Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

[Jon]

Dec 24, 2016 22:35:38 GMT Phantom of London said:

I am loving your contribution here, great bit of sport.

I agree with you that theatre shouldn't be a theme park show, even though Harry Potter is a theme park show.

Good point about how to utilise the dressing rooms, I would suggest that the same cast do 2 shows a day, then another cast will perform 2 shows on a different days, also I am not suggesting doubling up on every role, you can utilise other cast members, more effectively such as swings and standbys rather than use them as spares, waiting for something to happen.

With 2 shows a day the total performance time would be 6 hours, so you would have 18 hours to make repairs.

I am surprised the Lion King in New York hasn't done this already, they could easily do 16 shows a week at peak times.

Having seen the show, it's anything but a theme park show.

Also, I doubt you'd have crew working overnight or very early in the morning, it doesn't happen in other West End shows, it wouldn't happen with Cursed Child.

Swings and standbys aren't there waiting for something to happen, Swings cover people who are injured or on holiday, standby are there in case something happens to fall ill during a performance and also covers them on holiday, just like understudies. If multiple people got injured or ill then you're pretty much screwed since they'd be no replacements.

[Deleted]

Dec 24, 2016 22:35:38 GMT Phantom of London said:

(Whole load of stuff snipped)

The point you're overlooking here is that nothing you propose is of any benefit to the producers. Interest in Harry Potter isn't going to go away any time soon. It's not as if there's a limited window of opportunity during which they have to make as much money as possible before the audience loses interest and buggers off. Having more shows brings in the money faster but it doesn't create greater interest in the show, so all it does is bring forward the date when they're no longer able to sell out. To a show with an open-ended run there's no disadvantage to be unable to meet demand, and if anything the publicity of having people seen to be desperate to buy tickets is advantageous because it creates a "must see" impression with the public. At this stage in the show's life the last thing they want is to be able to fully satisfy the demand.

The only people who would benefit from the sort of changes you propose are customers who have a petulantly whiny "I want it now!" attitude to advance booking. Why should the producers put any effort into making them happier when they're going to buy tickets anyway?

[Phantom of London]

Listen I am no fan of Harry Potter, watching the first movie which was on ITV, which I finding insufferable. I haven't seen neither play. My appetite hasn't been wetted as yet. But I do admire JK Rowling.

However Harry Potter isn't going anywhere, it will be like Phantom and Les Miserables and will play forever, it will always find a new audience. The speed of which it sells out, no longer is a press story, so that niche news story is relevant anymore.

You also need to recoup the cost for each show, which must be very expensive to put on and 4 shows are limiting, especially with all the special effects - so this will make it easier to recoup for each show, if 6 shows are on sale.

Yes as Matthew states there are the whiny "I Want It Now" audience, also you have tourists that come over and want to see this, also peoples' financial situations changes, so as the saying goes you make hay whilst the sunshine. Also if sales start to dip, economic downturn or quieter times of the year, you can revert back to 8 show.

If you had 2 sets of principal actors, do you really need 2 sets of swings and standbys for each one? The additional labour that would work through the night, would be new staff on a better salary to reflect their anti-social hours. The current staff would stay where they are, as you need people during show/day time to run the show, when problems arise.

[Deleted]

Dec 24, 2016 22:51:32 GMT Jon said:

Dec 24, 2016 22:35:38 GMT Phantom of London said:

I am loving your contribution here, great bit of sport.

I agree with you that theatre shouldn't be a theme park show, even though Harry Potter is a theme park show.

Good point about how to utilise the dressing rooms, I would suggest that the same cast do 2 shows a day, then another cast will perform 2 shows on a different days, also I am not suggesting doubling up on every role, you can utilise other cast members, more effectively such as swings and standbys rather than use them as spares, waiting for something to happen.

With 2 shows a day the total performance time would be 6 hours, so you would have 18 hours to make repairs.

I am surprised the Lion King in New York hasn't done this already, they could easily do 16 shows a week at peak times.

Having seen the show, it's anything but a theme park show.

Also, I doubt you'd have crew working overnight or very early in the morning, it doesn't happen in other West End shows, it wouldn't happen with Cursed Child.

Swings and standbys aren't there waiting for something to happen, Swings cover people who are injured or on holiday, standby are there in case something happens to fall ill during a performance and also covers them on holiday, just like understudies. If multiple people got injured or ill then you're pretty much screwed since they'd be no replacements.

It is mass market theatre

It's hardly Yerma
Or
Hedda Gabler

And they sell merchandising for it



Including garments

Which is hardly elegant or stylish

People want a momento to take away

That really is theme park theatre

They search your bags

Try and take food away

And patronise audience members



I thought some staging elements were diverting

But it was the most repetitive thing I have ever seen and spreading the wafer thin story over 6 hours was wearing

Yes there was some nice acting

And I am sure they could act even better in a proper play

My entire family found it childish and simplistic

[Deleted]

Dec 25, 2016 22:52:49 GMT Phantom of London said:

You also need to recoup the cost for each show, which must be very expensive to put on and 4 shows are limiting, especially with all the special effects - so this will make it easier to recoup for each show, if 6 shows are on sale.

It won't make it easier. At this stage in a show's life almost all the costs are variable costs: salaries, maintenance, rent, royalties, and various other things that rise and fall along with the number of performances or the number of tickets sold. If eight performances make a profit or loss then twelve performances make a 50% larger profit or loss, whether they occur over a week or a week and a half.

Also if sales start to dip, economic downturn or quieter times of the year, you can revert back to 8 show.

That would be a publicity disaster. The press would certainly push it as "Interest in the show is declining; is this the beginning of the end for HP&tCC?", and there's no way for the producers to fight that because it's accurate.

Also, you can't just train up extra staff and then tell them to turn up only when they're needed. If you want to keep them available in case the show picks up again then you need to keep them on the payroll, so you're paying them without getting any income in return and reducing your profits. If you don't keep them on the payroll then you need to train new staff, which is extra cost that also doesn't generate any income and reduces your profits.

If you had 2 sets of principal actors, do you really need 2 sets of swings and standbys for each one? The additional labour that would work through the night, would be new staff on a better salary to reflect their anti-social hours. The current staff would stay where they are, as you need people during show/day time to run the show, when problems arise.

Yes, you do need more swings, because you can't expect people to be available for more shows without paying them more money, even if they're not performing. And if people are having to work through the night on better salaries then the costs rise and the overall profitability of the show drops.

There are some types of show where it makes sense to have extra performances. Pantos often do this because they have a limited period of interest and if the production is popular enough they can do three shows in one day. But they do this because they only have a limited slot in the calendar to work with and because they know the set and costumes only have to last a few weeks. A show like Harry Potter is in this for the long haul. There's a reason almost all productions have a performance schedule with the same number of performances each week, and it's not because nobody ever thought of doing things differently.

[theatremadness]

Bravo @thematthew!!

[Jon]

Dec 26, 2016 6:10:47 GMT @thematthew said:

Also, you can't just train up extra staff and then tell them to turn up only when they're needed. If you want to keep them available in case the show picks up again then you need to keep them on the payroll, so you're paying them without getting any income in return and reducing your profits. If you don't keep them on the payroll then you need to train new staff, which is extra cost that also doesn't generate any income and reduces your profits.

Yes, you do need more swings, because you can't expect people to be available for more shows without paying them more money, even if they're not performing. And if people are having to work through the night on better salaries then the costs rise and the overall profitability of the show drops.

There are some types of show where it makes sense to have extra performances. Pantos often do this because they have a limited period of interest and if the production is popular enough they can do three shows in one day. But they do this because they only have a limited slot in the calendar to work with and because they know the set and costumes only have to last a few weeks. A show like Harry Potter is in this for the long haul. There's a reason almost all productions have a performance schedule with the same number of performances each week, and it's not because nobody ever thought of doing things differently.

You explained it better than I did but I would also add that what POL is suggesting is essentially a zero hour contract for the extra cast and crew which not only would they not accept but the various unions would refuse it as well.

[Rozzi Rainbow]

Dec 23, 2016 17:29:17 GMT kathryn said:

Bah humbug! Realised my confirmation email never came through, so went online to check in my Nimax account. Nothing there, or on my credit card statement. Booking must have not gone through.

Gaahh!

Oh no!! Were you able to go back and get them or had the seats you were looking at gone? Keep trying, as I've discovered there do seem to be seats appearing if you're lucky and are on the website at the right time.

[kathryn]

Seat is gone. I'd confused myself and was on the ATG site, not Nimax, but it still didn't go through, and their customer service team didn't even muster an apology! I want to know why the HP site is so rubbish and drops bookings even when it's not a high traffic time. Very frustrating.

[Deleted]

Seat(s) available right now for 11th Jan on the Nimax site guys!

[kathryn]

There's some on the 25th Jan too. And I''m hoping I've managed to book mine on the 14th - let's see if confirmation email comes through.

[kathryn]

Confirmation email received! Of course I've just checked the monkey and found the seat (p27) shaded red, but I guess i shouldn't expect to get a good seat for £70 these days...

[zak97]

3rd visit on the 25th January, managed to snag two tickets for £15 each.

[Rozzi Rainbow]

Wow this really is just brilliant. And so emotional - I laughed, I cried, I gasped, I grinned, I was shocked and I sobbed! I'm now back at my hotel with a glass of wine trying to recover! I thought the staging was great and the magic tricks are amazing. I'll post more in the spoiler thread when I'm back home at my laptop. Although I'd already read the script, there was a lot I hadn't remembered, especially in Part 2.

I spoke to Noma before tonight's show, she appeared out of the stage door just as I walked past, she was really nice.

[Latecomer]

Won the Friday Forty! I think everyone forgot it was actually Friday as were are in that strange zone between Christmas and New Year where one never knows the day of the week!!! Yay!

[talkstageytome]

I'll be returning my tickets for Jan 1st tomorrow so if people are interested then do keep an eye out. 😊 hopefully it goes!

[talkstageytome]

Returned my ticket yesterday and checked on the website multiple times today where the website said no tickets available. Just received a phone call to let me know that the ticket never sold. Worth following up or no, do we think? I'm not that fussed as they were only the £15 ones, but still, I was expecting it to sell given that the website was saying that the show was sold out....

[Deleted]

I mean, it is possible they didn't think it worth messing around with the website to put a single ticket back on sale, and that any returns queue people would have said "thanks for offering but if I'm queuing for a return in the dead of winter I want a damn stalls seat", but it does sound like they didn't even bother trying.

[Deleted]

It might be worth a phonecall, I know some places have a 'we have to sell everything we have before we sell returns' but given it's down as sold out it makes you wonder that nobody at all was willing to take it?

[danielwhit]

Personally, if I saw it online I'd have grabbed it - I find it incredible that no one else would have grabbed it (if it went online or in the returns queue). I do wonder if they just didn't bother.

[cmcphail]

I was there and they were offering one £15 ticket, but it was very quickly and happily snapped up. Everyone left after that assuming that was it, maybe we all left a bit too early?

[kathryn]

Ah, thanks Monkey! Being a shortarse does pay off occasionally.

[broadwaymomma]

We have tickets to see both parts on a Sunday in April. We are a family of four (with teenagers) visiting from the US. Any restaurant recommendations for an early dinner nearby? Should we try for reservations at The Ivy?

[theatremadness]

Next ticket release date is 11am on 23rd January 2017, for performances between 7th February 2018 - 29th April 2018!

www.harrypottertheplay.com/news/tickets-released-to-april-2018/

[theatrefan77]

Jan 8, 2017 19:24:05 GMT broadwaymomma said:

We have tickets to see both parts on a Sunday in April. We are a family of four (with teenagers) visiting from the US. Any restaurant recommendations for an early dinner nearby? Should we try for reservations at The Ivy?

I recommend Cote in Saint Martin's Lane.  Just a couple of minutes away from the theatre.  Their set menu is excellent value for money and service is very friendly and efficient.  You need to book in advance though as it's always very busy.  You can book a table online through their website. Don't think I'm allowed to post the link here but it's easy to find. 

And enjoy the play.  It's great fun!