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Post by cavocado on Oct 5, 2021 9:45:25 GMT
I assume Wednesdays and Thursdays are the normal matinee days because those used to be the most common early closing days for shops? So it would have made sense to have entertainment available on those afternoons when shop workers were free, and shoppers might be looking for other entertainment. Maybe there are other reasons I haven't thought of?
But I don't understand why most theatres still stick to this pattern. Wouldn't it make better business sense now to choose different weekday matinees so they're not competing for the same customers on the same days? There's been a trend from way before the pandemic towards more people working non-traditional hours. Compared to 20 years ago I know many more people who have weekdays off in lieu of evenings or weekends or because they work compressed hours. Lots (like me) work flexibly and/or from home, sometimes with no core hours.
It might be that working hours changes only affect a tiny number of theatregoers. But even if matinees audiences are largely day trippers, tourists and retired people, why wouldn't they prefer a wider choice of days, and more opportunities to see two shows in a day, more options for people doing long weekends to arrive in time for a Friday matinee, or see something on Monday afternoon before going home?
I suppose theatre workers might not like Monday matinees as they might see Sunday to Monday afternoon as their weekend? But why not Tuesdays or Fridays? Maybe there are union agreements affecting which days matinees are on?
I'm more interested in plays and the smaller and subsidised theatres than big West End shows and musicals, but I think with both there are only a small number doing non-traditional days. I think The Mousetrap, Woman in Black and Jermyn Street Theatre do Tuesdays. The Globe does Tuesdays and Fridays, but maybe more to accommodate school parties. Are there any others? Does anyone know if it's been tried, or discussed, or might be something we'll see more of in future?
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Post by fiyerorocher on Oct 5, 2021 10:01:58 GMT
I always assumed having a gap between two shows days is appreciated, which would certainly explain the lack of Friday matinees. We used to hate multiple double show days in a row as FoH, and the cast was doing far more strenuous work than we were so I wouldn't be surprised if they felt the same.
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Post by Mark on Oct 5, 2021 10:19:46 GMT
Both Book of Mormon and & Juliet will have Friday matinees going forward. Book of Mormon whenever they used to add an extra matinee always seemed to be a Friday - they were an easy ticket lottery win! A few shows did trial doing a Friday matinee (Rock of Ages I recall had a 5pm matinee) and then a later evening show.
Tuesdays - Southwark Playhouse always does Tuesday matinees, although typically they are fairly quiet. If I'm seeing something there I will usually try to catch the Tuesday matinee if I can. The National used to have them fairly often too. I think the only West End show which has them now are Woman in Black (although I did catch the extra Hairspray matinee last Tuesday!)
I guess we will see less and less midweek matinee variations with more and more shows doing Sundays now.
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Post by Jon on Oct 5, 2021 10:38:11 GMT
The West End tend to be flexible with matinees compared to Broadway where the midweek matinee is a firm fixture aside from a handful of shows.
Jersey Boys had Tuesday matinees when it first opened. Top Hat was a show that cut an evening performance in favour of a third matinee.
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Post by hairspray57 on Oct 5, 2021 11:36:53 GMT
I remember years ago Chicago did performances at 5pm and 8pm on Fridays.
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Post by mkb on Oct 5, 2021 12:39:32 GMT
Some theatres have lift mechanisms that mean a whole set can be changed in an hour. I'm thinking of the main house at the Stephen Joseph, Scarborough for example. I wonder if modern London theatres like the Bridge have similar.
With that in mind, two popular shows could run in tandem. With two shows daily and three on Saturday and Sunday, that would enable two productions to have eight shows each per week.
I've only seen something similar done at Christmas in the West End when kids' shows play in the morning, but these typically work around the set of the main show.
Perhaps the sad truth is that there just isn't the demand for many weekday matinees, but I agree it would be better if they were spread across the week more.
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Post by lichtie on Oct 5, 2021 13:12:54 GMT
Wednesday was traditional half day in some sectors, notably shops, since they worked on a Saturday too. It could be other days, but for a given location it would always be the same day for everyone (this goes back to the early twentieth century). That's where the habit of providing something else started. I don't know, but it's possible that different London boroughs had different half days which has sort of stuck with some of the matinee times.
I tend to go to matinees quite often when I visit London (since I generally stay for 3-4 nights and it means I can see more things). My experience from that is that matinees are simply less popular than evening shows. They rely largely on either the retired or the tourists to get an audience - certainly with the reduced audiences more or less across the board currently I'm surprised that we still have weekday matinees at all.
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Post by cavocado on Oct 5, 2021 14:18:55 GMT
Some theatres have lift mechanisms that mean a whole set can be changed in an hour. I'm thinking of the main house at the Stephen Joseph, Scarborough for example. I wonder if modern London theatres like the Bridge have similar. With that in mind, two popular shows could run in tandem. With two shows daily and three on Saturday and Sunday, that would enable two productions to have eight shows each per week. I've only seen something similar done at Christmas in the West End when kids' shows play in the morning, but these typically work around the set of the main show. Perhaps the sad truth is that there just isn't the demand for many weekday matinees, but I agree it would be better if they were spread across the week more. That;s interesting. I was wondering about this as I saw the two shows at the Royal Court last night and was wondering about the practicalities of having two different sets. From what I've read about theatre history it was pretty common many years ago for theatres to have more than one show running at a time, though not sure if on the same day, more like several in repertoire. I suppose it depends on audiences. I'm keen to see 2 plays in a day, but I have friends who like to go to a show maybe once or twice a month. I suspect they are more like the majority of audience members. |
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Post by Phantom of London on Oct 5, 2021 15:47:06 GMT
I remember years ago Chicago did performances at 5pm and 8pm on Fridays. It was 5pm and 8:30pm on a Friday, as Mamma Mia and Dirty Dancing used to do the same rota. I have never thought about early closing and weekday matinees being linked. On Elaine Paige'e Show this week she talks about the demise of the weekday matinee, which is a shame as I like to catch something after work, plays will always do a midweek matinee, as there is an in built older audience for midweek plays. On Broadway theatre is a lot more rigid schedule. Conversely we ask a lot of the theatre profession with working anti social hours 6 days a week and those with a family just don't get to see them, that is why I don't agree with Sunday performances, as families only get a chance to see their loved ones on a Monday. But saying that we live in ludicrous times where shops must shut on a Sunday at 4pm/5pm I would scrap that and would be happy for then to open in the evening. I do remember a time when no shops opened on a Sunday and it was miserable. We all know that Sunday is a day of rest and needs to be spent in bed. |
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Post by cavocado on Oct 5, 2021 17:47:13 GMT
I remember years ago Chicago did performances at 5pm and 8pm on Fridays. It was 5pm and 8:30pm on a Friday, as Mamma Mia and Dirty Dancing used to do the same rota. I have never thought about early closing and weekday matinees being linked. On Elaine Paige'e Show this week she talks about the demise of the weekday matinee, which is a shame as I like to catch something after work, plays will always do a midweek matinee, as there is an in built older audience for midweek plays. On Broadway theatre is a lot more rigid schedule. Conversely we ask a lot of the theatre profession with working anti social hours 6 days a week and those with a family just don't get to see them, that is why I don't agree with Sunday performances, as families only get a chance to see their loved ones on a Monday. But saying that we live in ludicrous times where shops must shut on a Sunday at 4pm/5pm I would scrap that and would be happy for then to open in the evening. I do remember a time when no shops opened on a Sunday and it was miserable. We all know that Sunday is a day of rest and needs to be spent in bed. I think it would be a great shame to lose midweek matinees. I like them, and have friends who travel from outside London and only ever do matinees because it's easier to get home afterwards. I wonder if theatres do much research on the booking preferences of different demographics. I can't recall being asked any of that at any time. Yes I can see how the hours could be very antisocial, but I disagree about extending Sunday shop opening for the same reason - tough on shop workers. |
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Post by Phantom of London on Oct 5, 2021 22:28:20 GMT
I would assume producers’ study heat maps of sales and would know their demographics. Somewhat agree on matinees, the term ‘matinee ladies’ exist for a good reason. I would guess if you need to catch your last train and you live way out of town, you would want an hour from curtain to last train departure, just to be safe?
I would love it if shops opened Sunday evening shop staff, have more flexibility to motto work every weekend, via a reasonable roster, like me and my colleagues do where I work.
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Post by Someone in a tree on Oct 6, 2021 11:34:11 GMT
For shows in rep with separate casts and and with super duper scene shifting facilities* then I guess more matinees are perfect and the cast are not too exhausted in the process.
*or have a composite set for the season a la RSC or Opera North.
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Post by mkb on Oct 6, 2021 12:35:28 GMT
I know theatres sometimes do the 5pm or 6pm "matinée" with a later evening show, but I presume the later evening start used to be more common.
I've heard references in Noël Coward (and other) plays to characters going off to a 9pm show. I recently saw an old advertising poster in the corridors of a West End theatre for a play starting at 8.30pm nightly. I wonder when the 7.30pm start became commonplace.
Maybe the late starts hail from a 20s/30s era when the rich had chauffeurs and the rest lived locally? While I love the idea of shows starting at 9pm and finishing around 11.30pm, there's no way that could work today without an overhaul of public transport so that it carries on later.
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Post by TallPaul on Oct 6, 2021 13:55:12 GMT
For a while, the SJT brought forward its Thursday night show to 7pm, so it was possible to cross the road and catch the last train back to York (and maybe Leeds, too?). So having done that, it also had to bring the matinee forward. Now the evening show has returned to 7.30pm, but the matinee remains with a 1.30 start, which always feels slightly too early.
Out on the road, it's not uncommon for the week to start on Tuesday night, with matinees on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, which I think I would prefer were I talented enough to be a thespian. More time at home and less time to mope in digs!
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Post by Jon on Oct 6, 2021 18:37:40 GMT
I know theatres sometimes do the 5pm or 6pm "matinée" with a later evening show, but I presume the later evening start used to be more common. I've heard references in Noël Coward (and other) plays to characters going off to a 9pm show. I recently saw an old advertising poster in the corridors of a West End theatre for a play starting at 8.30pm nightly. I wonder when the 7.30pm start became commonplace. Maybe the late starts hail from a 20s/30s era when the rich had chauffeurs and the rest lived locally? While I love the idea of shows starting at 9pm and finishing around 11.30pm, there's no way that could work today without an overhaul of public transport so that it carries on later. I wonder if it's more to do with noise pollution than public transport. A 9pm show would probably mean the long shows like Les Mis and Hamilton wouldn't finish until nearly midnight! A 8.30pm or 9pm slot would be perfect for a 90 minute no interval show, I know Hedwig in NY had 10pm shows instead of 2pm shows. |
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Post by Peter on Oct 9, 2021 8:05:46 GMT
It doesn’t feel like that long ago that the usual curtain time for a musical was 7.45 and a play would be 8pm, but then I realised I was talking a good 20 years when I regularly started to attend West End theatre.  Personally I like the slightly earlier starts as it gives me a fighting chance of seeing an evening performance and then managing to catch the last train back to my part of the country (though still a bit of a dash between the West End and Paddington - Crossrail can’t come soon enough!) As a ‘theatre tourist’ whose London trips tend to be in the week, I appreciate the midweek matinee in its current setup - though the spread between Tues/Weds/Thurs has always ebbed and flowed. The former Chicago approach of a 5.30 performance on Fridays was no good for me as it made fitting in a different evening show difficult, but assume it made financial sense for the productions trying to catch a people prior to having an evening out. |
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Post by Dawnstar on Oct 9, 2021 9:34:14 GMT
It doesn’t feel like that long ago that the usual curtain time for a musical was 7.45 and a play would be 8pm Pre-covid my local theatre started most performances at 7.45pm but now it seems to have moved to 7.30pm starts. I'm not bothered either way there because I only live 5 miles away from it. For London though as early as possible is better for me. Today I'm en route to the ROH for an 11.30am matinee, which apart from the 50-Hour Improvathon may be the earliest I've ever been to a performance! |
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Post by londonpostie on Oct 10, 2021 16:02:14 GMT
This afternoon seemed to be a good example of what's happening with theatre demographics; the pivot away from weekday matinees to Sunday's* (in the absence of mostly elderly parties from the provinces, but metro also) seems partially validated - it's a different crowd (proper generational family groups, a noticeable tourist presence) but it is something of a crowd. Not sure word has got around yet. Finally twigged why I get a monkeysurveys so often; now presume theatres are trying to understand evolving markets. What a time to still be alive 
* not including Islington
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Post by beguilingeyes on Jun 22, 2023 13:44:21 GMT
Mid-week matinees were always predominantly on Wednesdays. Now most of them seem to be Thursday. What's _that_ all about.
I work Thursday and Friday so my vision of going to lots of matinees is vanishing fast.
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Post by sam22 on Jun 22, 2023 15:06:25 GMT
Mid-week matinees were always predominantly on Wednesdays. Now most of them seem to be Thursday. What's _that_ all about. I work Thursday and Friday so my vision of going to lots of matinees is vanishing fast. I think it depends what you want to see. Next week for example on TodayTix there are 22 shows with Wednesday matinées and 29 shows with Thursday matinées. I presume they started doing different days to attract people on other days of the week. I feel your pain though, there never seems to be a matinee of a show I want to see when I'm down in the week! |
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Post by james1969 on Jun 22, 2023 15:16:23 GMT
When this (regularly) comes up I always point people in the direction of Theatremonkey’s very helpful guide www.theatremonkey.com/showtime-schedulesIt shows that a matinee can currently be found every day of the week (bar Monday’s) ! |
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Post by showgirl on Jun 23, 2023 3:50:57 GMT
I've always known the main weekday matinee days as Wed/Thurs, which remains the case for all my regular venues (eg Almeida, Guildford, Hampstead, NT, Old Vic, Orange Tree, Park etc) though annoyingly for me, Southwark Playhouse mysteriously switched theirs to Tuesdays some years ago and Jermyn St Theatre also do Tuesdays.
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Post by mkb on Jun 23, 2023 11:58:43 GMT
I hadn't realised that The Mousetrap run three matinées and a nine-show week, assuming Theatre Monkey is correct.
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Post by evilmat360 on Jun 23, 2023 12:20:27 GMT
I hadn't realised that The Mousetrap run three matinées and a nine-show week, assuming Theatre Monkey is correct. Theatre Monkey is correct, backed up by the Mousetrap website. It's a 9 show week every week. {Spoiler}  |
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Post by Jon on Jun 23, 2023 12:35:34 GMT
The Mousetrap isn't exactly the most challenging of shows. 9 shows is nothing, Joseph on tour is 12 shows a week.
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Personally I like the slightly earlier starts as it gives me a fighting chance of seeing an evening performance and then managing to catch the last train back to my part of the country (though still a bit of a dash between the West End and Paddington - Crossrail can’t come soon enough!)
