19,793 posts
|
Post by BurlyBeaR on Oct 24, 2019 12:11:32 GMT
When I was at Queens I loved the slips and I just before Les Mis Orginial closed I booked a seat and they decided to remove all the slips on one side (my side) for one show. So they "upgraded" everyone to seats in the dress and I was stuck with 4 seats in on row B of the dress. This seat is like £80-£100 and I could not see over the heads of the people in front of me. Becuase the the rake wasn't high as it is if you were in E or F and you have to look down to the stage. As a whole I NEVER book 2nd 3rd or 4th rows anyway unless its stalls becuase you look down. In my case I would have prefered i the people in front actually leaned. Also Les Mis concert I was in J4 in the grand and sat next to people who paid online £100 for the seats next to me from a website. I would have felt sorry for them if they hadn't have whispered all the lyrics and talked though the show. Were you monitoring the prices on line or did you have a discussion with them about it? I’ve never had a discussion with an audience member about how much they’ve paid.... is that normal?
|
|
471 posts
|
Post by mistressjojo on Oct 24, 2019 23:17:08 GMT
Just picking up on shady23 ’s post in the Les Mis Concert thread where they’re selling seats described as restricted view for £97. Just let that land. £100 (with the inevitable fees) and you won’t get a clear view of the stage. I’m probably in a minority by thinking that it shouldn’t be legal to sell a ticket for something that you can’t see fully from a normal sitting position in the allocated seat. That would fall into the “not fit for purpose” camp for me. A further minority opinion would be that people might ooh and aah at these Victorian theatres but the seating isn’t of architectural importance so why not rip it out and reconfigure these auditoriums a completely different way? Of course I know the answer to that. Cost, and the fact that there won’t be as many seats in the new layout as there were before so joe public has to continue paying the money and dodging rails, other peoples heads, side walls, lighting rigs and all while being kneecapped by the seat in front. It’s a disgrace and I can’t think of another industry where it would be tolerated. I agree it's insane - and as you, in my ideal world, it would not be tolerated! Sadly of course, in the commercial world, it's supply and demand - and the ticket is worth what people pay.... I go to the theatre a lot in Germany, where many of the big musical houses are new (ish). And what they lack in history they MASSIVELY make up for in sightlines. Almost always steps between rows and offset seats - I have never had a bad view; it's a joy. And the seats are bigger and much more comfortable. But back to the UK, what infuriates me even more than an overpriced restricted view seat, is when a top price ticket that should be fine, ends up being restricted. When I saw Tina, had a seat in the rear ish (but still top price non premium) stalls. Minimal rake, seat directly in front of me, not offset at all; tall man sits down in front of me and blocks literally 80% of my view of the stage. Was SO bad on this occasion I considered writing to the theatre afterwards to see if there was any way I could get a discount to see it again. Assumed this would be totally pointless though. Dunno if anyone has ever tried?! I was just thinking about this when I went to the theatre last week. Most of the theatres in Sydney are new-ish ( a couple of older ones that mostly run musicals or concerts) and as such have lots of room & good rake. The seats at the Opera House Playhouse are such that your don't need to stand to let people pass, and unless you get Hagrid or a Grenadier Guard sat in front there's no restricted views. The downside to this is that there are usually no 'cheaper' seats, everyone pays the same. (not counting discounting things like Lasttix or TodayTix).
|
|
349 posts
|
Post by kimbahorel on Oct 25, 2019 12:14:10 GMT
When I was at Queens I loved the slips and I just before Les Mis Orginial closed I booked a seat and they decided to remove all the slips on one side (my side) for one show. So they "upgraded" everyone to seats in the dress and I was stuck with 4 seats in on row B of the dress. This seat is like £80-£100 and I could not see over the heads of the people in front of me. Becuase the the rake wasn't high as it is if you were in E or F and you have to look down to the stage. As a whole I NEVER book 2nd 3rd or 4th rows anyway unless its stalls becuase you look down. In my case I would have prefered i the people in front actually leaned. Also Les Mis concert I was in J4 in the grand and sat next to people who paid online £100 for the seats next to me from a website. I would have felt sorry for them if they hadn't have whispered all the lyrics and talked though the show. Were you monitoring the prices on line or did you have a discussion with them about it? I’ve never had a discussion with an audience member about how much they’ve paid.... is that normal? Yeah! I have before I have chatted many a time with those around me and discussed prices.
|
|
4,029 posts
|
Post by Dawnstar on Oct 25, 2019 12:32:20 GMT
Were you monitoring the prices on line or did you have a discussion with them about it? I’ve never had a discussion with an audience member about how much they’ve paid.... is that normal? I've certainly never asked anyone who much they've paid but often people are clutching their tickets in such a way that you can see if they're direct from the theatre's box office or from TKTS or one of the other agencies, which can give you an idea if they paid full price or got a discount, or you can see the actual price printed on their ticket if they're next to you, so I do sometimes have a nosy glance!
|
|
5,159 posts
|
Post by TallPaul on Oct 25, 2019 13:22:17 GMT
This reconfiguration of the seating at York Theatre Royal was maybe doable because there weren't, in the old layout, that many rows underneath the circle overhang, but I hope these photos show what is possible in a grade II* theatre auditorium dating from 1902. There was a small(ish) reduction in capacity, which is now 847. Different sources suggest the previous capacity was either 950, 899 or 863. It had, at one time, been 1,300!
|
|
19,793 posts
|
Post by BurlyBeaR on Oct 25, 2019 13:59:53 GMT
That’s exactly the kind of thing I had in mind, with the stalls sweeping up to the level of the circle but I couldn’t articulate it. Glad to see a photo! You could use the redundant space that was the rear stalls for toilets or bars.
|
|
4,993 posts
|
Post by Someone in a tree on Oct 25, 2019 15:07:58 GMT
This reconfiguration of the seating at York Theatre Royal was maybe doable because there weren't, in the old layout, that many rows underneath the circle overhang, but I hope these photos show what is possible in a grade II* theatre auditorium dating from 1902. There was a small(ish) reduction in capacity, which is now 847. Different sources suggest the previous capacity was either 950, 899 or 863. It had, at one time, been 1,300! I remember the height of the stage was really err high. It was one for sitting in the circle but perhaps not now!
|
|
19,793 posts
|
Post by BurlyBeaR on Oct 25, 2019 18:51:06 GMT
With that concept you could even extend the back row of the the stalls further out along the circle wall, with a gantry to walk along to access the seats. Maybe even two rows.
|
|