Question about ticket availability

[sasark]

Hi there,

I was just browsing for tickets to the RDB's new Swan Lake next spring. I noticed that the first seven rows for every performance are unavailable. The seating for all of the dates looks something like this:

I wanted to see whether there was any way to get seats in rows 1-7, so I began the process of starting a subscription. But the seats still were not available.

I know that some theaters, such as the Mariinsky, sometimes release front-row tickets after they release tickets that are further back, so I wrote to the theater and asked if the closer rows would be availability at a later date. Someone wrote back to me and said, "The first 7 rows are for the orchestra – that is why you cannot book them."

I have never heard of a seating plan that used empty or unavailable rows to represent an orchestra. I suppose it's not impossible, but I'm skeptical.

Does anyone here know more about this? Have you ever come across this when booking tickets for this company? If you had to guess, when would you expect these seats to come available (if ever)?

Thanks a lot,
Sasha

[Anne]

These seats are for the orchestra and will never be on sale. A seat on row 7 will thus be the first row.

[sasark]

Wow, that seems so unusual to me -- but I'm happy with the answer! Thanks a lot!

Sasha

[sasark]

Just a follow-up question -- for a work scheduled in Gamle Scene, does it work the same way? I just wondered because, for several performances of "La Sylphide" that I just looked at, seats in the first four rows don't seem to be available. Are those probably also for the orchestra?

thanks again,

Sasha

[JMcN]

Not about RDB but it is common in the UK that a number of rows are taken out to house the orchestra pit. For instance at the Birmingham Hippodrome rows A-D are removed for BRB. Of course, they are still shown on the seating plan which will be generic, but you cannot buy them. I thought the old stage in Copenhagen started on row A but I could have mis-remembered as I haven't been able to get over there for about 4 years.

[kbarber]

yes, it's quite common to do that in opera houses where they have the flexibility to use the front part as either orchestra pit or seats. In Toronto the "front" row is row D.

[California]

For the Bolshoi Ballet in July, they removed the A row. The woman at the ticket office insisted this was because you can't see the feet on stage from A (not true). It was clear it was to have room for that gigantic orchestra they brought with them, once you saw how big it was.

[Drew]

For the Bolshoi Ballet in July, they removed the A row. The woman at the ticket office insisted this was because you can't see the feet on stage from A (not true). It was clear it was to have room for that gigantic orchestra they brought with them, once you saw how big it was.

I think it may depend on your height whether you can see feet from row A (and, I guess, torso length). At least before the renovation of the State Theater I was not able to see feet from the first row. I am short but not extremely so...I'm sure a few other adult audience members are as short as I...

You may still be right that they removed the row to expand the size of the orchestra, since they don't mind selling those seats for other companies.

[California]

For the Bolshoi Ballet in July, they removed the A row. The woman at the ticket office insisted this was because you can't see the feet on stage from A (not true). It was clear it was to have room for that gigantic orchestra they brought with them, once you saw how big it was.

I think it may depend on your height whether you can see feet from row A (and, I guess, torso length). At least before the renovation of the State Theater I was not able to see feet from the first row. I am short but not extremely so...I'm sure a few other adult audience members are as short as I...

You may still be right that they removed the row to expand the size of the orchestra, since they don't mind selling those seats for other companies.

I'm 5"4' and love Row A. No problems at all seeing the entire stage floor and all feet. It's clearly a temporary row, though - you are walking on plywood painted red (?), not the concrete of the other rows. It's possible the renovation improved things.

There are other theaters, though, where the first couple of rows are very problematic-- Vail, Covent Garden, Kennedy Center. At the Opera House in San Francisco, although I was several rows back on the aisle, the seats are so ancient (whatever padding/springs used to be there are long gone) that I have serious problems seeing the stage and much prefer the tiers.

[kbarber]

There are other theaters, though, where the first couple of rows are very problematic-- Vail, Covent Garden, Kennedy Center. At the Opera House in San Francisco, although I was several rows back on the aisle, the seats are so ancient (whatever padding/springs used to be there are long gone) that I have serious problems seeing the stage and much prefer the tiers.

YOu can't see the feet from the front row in Toronto either (at least I can't, and I'm 5'4"). Such a wasted opportunity when they were building a brand new theatre, but it's the opera company that owns it and who cares about opera singers' feet?

[sasark]

Thanks so much for the information, everyone! I really appreciate it. I've now bought my tickets and am really looking forward to seeing this company for the first time.

Sasha

[volcanohunter]

At the Opera House in San Francisco, although I was several rows back on the aisle, the seats are so ancient (whatever padding/springs used to be there are long gone) that I have serious problems seeing the stage and much prefer the tiers.

I have yet to find a seat that works for me in San Francisco, and I'm considered tall by female standards. I've tried everything other than the boxes, but generally speaking the higher I go, the better I fare, even though dancers start to appear tiny from the balcony.

[California]

I have yet to find a seat that works for me in San Francisco, and I'm considered tall by female standards. I've tried everything other than the boxes, but generally speaking the higher I go, the better I fare, even though dancers start to appear tiny from the balcony.

So true! When I can, I try to get something in the first row of the Grand Tier or Premium Dress Circle, even though I'm over on the side. But by the time single tickets go on sale, subscribers and friends have gobbled up the best seats. They seem to have a very loyal fan base that makes it difficult for occasional visitors from out-of-town. (Very different from ABT in NYC, where great single tickets are not difficult to find.)