1]

37 minutes ago, MJW said:

This is the first time since I became a Friend that I haven't booked anything on the first day available. Although I will book something in due course for Alice, Cinderella and the contemporary works, nothing there causes me to rush out and buy!

 

 

 

Yes - the only impetus for me was the prospect of nabbing specific seats for specific dates.

[Mary]

A first for me as I managed to book on my phone while on a minibus being driven on to a Calmac ferry in the Western Isles...internet snapped off just as I finished!

.Just Cinderella 1st night,my smallest booking for years

( (I saw whales, dolphins and eagles.. some otters too..)

 

[jmhopton]

Yes, I was booking on my phone too,  something i really dislike as its time consuming and fiddly. However, I only initially wanted 3 Cinderellas,  then weakened and bought a standing ticket for Alice which I may return if I can't get reasonable accommodation.  I really wanted a matinee but the first clashed with BRB Fille and we're away for the second. Still seems ridiculous only 2 matinées for such a family ballet.

Unfortunately we're on holiday in Devon when the far more important winter booking opens. I'll have to find a library computer as my phone won't be able to cope with all the Onegins I'd like to see!

[alison]

Interesting experience this morning: I almost got the impression I was the only one in there (!) - no clashes with tickets suddenly becoming unavailable after I'd selected them, which was nice.  I may have been very lucky, because I was already looking at pricing when 9 am struck, so I was straight in there.  Unfortunately, having backed out and clicked on the "buy tickets" button for a particular production, the system then took me back in to the undated general pricing information a couple of times before it twigged and gave me an actual dated pricing plan, so I may have lost out a bit there.

 

Booked a couple of operas, which will have shocked their system somewhat.  Unable to get any acceptable Nunez/Kaneko standing for Cinderella (why on earth are Kaneko/Bracewell only getting two performances, given that they're the ones selected for the cinema relay?) so will hope to pick up something nearer the time.  So many performances that I ran out of time after picking up a couple of standings for Alice - not that I'm not intending to go to anything else, but I probably don't have time to go back in and have another run, and anyway my credit card has taken enough of a battering for this month.

[art_enthusiast]

Looks like things aren't particularly going like hot cakes! I was thinking of picking up a ticket for Encounters, as they seem quite affordable compared to other things. They don't seem to have sold much

[MJW]

1 minute ago, art_enthusiast said:

Looks like things aren't particularly going like hot cakes! I was thinking of picking up a ticket for Encounters, as they seem quite affordable compared to other things. They don't seem to have sold much

 

I'm not surprised given those prices  - not sure how they hope to sell out Alice at a price level higher (if not the same) than for Swan Lake!

 

 

 

Edited July 10 by MJW

[LinMM]

Well as only going three times and had some store credit I gritted teeth at prices and went for Balcony seats for Alice, Cinderella and Maddaddam. 
Had no probs just 15 min queue but had to go in earlier than usual as away from home so dependent on hotel internet connection this morning etc. 

Anyway first Autumn ballet will be Oct 25th BRB Fille!!! 

[Emeralds]

A short queue of only 5 minutes this morning. From the looks of the various production seat maps, not as much purchasing is happening in both opera and ballet today compared to some previous booking periods, although Nunez/Muntagirov performances are selling very well, and sales should pick up later.

 

The orchestra stalls discount of 15% off for 3 shows (except Alice's Adventures in Wonderland) is enthusiastically promoted when you click to purchase your first orchestra stalls seat/s... but I decided to stick to my preferred areas upstairs. However, for those who like sitting in the Stalls, it's a good deal if you want to treat yourself. 

Edited July 10 by Emeralds

[WoodlandGladeFairy]

I had a pretty good experience booking on the ROH site, managed to get tickets to see Cinderella, yet another ballet I have not seen live so that's cool, also got some good opera tickets too for The Tales of Hoffmann, so that's my autumn season sorted. 

 

Apologies if this has been asked before but I noticed that for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland they have both performances in the autumn and the summer, is there a reason for the split? 

[San Perregrino]

4 hours ago, Emeralds said:

and ballet today compared to some previous booking periods, although Nunez/Muntagirov performances are selling very well,

Not just Nunez/Muntagirov selling well. 21/12 Cinderella matinee with Anna-Rose O’Sullivan and Marcelino Sambe has very few seats left. 
In fact, unless seats are being held back for some reason the majority of top price £190 orchestra stall seats for Cinderella performances up to December 28th have sold. 

Edited July 10 by San Perregrino

[LinMM]

I have no idea why they split some ballets like this other than they think it will make more money than in a longer run scenario. Personally I don’t like it much but I suppose it does suit some people!! 

[oncnp]

Due to needing to schedule some years in advance, the stage may be needed for the opera

[Emeralds]

1 hour ago, WoodlandGladeFairy said:

I had a pretty good experience booking on the ROH site, managed to get tickets to see Cinderella, yet another ballet I have not seen live so that's cool, also got some good opera tickets too for The Tales of Hoffmann, so that's my autumn season sorted. 

 

Apologies if this has been asked before but I noticed that for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland they have both performances in the autumn and the summer, is there a reason for the split? 

Previously the company have said that it was due to not having the space, time and staff to rehearse all the casts they wanted. For the company and audiences, it's probably also preferable not to be having the same ballet continuing for 3 months or more, which can get quite boring for both. It's now quite common, eg Swan Lake was split between spring and June this year, and previously Sleeping Beauty was also split up this way. 

[JNC]

I clicked on “buy now” about 5 seconds after the links appeared (logged in and pre loaded page waiting) and then I was shown a screen showing a wait time of 29 minutes! Unfortunately I had a meeting I needed to attend so gave up. 
 

Ended up booking much later in the day with no waiting. I was only really after one Cinderella ticket and lots of availability in the amphitheatre. 
 

Interesting to see how performances have sold. The Saturday Cinderella performances are practically sold out already (not the ones on the 28 December though assuming many may be out of London for christmas) and lots more availability for January as it’s probably too early to book.

 

interestingly for Maddadam it seems the more expensive seats have sold well with the amphi struggling right now. Sure that will even up but it’s an interesting observation that those with money will book and those with less funds are holding back/deciding not to book at all?

 

encounters (perhaps unsurprisingly) hasn’t sold well at all. Alice has sold a bit better but not very well at all from what I could see in October (hard to quantify but I think Cinderella has sold better initially?). 
 

Of course sales will pick up closer to the time but I vaguely recall (imagine?) back pre pandemic much stronger sales on booking day. 
 

I’ve only booked one cheaper ticket for Cinderella that I may return closer to the time. If it lines up with travel plans that may or may not materialise I may be tempted to give maddadam and even encounters a go but only if I’m London for another reason, I definitely wouldn’t travel down for either of them alone. Overall a very uninspiring season for me I have to admit.

[emmarose]

Well, I think it says it all about my enthusiasm for this season, I didn't even realise general sale had opened yesterday, I was looking at dates this morning and realised it said 'Book Now'

[alison]

I somehow expect that the main target audience for Alice may not be the sort of people who put RBO booking dates in their diaries!  I suspect that tickets will shift in good time for September/October.

[San Perregrino]

8 minutes ago, alison said:

I somehow expect that the main target audience for Alice may not be the sort of people who put RBO booking dates in their diaries!  I suspect that tickets will shift in good time for September/October.

And the pre-Christmas Cinderella tickets sold have most likely been bought by those who do put (what has been traditionally) the Nutcracker onsale date in their diaries knowing that, historically at least, if left until later no tickets will be available. 

[emmarose]

I've also skipped Cinderella, it feels like I've just seen it.

[art_enthusiast]

7 hours ago, emmarose said:

I've also skipped Cinderella, it feels like I've just seen it.

 

Same, though maybe if there was some sort of discount I might book!

I'm dithering a bit about Maddaddam... I guess as I liked the Dante Project/Woolf Works, I would like it? I'm not a big fan of Margaret Atwood's works though.

[Medora]

The new ROH logo is awful. 

[Rob S]

12 hours ago, Medora said:

The new ROH logo is awful. 

 

I'm now getting a lot of RBO ads online now and the typeface they're using for the names of the productions are awful too 

[Emeralds]

On 11/07/2024 at 21:32, art_enthusiast said:

 

Same, though maybe if there was some sort of discount I might book!

I'm dithering a bit about Maddaddam... I guess as I liked the Dante Project/Woolf Works, I would like it? I'm not a big fan of Margaret Atwood's works though.

There's a 1 min 15 second trailer on National Ballet of Canada's YouTube channel, or for those who prefer social media, it's also on composer Max Richter's official Facebook page to get an idea of how the production might look.

 

A quick read of the Canadian reviews (the ones that weren't paywalled) suggests that we shouldn't expect everything in the novel to be in the ballet (I guess it would be an extremely long ballet if they were). My first ompression of it is that it reminds me more of Dante Project than Woolf Works. RB has given a different age guidance to NBC's - RB has advised that is for ages above 16. 

 

[MAB]

Very slightly off topic.   A friend always books my tickets as he has got to grips with the website, so my dealings with ROH are minimal.  Anyway I with great difficulty I managed to buy a gift voucher for him.  Trouble is since then I am inundated with popup adds for the ROH.  When I fail to respond will they finally give up?

[Rob S]

4 minutes ago, MAB said:

Very slightly off topic.   A friend always books my tickets as he has got to grips with the website, so my dealings with ROH are minimal.  Anyway I with great difficulty I managed to buy a gift voucher for him.  Trouble is since then I am inundated with popup adds for the ROH.  When I fail to respond will they finally give up?

 

Do you mean on websites that have various spaces on the homepage for personalised ads? They do eventually change to something else by themselves but you can contrive an appearance by some other companies by visiting their website

[art_enthusiast]

7 hours ago, Emeralds said:

A quick read of the Canadian reviews (the ones that weren't paywalled) suggests that we shouldn't expect everything in the novel to be in the ballet (I guess it would be an extremely long ballet if they were). My first ompression of it is that it reminds me more of Dante Project than Woolf Works. RB has given a different age guidance to NBC's - RB has advised that is for ages above 16. 

 

If it's like The Dante Project, I might like it... just thinking that I should maybe save my credit for R+J/Onegin/Balanchine though!