The no-photos rule taken too far: intellectual property in the theatre

At a performance of Wolf Hall recently, I took a few photos of the cast during the curtain call. An usher ran over and shouted “no photographs!”, so I stopped. She then came up to me and said “I need to see you delete the photos all the way back to a photo that is not in this theatre”. As I had a dinner reservation only ten minutes later, I could not be bothered to get into a protracted argument and did what she demanded. I did, however, ask why I needed to delete the photos. She said “because they are the property of the Royal Shakespeare Company”.

Continue reading

The hidden costs of a trip to the West End: wine, ice cream and programmes

If there is one thing London theatregoers can agree on, it must be that the price of interval drinks and ice creams is outrageous. A new survey suggests an average price of £4.70 for a glass of wine and £3.27 for an ice cream. But the detail behind these numbers is worth considering.

Continue reading

West End vs West Ham – Season tickets for theatre?

As the football season kicks off in earnest with the Premier League’s first round of matches, we examine the main ticketing difference between the Premier League and the West End: the season ticket.

Continue reading

Review: Wicked with Kerry Ellis

Showbusinessinsights does not usually review shows, but Kerry Ellis’ return to Wicked prompted me to get tickets and watch the show again. I had not seen the show for a few years so was interested to see how it is getting on – in the week that it overtook Me & My Girl to become the 14th longest-running show in the West End.

Continue reading

How do you solve a problem like an injured Elphaba?

When a show is hit by bad news, how do you react? Crises sort the wheat from the chaff and the inexperienced or timid can be overwhelmed. But the truly successful not only cope with it, but make a virtue of it.

Continue reading

The Old Vic transformed: CQS Space

The transformation of the Old Vic into a theatre in the round…

“You’ve heard of theatre in the round? You’re looking at the man who invented theatre in the square: nobody had a good seat!” sings Max Bialystock in The Producers.

Continue reading

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels to the Secret Cinema rescue!

News just in…

As the Secret Cinema debacle continues with another cancellation tonight, ticket holders are being offered an alternative.

Rufus Hound appears to have announced on his blog that ticket holders for tonight’s Back To The Future screening can attend Dirty Rotten Scoundrels for no charge.

http://rufushound.wordpress.com/2014/07/25/secret-cinema-folk-some-good-news/

They simply have to turn up to the Savoy Theatre…

A nice gesture from the Scoundrels team – and some positive PR for the show as well. Win-win.

The only question is: what if meaningful numbers of people take them up on the offer? Can they really have that many empty seats on a Friday evening?

20140725-170552-61552891.jpg