99 replies to this topic

[steveatplays]

My head tells me Honoured Guest is spot on about this new scheme dramatically expanding audiences, though my heart begrudges this scheme. As a hyper-organised non-member, I could usually get stalls seats on that crucial first day of public booking. Now, the members (deprived of so many of the best seats) will snap up all the dregs of the stalls, and I won't be able to get them. As I don't like the uncertainty, I will probably just buy circle seats instead, rather than gamble on getting the weekly release tickets.

But the key reason Honoured Guest and the Donmar are right about impending audience expansion is that the non-hyper-organised will be galvanised into getting tickets by the announcement of the casting, which typically occurs after the first day of public booking. They have always been galvanised this way, but in the past they were resigned to moaning and missing out. Now, when Ewan McGregor or Jude Law or Doctor Who alumni are added to casts, they will have lots of chances to pounce on tickets, and they will undoubtedly do so.

We hyper-organised people who book everything, and members too, will definitely lose tickets to laissez-faire Dr Who fans and star worshippers. And like Honoured Guest suggests, that's actually a fair result for a publicly subsidised theatre to achieve, as Dr Who fans are taxpayers like everyone else.

[armadillo]

So for hyper-organised Doctor Who fans. it's a win-win situation...

[Epicoene]

steveatplays, on 14 September 2012 - 10:14 AM, said:

But the key reason Honoured Guest and the Donmar are right about impending audience expansion is that the non-hyper-organised will be galvanised into getting tickets by the announcement of the casting, which typically occurs after the first day of public booking. They have always been galvanised this way, but in the past they were resigned to moaning and missing out.

That's not true either. The Donmar never sold all their public tickets on the first day of booking, they released others later in the run. Your argument simply doesn't convince because of the very small capacity of the Donmar, the £10 tickets will be picked up by the usual suspects. Oh, and when was the last time the casting at the Donmar was likely to galvanise a wider "new audience" ? Not during the current regime for sure.

[Honoured Guest]

Epicoene, I'll explain my reasoning. When public booking opened only twice a year, the regular suspects had a good chance of getting tickets by applying hyper-promptly while the casuals had a good chance of missing the boat, by a combination of not being aware of the new season, not realising the need to book urgently and being unable to plan so far ahead. When Barclays Front Row booking becomes weekly, the sale of those tickets should effectively become a lottery, with the regular suspects having little more chance than the casuals who've decided to try to get a discounted front row ticket for the current production.

[Pharaoh's number 2]

Josie Rourke was a couple of seats away from me at the RSC Caesar last night. I felt like approaching her to give her my views on her new 'schemes'. Unfortunately I couldn't quite pluck up the courage to do so.....

[xanderl]

You should have asked if she bought her ticket in advance or hung on for discounts

[Pharaoh's number 2]

She had good seats- centre of row J stalls. With a man.

[Lynette]

I'm on the phone right now hanging on ' you have retained your place in the queue for the call centre' that for  over 13 minutes with horrible music. Now transferred to - and I kid you not - another kind of music and a heavy breather. 16 minutes now. Nicer music.
Now being held in another queue. Losing the will to live 20 minutes.

[Lynette]

Finally human being on the line but phone cracked up and so I had to end call. No tix booked. It might have been my phone but have no prob with it usually. Atmospheric interference maybe or the Gods of theatre agin me.

Will try again. Maybe.

[Pharaoh's number 2]

Oh no Lynette... you may have to go in disguise too.