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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2019 14:28:53 GMT
Thanks for all your comments. I've just looked on the website and much as I adore Michael Ball, for two of us non-Southerners £150 each for a ticket plus all the other costs is way outside our budget as we like to stay a few days and cram as many shows in as we can. Will have a look at the £89 seats now (are these stalls?) with a bit more confidence. I've seen MB twice as Edna and two others (won't say who) and was really disappointed. Not taking anything away from the rest of the cast of course, but he is absolutely the cherry on top of the cake. Yes, the side stalls (other than the two seats nearest the aisle) are £87.50 midweek, also centre block from row K backwards. These are absolutely fine, the stage is very wide so the side stalls give a good view. You could also look at the dress circle where most of the seats are £87.50 or £55. As noted above book via londoncoliseum.org/whats-on/hairspray/?action=book not ticketmaster to avoid high booking fees. |
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2019 14:36:01 GMT
Well it's downfall will be the prices because families won't give a damn about taking their kids if they can't afford it. I hadn’t thought about this as a potential for my daughter. Inspiration has struck! |
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Post by Jon on May 3, 2019 14:45:11 GMT
The London production of Hairspray was very good but it took a while to transfer from Broadway.
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Post by grannyjx6 on May 3, 2019 14:50:05 GMT
Thanks for all your comments. I've just looked on the website and much as I adore Michael Ball, for two of us non-Southerners £150 each for a ticket plus all the other costs is way outside our budget as we like to stay a few days and cram as many shows in as we can. Will have a look at the £89 seats now (are these stalls?) with a bit more confidence. I've seen MB twice as Edna and two others (won't say who) and was really disappointed. Not taking anything away from the rest of the cast of course, but he is absolutely the cherry on top of the cake. Yes, the side stalls (other than the two seats nearest the aisle) are £87.50 midweek, also centre block from row K backwards. These are absolutely fine, the stage is very wide so the side stalls give a good view. You could also look at the dress circle where most of the seats are £87.50 or £55. As noted above book via londoncoliseum.org/whats-on/hairspray/?action=book not ticketmaster to avoid high booking fees. Thank you xanderl |
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Post by FrontrowverPaul on May 3, 2019 14:56:15 GMT
When both Chess and Man Of La Mancha first went on sale the ticket prices were at a similar level to Hairspray. Subsequently they dropped and in the case of MOLM seats are currently available discounted by a massive amount with probably more deals still to come. Will that happen with Hairspray? I suspect it will though to a lesser extent.
Michael Ball is undoubtedly a very popular performer and his name will shift tickets, but Hairspray is a family show and if a family of four from outside SE England travel to London, buy decent seats and stay at least overnight their total spend could well exceed £1000. For me Hairspray ticket prices should be comparable with what I've paid recently for Dear Evan Hansen, Mary Poppins, Lion King and 9 To 5 but that's just my opinion.
Dynamic pricing works both ways. What allowed me to get a great seat for ... Jamie for £25 in a couple of weeks time also means I have to pay £150 to guarantee a similar great seat for Hairspray if I book now. If the theatre can sell many thousands of seats months in advance for up to £150 good luck to them. If they later drop unsold £150 to perhaps £75-£90 to double those sales that's when I will book. If they don't need to do that and it makes a huge profit all well and good. It's a bit of a cat and mouse game really and this forum is so useful to keep tabs on pricing and deals
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2019 15:06:14 GMT
Looking at this Saturday's matinee of Man of La Mancha, there are 199 seats left in the stalls and 298 in the dress circle on the Coliseum site. For Hairspray on Saturday 3rd May 2020, there are 260 in the stalls and 336 in the Dress Circle. So in comparison to La Mancha it's doing very well as its sold almost as many a year in advance as La Mancha has the day before the performance!
Of course some tickets may be with agencies but I guess the same applies to both!
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Post by mjr on May 3, 2019 15:48:20 GMT
When someone says it's using the original broadway set and costumes I assume they mean design and that they are not actually shipping that set over?
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Post by horton on May 3, 2019 17:14:24 GMT
I wonder whether this Hairspray announcement has totally overshadowed Man of La Mancha, making it even more of a non-event?
Also, has this box office move been advanced to offset the lack of cash coming from the current show?
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Post by sagiirl on May 3, 2019 17:47:49 GMT
Anyone have experience with the upper circle. My husband never comes to London to see shows but wants to see this. I don't want to pay stall prices plus we have to be careful choosing seats as he is 6'5. I can't decide between a box in the upper circle at £69 or row B seat 1 and 2. Going by theatremonkey B1 is clear in front. They are £42 each. At this stage these seats are available for the date we want but no doubt will sell out unless I make a decision. Pay extra for the box or Row B1 and 2?
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Post by latefortheoverture on May 3, 2019 18:06:09 GMT
Am I right in say MB played Edna on the first UK tour?
I remember it being my first musical I saw in the Edinburgh Playhouse, around 2010 if I'm correct. Can't remember loads- but do remember Tracey's stand up bed, I was amazed as a kid at that. Also remember the big can of hairspray shooting confetti when it opens to Edna. And of course remember Mum gushing over MB afterwards!
Love this show- cannot wait to catch it next year!
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2019 18:17:32 GMT
Anyone have experience with the upper circle. My husband never comes to London to see shows but wants to see this. I don't want to pay stall prices plus we have to be careful choosing seats as he is 6'5. I can't decide between a box in the upper circle at £69 or row B seat 1 and 2. Going by theatremonkey B1 is clear in front. They are £42 each. At this stage these seats are available for the date we want but no doubt will sell out unless I make a decision. Pay extra for the box or Row B1 and 2? I think legroom is a little bit tight in the upper circle so might be an issue for your husband - so you might be better off with the box or looking at the £65 seats in the dress circle |
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Post by Being Alive on May 3, 2019 18:36:00 GMT
It's the original production - whether they'll pull the set out of storage (if it still exists) or make it again I don't know.
And yes, La Ball did selected venues (basically the big places) on the 1st UK Tour. Acted as producer on the second.
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Post by Phantom of London on May 3, 2019 21:48:05 GMT
Well it's downfall will be the prices because families won't give a damn about taking their kids if they can't afford it. I hadn’t thought about this as a potential for my daughter. Inspiration has struck! Divine Inspiration!!! Great first show, sure your daughter will love it. Great entry show. The London production of Hairspray was very good but it took a while to transfer from Broadway. So worth the wait though. When both Chess and Man Of La Mancha first went on sale the ticket prices were at a similar level to Hairspray. Subsequently they dropped and in the case of MOLM seats are currently available discounted by a massive amount with probably more deals still to come. Will that happen with Hairspray? I suspect it will though to a lesser extent. Michael Ball is undoubtedly a very popular performer and his name will shift tickets, but Hairspray is a family show and if a family of four from outside SE England travel to London, buy decent seats and stay at least overnight their total spend could well exceed £1000. For me Hairspray ticket prices should be comparable with what I've paid recently for Dear Evan Hansen, Mary Poppins, Lion King and 9 To 5 but that's just my opinion. Dynamic pricing works both ways. What allowed me to get a great seat for ... Jamie for £25 in a couple of weeks time also means I have to pay £150 to guarantee a similar great seat for Hairspray if I book now. If the theatre can sell many thousands of seats months in advance for up to £150 good luck to them. If they later drop unsold £150 to perhaps £75-£90 to double those sales that's when I will book. If they don't need to do that and it makes a huge profit all well and good. It's a bit of a cat and mouse game really and this forum is so useful to keep tabs on pricing and deals Read back this thread, you so don’t have to pay £150 for a reasonable seat. |
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Post by xanady on May 3, 2019 23:02:09 GMT
^I think that Horton is bang on by commenting on the sudden announcement of next year’s musical choice overshadowing the newly opened MOLM at the Coliseum.This is a surprise as it clashes with the opening of the current show and will inevitably steal the spotlight and at the same time the announcement clashes with news of the tour.Not sure this does the tour any favours.It just seems a little out of the blue and it may very well
have been done on purpose to generate some much-needed positive publicity after the lukewarm reception for MOLM.I also agree that the box office sales for Hairspray will offset the disastrous numbers for Kelsey’s catastrophe.One wonders why they can get it sooooo right with an obvious and easy to predict smash-hit with Sir Michael as Edna and yet get it so farcically wrong with MOLM?
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Post by wickedgrin on May 3, 2019 23:14:11 GMT
Isn’t it a completely different production company? Nothing to do with the ENO at all?
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Post by FrontrowverPaul on May 3, 2019 23:41:13 GMT
I completely agree that there are reasonable seats for Hairspray costing well under £150 but not the seats I go for. I book most new musicals as soon as they go on sale but always aim for a central seat in the front three rows, ideally the very front which I get about 75% of the time.
Occasionally my ticket costs less than I expected (eg Falsettos today and the Adrian Mole musical recently). Usually tickets cost more or less what I expect (eg Mary Poppins, Dear Evan Hansen). Sometimes I pay a bit more than I would wish. I do spend an awful lot of money indulging my love of musical theatre but there has to be a cut off point and £150 for the front row to see Hairspray is just too much. I saw an excellent amateur production of Hairspray last year which cost £15 and I paid about £40 for my ticket on the last professional tour in 2017, both front row. For me it just isn't a £150 front row ticket show.
I also note that there are already 2020 tour dates for Hairspray beginning in Manchester on 3 September as there is following On Your Feet's run at the London Coliseum this summer. Maybe Michael Ball will tour with it ?
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Post by andrew on May 4, 2019 0:07:37 GMT
It's fun to see how much Hairspray love there is on TB. Hairspray is the first professional musical I ever saw (on tour, in Dublin, with Mikey Ball) and I've always enjoyed the campy fun of the music ever since. I'm going to chance day seats/lottery for this though next year I think.
I would echo some of the comments in asking why it's been announced this early, I'm not sure what they're gaining from such a long lead-in.
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Post by princeton on May 4, 2019 0:21:59 GMT
I also note that there are already 2020 tour dates for Hairspray beginning in Manchester on 3 September as there is following On Your Feet's run at the London Coliseum this summer. Maybe Michael Ball will tour with it ? The tour is a completely different production to the West End one. The Coliseum version is a remounting of the original Broadway/London production directed by Jack O'Brien and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell www.hairspraythemusical.co.ukThe tour is the third outing for a version based on a production which originated at Curve Leicester - directed by Paul Kerryson and choreographed by Drew McOnie (though when it first played at Curve choreography was by Lee Proud) www.hairsprayuktour.comRemarkably similar logo though....probably not the only thing that's going to lead to confusion! |
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2019 7:04:12 GMT
Well I have booked for an early matinee. Haven’t been to the Coliseum for about 30 years, so I am excited to return. Went for row
C side seats at £87. Indie’s little and one of the seats only has one row in front so I am hoping she gets a good view. Wouldn’t have known about the better midweek prices or the side stalls without this board.
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2019 7:27:26 GMT
I wonder whether this Hairspray announcement has totally overshadowed Man of La Mancha, making it even more of a non-event? Also, has this box office move been advanced to offset the lack of cash coming from the current show? It does seem on the surface suspiciously "coincidental", but as noted later in the thread this is a different production company, not the ENO, so I'm assuming the ENO just gets the venue hire not the box office income. Looking back, this year's non-ENO Coliseum production "On Your Feet" went on sale in May 2018 - theatreboard.co.uk/post/205568/thread - a couple of weeks after the press night for "Chess". |
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Post by danb on May 4, 2019 7:46:41 GMT
I'm not sure what they're gaining from such a long lead-in. Money. Cold hard early booking collateral cash. Capital to spend on the production instead of it just being an idea in someones head. It’s where so many recent productions got it wrong. They have a big name so they can go out and sell it a year in advance. If ‘Waitress’ had got a similarly big brand recognition name they could have done the same. |
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Post by wickedgrin on May 4, 2019 8:05:42 GMT
Well I have booked for an early matinee. Haven’t been to the Coliseum for about 30 years, so I am excited to return. Went for row C side seats at £87. Indie’s little and one of the seats only has one row in front so I am hoping she gets a good view. Wouldn’t have known about the better midweek prices or the side stalls without this board. Front side stalls at the Coliseum are absolutely fine. The stage is wide and you are not too far to the side. If I was to book this those are the seats I would go for. The Coliseum is a beautiful theatre - it's a thrill to be in the building (like The London Palladium) - the only rather big disadvantage is that the stage seems a long way away even from the front stalls because of the large orchestra pit between the front stalls and the stage. Therefore, even the front row seems like mid stalls in any other theatre. The Circle and Upper Circle seem miles back although offer clear views. If the orchestra pit is covered (with the orchestra on stage) and the action brought forward (like Chess) this solves the distance and intimacy issues for the stalls but restricts the view from the back of the circles as the orchestra pit cannot be seen from those seats as the theatre wasn't designed to do that. |
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Post by xanady on May 4, 2019 8:30:51 GMT
^Been too busy or lazy to read whole thread so didn’t know it was a diff production company.Talking of lazy,this seems like Ball is just cashing-in on a previous hit.Can’t blame him if it’s going to be a money-grab but wonder if he just sees it as an easy gig.Before Infuriated Ball fangirl or boy of Slough bites,I am a massive fan but would have loved to see him take on a new challenge.
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Post by emeraldbaudelaire on May 4, 2019 21:49:32 GMT
Very tempted to book this one. Would like to see Michael as Edna.
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Post by grannyjx6 on May 5, 2019 20:23:35 GMT
Am I right in say MB played Edna on the first UK tour? I remember it being my first musical I saw in the Edinburgh Playhouse, around 2010 if I'm correct. Can't remember loads- but do remember Tracey's stand up bed, I was amazed as a kid at that. Also remember the big can of hairspray shooting confetti when it opens to Edna. And of course remember Mum gushing over MB afterwards! Love this show- cannot wait to catch it next year! Yes, you are, and wasn't he amazing? I went with my friend (not as avid a musical theatre fan as me) and we just loved it. |
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