All Royal Ballet Broadcasts in Canada cancelled by Cineplex

[kbarber]

Cineplex theatres made this extremely disappointing announcement, without explanation, on September 11:

CANCELLATION NOTICE

We regret to advise that the following performances from Royal Opera House for this season of the FRCE Dance Series have been cancelled and removed from the schedule effective September 11, 2014:

· Manon October 16, 2014

· Alices Adventures in Wonderland December 17 & 20, 2014

· Swan Lake March 18, 2015

· La Fille mal gardée May 6, 2015

If you have purchased tickets for any of the above performances, they can be fully refunded or exchanged for a ticket to one of the Bolshoi Ballet performances this season.

Thank you for your understanding and we apologize for any inconvenience.

All I can say is ..... aaaaarrrrggghhh.

[sandik]

Damn (goes off to check on the US component)

[sandik]

Manon is still on the local (Seattle area) schedule, but it's running in a suburban theater -- last year, the RB programs were much closer to me...

[volcanohunter]

Appalling news, especially since the Bolshoi's new broadcasts for this season are such duds. Viewers deserve a better explanation...any explanation!

[kbarber]

Appalling news, especially since the Bolshoi's new broadcasts for this season are such duds. Viewers deserve a better explanation...any explanation!

I SO agree!

[volcanohunter]

In response to my letter of complaint, Cineplex replied that the "Royal Opera House Ballet elected to no longer air their performances with us for this season. As a result all screenings had to be cancelled." Perhaps it was a financial decision on the part of the ROH, though I would think a movie chain would be the one to decide whether screening particular content would be likely to generate good returns.

Since it already broadcasts the Met, Cineplex has not been screening productions by the Royal Opera, but during this past season some of these performances had been showing locally at an independent art-house cinema, though not "live." This series, too, has not been renewed. We'll see how the ROH responds to the inquiry I sent.

The cancellation is particularly unfortunate given that the Royal Ballet is planning to broadcast a Canadian Siegfried this season. Will Matthew Golding's relatives now have to trek from Saskatchewan to Bozeman, Montana, to see his performance?

[kbarber]

The answer I got from cineplex was "Unfortunately, we were unable to solidify a contractual agreement in order to present this series."

Why would the RB not want their ballets airing in Canada, when they're happy to have them airing elsewhere? I will be interested to see what they say in response to your letter.

And I even mentioned Matthew Golding in my email to Cineplex.

[volcanohunter]

I'm sure the Royal Ballet would like its performances to air in Canada. One possible explanation is that Cineplex was unwilling to pay what the ROH was asking. It is true that in my neck of the woods, RB transmissions are not very well attended, and the same goes for the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. In part I have a feeling the weekday evening schedule works against them. With the intermissions left intact, the performances often make for very long evenings, and it's impossible for children to attend. In light of that, Cineplex may have wanted to pay less for the transmissions, and the Royal Ballet wouldn't oblige. Mind you, around here the Bolshoi doesn't exactly pack them in either, even on Sunday afternoons, but we don't know what sort of financial terms were negotiated between the parties.

[kbarber]

I'm sure the Royal Ballet would like its performances to air in Canada. One possible explanation is that Cineplex was unwilling to pay what the ROH was asking. It is true that in my neck of the woods, RB transmissions are not very well attended, and the same goes for the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. In part I have a feeling the weekday evening schedule works against them. With the intermissions left intact, the performances often make for very long evenings, and it's impossible for children to attend. In light of that, Cineplex may have wanted to pay less for the transmissions, and the Royal Ballet wouldn't oblige. Mind you, around here the Bolshoi doesn't exactly pack them in either, even on Sunday afternoons, but we don't know what sort of financial terms were negotiated between the parties.

All very true, and I agree about the evening issue. But Cineplex could choose to broadcast the RB on weekends instead, since they aren't transmitting them "live" anyway. The thing that really bugs me is that Cineplex is USELESS at promoting these broadcasts. And then they are poorly attended. Duh. Why don't they have a special offer for ballet schools, for instance.

[sandik]

It's my experience that almost all the "dance in cinema" programs are badly promoted -- even when the local art film organization was a presenter, they did a mediocre job of letting people know that the event was happening.

Does anyone here live somewhere that the film presenter is doing what they consider to be a good job of promotion?

[volcanohunter]

Cineplex could choose to broadcast the RB on weekends instead, since they aren't transmitting them "live" anyway.

Yes, the broadcasts could be moved to a more convenient time. Originally Cineplex had planned to show Alice, Swan Lake and Fille one day late anyway.

In retrospect, I should have suspected something was amiss. Canadian cinemas had never been included in the centralized database of ROH screenings for 2014-15. (E.g., the "screening search" for Manon http://www.roh.org.uk/showings/manon-live-2014 ; I also see that there are no screenings in South America, Africa, Asia or the South Pacific, and that large chunks of Europe are going without.) And Cineplex scheduled the Bolshoi's repeat broadcasts, something it had done rarely in the past, as if to compensate for the potential absence of RB performances. Even the last-minute cancellation of The Winter's Tale looks different now.

[volcanohunter]

From the ROH:

"Screenings have been cancelled by one distributor, but keep an eye out as replacement Canadian screenings will be announced soon."

My money is on Landmark Cinemas, because when I looked at their website today, I discovered, to my great surprise, that they would be screening five of the Royal Opera's seven planned broadcasts, though delayed by about a month, at 22 cinemas in Ontario and westward. (No advertising, of course.) This is small potatoes compared with the 125 or so Cineplex cinemas that broadcast the Met in Canada, but it's the only real alternative on the English-Canadian market. We can keep our fingers crossed that the Royal Ballet will be added to the schedule, even if it means that Torontonians and Vancouverites would have to venture out into the suburbs for the screenings.

http://www.landmarkcinemas.com

[kbarber]

Thanks for the update, volcanohunter. Fingers crossed.

[kbarber]

After the shocker of last week's announcement by Cineplex that they will not be broadcasting the Royal Ballet performances of Manon, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Swan Lake, and La Fille mal Gardée in Canada, I am happy to announce that another distributor has picked these up.

The cinemas below are confirmed so far; exact dates are currently being updated on each cinema's website, but the current info is as follows:

Manon from December 6, 2014

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland from January 24, 2015

Swan Lake from April 18, 2015

La Fille mal gardee from June 6, 2015

I will post again as soon as there is firm information.

In addition, the distributor, MEI Group, has other theatres in their Alternative Cinema Network that are considering picking up the ROH cinema season; stay tuned for more information.

Alberta

Landmark Cinemas 16 IMAX Country Hills Calgary http://www.landmarkcinemas.com/calgary-country-hills/experiences/experiences-detail?event=ROHCountryHills

Landmark Cinemas 10 EXTRA Shawnessy Calgary http://www.landmarkcinemas.com/calgary-shawnessy/experiences/experiences-detail?event=ROHShawnessy

Landmark Cinemas 9 City Centre Edmonton http://www.landmarkcinemas.com/edmonton-city-centre/experiences/experiences-detail?event=ROHCityCentre

British Columbia

Landmark Cinemas 5 Columbia Cranbrook http://www.landmarkcinemas.com/cranbrook/experiences/experiences-detail?event=ROHCranbrook

Landmark Cinemas 6 Esplanade North Vancouver http://www.landmarkcinemas.com/north-vancouver-esplanade

Landmark Cinemas 10 New Westminster http://www.landmarkcinemas.com/new-westminster/experiences/experiences-detail?event=ROHNewWestminster

Landmark Cinemas University Heights Victoria http://www.landmarkcinemas.com/victoria-university-heights/film-info?film=1827

Landmark Cinemas Paramount Kelowna http://www.landmarkcinemas.com/kelowna-paramount/experiences/experiences-detail?event=ROHParamountKelowna

Landmark Cinemas Paramount Kamloops http://www.landmarkcinemas.com/kamloops/experiences/experiences-detail?event=ROHKamloops

Landmark Cinemas 8 Avalon Nanaimo http://www.landmarkcinemas.com/nanaimo/experiences/experiences-detail?event=ROHNanaimo

University of British Columbia, Vancouver http://ubcopera.universitytickets.com/user_pages/event_listings.asp

Vancity Theatre – Vancouver International Film Centre, Vancouver http://viff.org/theatre/series/the-royal-opera-house-presents

Manitoba

Landmark Cinemas 8 Grant Park Winnipeg http://www.landmarkcinemas.com/winnipeg-grant-park/experiences/experiences-detail?event=ROHGrantPark

Newfoundland, New Brunswick & Nova Scotia

Coming Soon!

Ontario

Landmark Cinemas 10 Square One Mississauga http://www.landmarkcinemas.com/mississauga-square-one/experiences/experiences-detail?event=ROHSquareOne

Landmark Cinemas 24 IMAX Whitby http://www.landmarkcinemas.com/whitby/experiences/experiences-detail?event=ROHWhitby

Landmark Cinemas 6 Jackson Square Hamilton http://www.landmarkcinemas.com/hamilton-jackson-square/experiences/experiences-detail?event=ROHJacksonSquare

Landmark Cinemas 24 IMAX Kanata http://www.landmarkcinemas.com/kanata/experiences/experiences-detail?event=ROHKanata

Landmark Cinemas 10 EXTRA Orleans http://www.landmarkcinemas.com/orleans/experiences/experiences-detail?event=ROHOrleans

Landmark Cinemas 10 IMAX Kingston http://www.landmarkcinemas.com/kingston/experiences/experiences-detail?event=ROHKingston

Landmark Cinemas 12 IMAX Kitchener http://www.landmarkcinemas.com/kitchener/experiences/experiences-detail?event=ROHKitchener

Landmark Cinemas 10 EXTRA Waterloo http://www.landmarkcinemas.com/waterloo/experiences/experiences-detail?event=ROHWaterloo

Landmark Cinemas 8 London http://www.landmarkcinemas.com/london/experiences/experiences-detail?event=ROHLondon

Landmark Cinemas 10 Pen Centre St. Catharines http://www.landmarkcinemas.com/st-catharines-pen-centre/experiences/experiences-detail?event=ROHPenCentre

Prince Edward Island & Quebec

Coming Soon!

Saskatchewan

Coming Soon!

Yukon & Territories

Landmark Cinemas Qwanlin Whitehorse http://www.landmarkcinemas.com/whitehorse-qwanlin/experiences/experiences-detail?event=ROHQwanlin

[sandik]

Good news indeed!

[volcanohunter]

I'm glad to see that a couple more venues have been added in Vancouver. It means that Greater Vancouver will have as many screens for the Royal Ballet as it does for the Bolshoi, just different ones. I hope something similar can be done in Toronto. I'm guessing the screens in Mississauga and Whitby are too few to cover the entire GTA.

But for now it is a reduction from 65 to 24 theaters, so there are losers, including more northerly B.C. communities like Prince George, isolated cities such as Thunder Bay and Sudbury, the lakeside cities north of Toronto, and, if alternate venues aren't found, Saskatchewan and everything east of Ontario. (I suppose Montrealers could venture down to Vermont, but that's asking a lot.) The big winner would be Whitehorse. Thus far this sort of content has not been available there, and it would be nearly impossible for the locals to travel elsewhere to get it.

[Stecyk]

At the Scotiabank Theatre Chinook in Calgary where I usually view ballet theater performances, the Bolshoi performances were usually better attended than the Royal Opera House performances.

Assuming volancohunter's count is correct with a reduction from 65 to 24 theaters, it's likely that fewer people in Canada will see ROH performances. For example, I am unlikely to make a transition to a different theater. Depending on the contractual terms, ROH might earn less than it did before. Of course, without knowing the actual terms and the number of viewers, it's all just speculation.

I plan to write a quick email to Cineplex stating that I hope that it and ROH are able to come to terms next year. It's an unfortunate situation.

[volcanohunter]

Does anyone here live somewhere that the film presenter is doing what they consider to be a good job of promotion?

No! Today I went to a sparsely attended presentation at a Landmark location due to begin presenting ROH content. It was a performance of Madama Butterfly filmed on Sydney Harbour. Those in attendance were mostly very elderly, not the sort of people I would expect to be internet/social media users, though they may have children or grandchildren who alert them to these sorts of events (without attending themselves). If I weren't so averse to prying into other people's affairs, I might have asked them how they found out about the screening. I didn't run across any sort of advertising, but perhaps some people make a point of reading movie listings in newspapers very carefully. In fairness, there haven't been any live opera performances around here yet, and hence no playbills in which to advertise. I certainly hope Landmark Cinemas makes a point of advertising its Royal Opera season with local opera companies. It now includes all seven productions the Royal Opera will be beaming to cinemas. http://www.landmarkcinemas.com/orleans/experiences/experiences-detail?event=ROHOrleans Obviously I hope they do the same with Royal Ballet screenings once those are finalized.

Incidentally, the ticket kiosks at the multiplex were not yet selling tickets for the Royal Opera performances, but they were selling tickets to the Shakespeare's Globe productions of Henry V (Nov. 8) and Twelfth Night (Nov. 15). That is also Opus Arte content.

[volcanohunter]

The Landmark site has not yet been updated, but Canadian showtimes have now appeared in the ROH database. The format is the same as for Royal Opera broadcasts: a Saturday screening at 11 am, and a repeat nine days later on Monday at 6:30 pm. I was under the impression that showtimes in British Columbia were slightly different--10 am and 6:30 pm--so that has to be double checked.

Manon
Saturday, December 6 at 11 am
Monday, December 15 January 26 at 6:30 pm

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Saturday, January 24 at 11 am
Monday, February 2 at 6:30 pm

Swan Lake
Saturday, April 18 at 11 am
Monday, April 27 at 6:30 pm

La Fille mal gardée
Saturday, June 6 at 11 am
Monday, June 15 at 6:30 pm

[volcanohunter]

Tickets for Manon and Alice are now on sale at Landmark Cinemas. Please note that not all of its locations are equipped for online sales. However, the list of cinemas screening the ballets is a little different than the list published by the distributor. For now, at least, it appears that the locations screening the Royal Opera (and Shakespeare's Globe) are not necessarily the same ones screening the Royal Ballet. I have written to the chain asking for clarification. Please do not take this as Holy Writ, but as far as I can tell, these are the locations screening the Royal Ballet.

YT - Whitehorse (Qwanlin)
BC - Campbell River, Courtenay, Cranbrook, Kamloops, Kelowna (Paramount), Nanaimo, New Westminster, North Vancouver, Penticton, Surrey, Victoria
AB - Calgary (Country Hills), Calgary (Shawnessy), Edmonton (City Centre), Spruce Grove
MB - Winnipeg (Grant Park)
ON - Hamilton, Kanata, Kingston, Kitchener, London, Orleans, St. Catharines, Waterloo, Whitby

The location in Mississauga was closed recently, limiting options for people in the GTA.
http://www.mississauga.com/whatson-story/4890705-square-one-s-landmark-cinema-closing-doors-friday/

Screenings will take place on Saturdays at 11 am (10 am in British Columbia) and at most locations will be repeated nine days later on Monday at 6:30 pm. Tickets are priced fairly competitively: $16.99 for adults, $14.99 for seniors and $11.99 for children, which is less than what Cineplex is charging for the Bolshoi. (Also less expensive than the Royal Opera, but more expensive than the Globe, which is interesting in itself.)

http://www.landmarkcinemas.com/en.aspx

The Royal Ballet's programs can also be seen, on slightly different dates, at the Royal Theatre in Trail, BC.

http://www.royaltheatretrail.com/dance

[volcanohunter]

Until November 25 Landmark Cinemas is offering a 10% discount for those buying tickets to all performances by the Royal Ballet or Royal Opera. For the four ballets that makes for a grand total of $61.16 for adults, $53.96 for seniors and $43.16 for children. However, the tickets have to be bought at a theater box office, since their web site is not equipped for season ticket sales. If you should ask to buy a "season subscription" at the box office, you are likely to be met with an uncomprehending stare from the cashier, but a manager will then be summoned to take care of everything. Since the discount requires an advance trip to the movie theater, I'm not sure it's all that worthwhile from a financial point of view, unless you happen to be heading to a Landmark multiplex this weekend. I went ahead and did it simply because I wanted to let the chain know that interest in the series exists.

[sandik]

I went ahead and did it simply because I wanted to let the chain know that interest in the series exists.

Smart idea.