[brian]

I have booked seats for 'Lohengrin' via the ROH Website. In my panic to get the job done properly without too many hitches I got the job done. However, after receiving my ticket allocation on the front row of the Balcony, it came up 'restricted view of the stage due to fingerboard (ledge) in front of the seat'. Have I made a dreadful mistake, having paid £80 per seat? Can someone reassure me that it will be 'alright on the night'?

[Lynette]

I have booked seats for 'Lohengrin' via the ROH Website. In my panic to get the job done properly without too many hitches I got the job done. However, after receiving my ticket allocation on the front row of the Balcony, it came up 'restricted view of the stage due to fingerboard (ledge) in front of the seat'. Have I made a dreadful mistake, having paid £80 per seat? Can someone reassure me that it will be 'alright on the night'?

You can check where you are on the website. If the best seats are well over £100 then you may be 'restricted' but I would worry more about seeing the overhead surtitles, if you need to refer to them, as it will be difficult to see them if you are too far on the side. They have little surtitle screens in front of the seats from where can't see the ones above the stage, but I don't like these. The ledge might intrude so you can't see the corner of the side of the stage you are on but I wouldn't be too worried myself about this: like sitting in a box in the theatre, you can lean forward. The surtitle issue would bother me more.
Others might know more?

[Weez]

If you're in the front row of the balcony, leaning forward will make you the devil. There is a special circle of hell for people who go "I cannot see 100% of the stage, so I shall lean forward". Brilliant! Well done! Now the people behind you can't even see 10% of the stage!

... sorry, I've had some issues with the balcony of the Novello recently. XD Take out the hyperbole and ire, and it reads "ooh, I wouldn't advise leaning forward, it might block the people behind you, and that would be very upsetting for them ".

I don't know much about the ROH myself, so this entire paragraph is going to be semi-educated guesswork, I'm afraid. I was looking at ticket prices online the other day, not sure whether to be more aghast at the prices themselves, or at the fact whole performances sell out even with such prices, and £80 sounds fairly low, for ROH prices. I don't imagine it'll be any worse than front row balcony of any other theatre; you'll be in the top section (boo!) but there won't be anyone in front of you (hurray!) but there probably will be a safety bar in your line of vision (boo!). And there's no way in hell it can be anywhere near as bad as comparable seats at the Coliseum. Anyone who's sat in the cheap seats for ENO say aye!

The message itself sounds like what you might be losing is the very front lip of the stage. Really, I've had worse seats. Admittedly for a mere 16th of the price. XD But the ROH is absolutely not a cheap night out, and the £80 that would guarantee you the most luxurious and well-placed seat in the whole place with ushers massaging your feet in any other theatre sadly won't see you so far at the Richly Overpriced uh... House.

If in real undoubted terror, phone the box office. They're pros, they should know?

[Lynette]

just occured to me that the ledge might be at eye height - Weez is right, ask box office. They a v nice and will change the tix for you I bet if not happy

[brian]

just occured to me that the ledge might be at eye height - Weez is right, ask box office. They a v nice and will change the tix for you I bet if not happy

Thanks for your responses. I phoned the Box Office and they assured me that it wasn't as bad as I had feared. There is a slight restriction but only affecting part of the stage.

[Miriam]

The ROH tend to be great about letting you know about the tickets, so hope you are happy.

I just spent £186 on two seats in the stalls for Swan Lake for me and my mum in mid-March. Eep! My bank account is groaning. Swan Lake is magical though so hopefully it will be worth it - still not sure anything can rival the production we saw in the round at the Royal Albert Hall.

[Lynette]

I went to the ROH for the first time today and I'm sorry but how disgusting, selfish can people be? This is exactly what happened, I would never consider indulging in this for one second, I saw almost nothing of the first act of Giselle. Well I enjoyed the music anyway and they left during the interval, the second act was really great.

Next time, if a next time comes along, you must tap the offending person on the shoulder and indicate the problem. This is what I do and once when I go very engaged in something at the theatre and leaned forward , someone did it to me. No offence taken as sometimes it isn't obvious.