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Post by Jon on May 29, 2024 0:06:05 GMT
A ticket for this production isn't worth £345 (any more than Cabaret is worth £330). Greed and hype. There are better things on, offering better bang for buck. It's dynamic pricing, if people end up paying it, more fool them. |
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2024 8:57:55 GMT
If Tom Holland pulled out which is unlikely then it would be putting the show in jeopardy as it's sold out on his star power and who'd want to work with him again after that? Even if you get mediocre reviews, you are contractually obliged to complete the run. Lyonesse got terrible reviews but both KST and Lily James completed the run. what annoy me, is that Tom Holland is a singer and dancer. He would be great in WSS. Not sure in the USA Rachel is not doing a run of west side story. Since she did the film |
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Post by aspieandy on May 29, 2024 9:58:48 GMT
A ticket for this production isn't worth £345 (any more than Cabaret is worth £330). Greed and hype. There are better things on, offering better bang for buck. It's dynamic pricing, if people end up paying it, more fool them. Tbf, dp is just a strategy - Jamie Lloyd makes the choices. It's just a revenue management tool (producers and stars hide behind).
Even the way dp works is entirely flexible, it's not a fixed algorithm. |
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Post by alicet on May 29, 2024 10:05:34 GMT
These prices are ridiculous. Does anyone know how much Tom Holland could have potentially made for this role? I know there were a good amount of £25 tickets out there but I cannot imagine charging £200 let alone £300 for a ticket. So who keeps the money? Jamie Lloyd and his production company? People paying these amounts are clearly there to see Tom, judging by the screaming happening every night at the stage door.
I have been trying to keep up with all the reviews and comments online about this play. Seems like the reviews are mixed to good, actually. Jamie Lloyd taking most of the heat from critics.
Tom Holland will continue to shine. If anything, selling the whole run of this play in 2 hours, when nothing but his name had been announced… It’s something extra to add to his resume and he’ll probably gain some sort of experience, hopefully sharpen his acting chops.
It’ll be interesting to see if and how the perception of most theatergoers changes in a month or so as the run progresses.
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Post by claireyfairy1 on May 29, 2024 11:02:42 GMT
It's dynamic pricing, if people end up paying it, more fool them. Tbf, dp is just a strategy - Jamie Lloyd makes the choices. It's just a revenue management tool (producers and stars hide behind).
Even the way dp works is entirely flexible, it's not a fixed algorithm. Yeah exactly. You don't have to use dynamic pricing. You don't have to operate the west end with greed. Actors could also take a stance on this. I'm not saying Tom Holland should have, but the number of actors complaining about west end ticket prices in the media and then appearing in west end shows with mad pricing is very on the nose. I'd like to see more pressure from performers with star power to make their shows reasonable or they could also only work with the off-west end theatres where it's much more accessible for a broader range of people, and they have initiatives to get a diversity of audiences too. Like Saoirse Ronan or Paul Mescal did by going to the Almeida, for example, when they were both at peak popularity. |
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Post by craigbowker on May 29, 2024 14:43:22 GMT
Lower ticket prices only works when you diversify your sources of income/revenue.
The outcome of accessible ticket pricing occurs only once producers come up with other sustainable and scalable ways to make money. West End performers (celebs probably excluded here), crew, staff, etc. do not make anywhere near what they deserve as it is. And not all shows are profitable. They need other ways (besides tickets) to make money.
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Post by jojo on May 29, 2024 15:08:24 GMT
I'm sure Holland is very well paid for this by any sane metric, but he's firmly in the not needing the cash category, so I'd argue his salary will have been negotiated to appeal to his agent more than him. Individual actors may sincerely believe that high ticket prices are out of reach, but their PR people will love the opportunity to brag about their worth. The excuse for high prices, and dynamic pricing is to keep out the touts, but if a show is selling well enough and it's a big enough name, surely all that does is give them an excuse charge well over the odds for the tickets that don't have such a great view. An interesting piece in the Guardian about proposals to limit mark-up in the secondary sales market, and possible plans by the second hand ticket agencies to thwart it. I'd say energies should be focused on restricting the profits of touts, and then apply pressure on the theatres. www.theguardian.com/money/article/2024/may/29/revealed-how-touts-drew-up-secret-plans-to-sabotage-labours-ticket-reforms |
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Post by aspieandy on May 29, 2024 15:42:58 GMT
dp looks very close to touting to me: ticket goes on sale, show proves popular, ticket withdrawn, ticket remarketed at much higher price.
Sure, it's the same seller but the market forces mechanism is the same in both instances. There is an argument that says that exploiting the mechanism is what makes it 'touting'.
But, hey, the infettered market is king, unless you fall within the current framing of 'tout'.
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Post by stageyninja83 on May 29, 2024 16:01:11 GMT
I've just returned 2 tickets for closing night (once was enough!). We paid £25, back on at £45. I was actually surprised they didn't inflate them more!
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Post by aspieandy on May 29, 2024 16:08:31 GMT
You make my point. However, this is apparently not 'touting', and it isn't under current rules.
Would they have accepted the tickets back had the production not gone well ...
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Post by theatre2023 on May 29, 2024 18:49:03 GMT
Show stop currently 10 minutes in tonight’s performance …
And so we wait
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Post by theatre2023 on May 29, 2024 19:59:25 GMT
Show stop lasted about 10 minutes and thankfully show resumed. No visible reason as to the cause.
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Post by jojo on May 30, 2024 9:47:45 GMT
You make my point. However, this is apparently not 'touting', and it isn't under current rules.
Would they have accepted the tickets back had the production not gone well ...
I don't think DP is touting, but the existence of touts is used as the excuse for it. The reasoning being that if the touts are going to buy £50 or £100 tickets for a popular show where they know they can sell them on for £200 and £250, then they are the ones making the money from customers, when that money could be going to the theatre and to pay actors and writers and subsidise cheap tickets and school trips etc. It's hard to argue with that. Remove the ability of ticket touts to make that kind of profit, and the onus is back on the promoters to justify whether the prices they are charging for tickets can be justified, and how much is being reinvested into developing the arts. Eye-watering prices for a handful of premium seats or a bit of dynamic pricing is fine IMO, but as has been mentioned above - the promoters can set parameters. They can have an absolute maximum price, and they can ensure that there are enough tickets held back to be made available via schemes. |
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Post by claireyfairy1 on May 30, 2024 12:23:11 GMT
There are some shows that have implemented ticket checks to stop the touting in theatre. I'm thinking Benedict Cumberbatch's Hamlet, Cursed Child and Hamilton in the early days, etc. I'm not even sure touting is an actual thing in theatre most of the time tbh, and if it is it's very minor and certainly just a poor excuse for charging £300 for a ticket.
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Post by mattnyc on Jun 1, 2024 20:28:44 GMT
nypost.com/2024/06/01/entertainment/tom-holland-stuck-in-heinous-london-romeo-and-juliet/Here’s a pretty scathing article from the New York Post (so take that for what it’s worth) with no real insight into the show but notable at the end it says “ A source also said Lloyd is in talks to direct a double-bill of Shakespeare plays at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane later in the year — with one of them possibly starring Tom Hiddleston.” Which I found interesting. Has anyone else heard about this?
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Post by nash16 on Jun 1, 2024 20:49:45 GMT
nypost.com/2024/06/01/entertainment/tom-holland-stuck-in-heinous-london-romeo-and-juliet/Here’s a pretty scathing article from the New York Post (so take that for what it’s worth) with no real insight into the show but notable at the end it says “ A source also said Lloyd is in talks to direct a double-bill of Shakespeare plays at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane later in the year — with one of them possibly starring Tom Hiddleston.” Which I found interesting. Has anyone else heard about this? The NYPost is NY's equivalent of a tabloid rag, but could be true. Also, someone mooted on Twitter about Drury Lane about to receive a play/s for the first time in years, so the Hiddleston rumours could be true. Pity anyone in the Upper or Balcony at those though. |
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Post by mattnyc on Jun 1, 2024 21:37:57 GMT
nypost.com/2024/06/01/entertainment/tom-holland-stuck-in-heinous-london-romeo-and-juliet/Here’s a pretty scathing article from the New York Post (so take that for what it’s worth) with no real insight into the show but notable at the end it says “ A source also said Lloyd is in talks to direct a double-bill of Shakespeare plays at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane later in the year — with one of them possibly starring Tom Hiddleston.” Which I found interesting. Has anyone else heard about this? The NYPost is NY's equivalent of a tabloid rag, but could be true. Also, someone mooted on Twitter about Drury Lane about to receive a play/s for the first time in years, so the Hiddleston rumours could be true. Pity anyone in the Upper or Balcony at those though. Yes, that’s what I said to take it for what it’s worth. |
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Post by petrichor on Jun 1, 2024 22:04:16 GMT
Just out of tonight’s R&J.
15 minute show stop in Act 1 during the Capulet ball - issues with the screen but dealt with really well by stage crew (and a nice little apology from Tom Holland).
I thought Tom Holland and in particular Francesca Amewudah-Rivers did very well with what they were given. Freeyma Agyeman was great in Act 1, but a bit lost in Act 2. However in general I thought the production suffered with the ‘Jamie Lloyd-ness’ of it all. All of the things I loved in ‘Sunset’ are used here but without impact or real reason. I also felt that the pacing in Act 2 in particular was glacially slow.
Disappointed, and pleased we didn’t buy £400 tickets!
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7,189 posts
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Post by Jon on Jun 1, 2024 23:07:32 GMT
Not sure if the Hiddleston Drury Lane thing is true, it's way too big for one although apparently the theatre can be turned into a in the round stage but also Elf is rumoured to be going there in November.
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Post by christya on Jun 3, 2024 8:26:53 GMT
I could be persuaded to see Tom Hiddleston doing Shakespeare. Unless it's Coriolanus, there isn't anything that would get me to watch that again, in any form.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jun 4, 2024 9:21:08 GMT
There are some shows that have implemented ticket checks to stop the touting in theatre. I'm thinking Benedict Cumberbatch's Hamlet, Cursed Child and Hamilton in the early days, etc. I'm not even sure touting is an actual thing in theatre most of the time tbh, and if it is it's very minor and certainly just a poor excuse for charging £300 for a ticket. I’m struggling to find the difference between touting and dynamic pricing at this point. |
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Post by theatrefan77 on Jun 4, 2024 10:42:09 GMT
Has anybody seen this from the front row? Is so could you please let us know how high the stage is? Thank you!
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Post by dillan on Jun 4, 2024 12:17:07 GMT
Has anybody seen this from the front row? Is so could you please let us know how high the stage is? Thank you! I sat 2nd row and a few scenes you have to look up - most of the play is done right at the front of the stage but the actors sit down so it's not too bad but I do remember by neck hurting a little. |
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Post by theatrefan77 on Jun 4, 2024 16:10:50 GMT
Thank you!
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Post by sam22 on Jun 9, 2024 6:11:28 GMT
I was there last night. Was hoping to love it but jeez it was boring. Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised as I didn't like Sunset much (though it was miles better than this).
Some of the video work is cool but I don't know why it was needed.
What was unforgiveable though is the complete lack of any coherency in the narrative. Most of the lines are said to the front (e.g. in a mic) or into the camera or to the back wall. I don't understand why the characters interact with each other so infrequently.
There was no tension and I had no interest in the characters. Some moments that should have been gripping weren't either because there was a huge camera in the way doing a close up or R&J are just sat side by side doing their lines out to the front.
I may be in the minority as the audience seemed to love it (as did our two guests) but we were firmly in the no camp.
It was just so dull. Even the most dramatic moments were largely played to the front with the lines just being read.
A very rare 2 stars for me!
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