Wear Jeans and Trainers to the opera.

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.telegraph....era-says-the-ENO.html

/// Ticket prices for special performances will be cheaper than usual - £25 for the best seats in the house, which can cost £100 on regular nights - and will include an invitation to a post-show party with cast and company members. ///

Don't say they will be sitting in the same seats?

[EcclesCake]

What a fabulous idea! So many people are still put off attending live opera because they feel intimidated.

What seats do you think they'll be sitting in then AOG?

[Gromit]

I never dress up or differently when I go to listen to a classical concert, I wear my every day clothes.

I agree with what they ate trying to do, but personally, I dislike jeans.

[Old_Geezer]

The trouble with opera, they often sing in foreign. They never seem to know where they are hoolding the performance. Must be all that jet lag.

[sp1814]

Funny that - I've never given it a thought before, but I always wear a shirt and jacket to the opera (on the limited number that ie been to), but jeans and a t-shirt seem okay for the theatre.

£25 tickets are an excellent idea for getting people who would normally go through the door - but it depends more on the opera in question. There are some (eg. Madame Butterfly, La Traviata or La Boheme) which would be more popular than 'difficult' (or less well-known) productions.

[sp1814]

Old_Geezer

And they're so very, very, very long.

I bought my partner 'best seats in the house' for an ENO production of 'La Boheme' - nodded off before the interval.

...and towards the end of the second half.

[tonyav]

I'm afraid that they would have to pay me £100.

[joggerjayne]

At the ENO they don't sing in "foreign".

They do at the Royal Op, and they have surtitles, which I hate.

[EcclesCake]

I feel a little bit stupid for referring to 'live' opera.....an opera with dead performers would be errr....dead!!!!

I still think it's a good idea to breakdown the barriers and encourage all through the doors though.

[joggerjayne]

When you say "all" ... ?

I mean, there are a lot of people who ... well, you know ... you're trying to have a nice night out.

People from Croydon, for instance.

[beckersjay]

Well, I admit we don't sit in the most expensive seats but in my recent experience, loads of people don't dress up for the opera nowadays - jeans , and even shorts, are regularly seen, even at Covent Garden

[ladybirder]

I've worn jeans and trainers at the ENO no problem but not at the ROH, or Glyndebourne. You can wear smart casual at The ROH. I've taken lots of people to the opera who have never been before and without exception they've all gone again. You've got to the careful to pick the right (popular) opera though. I hope they're successful in getting more people interested.

[beckersjay]

Maybe you don't sit in the Amphitheatre at the ROH, ladybirder.

[joggerjayne]

Carmen, Barber of S, Mikado ... best "intro" operas.

[tonyav]

Right, £250 now.

[aelmpvw]

trainers can cost more than opera tickets

[ladybirder]

Anything but Carmen JJ, hate it now, been done to death.

It has been known beckersjay. Nothing wrong with the amphitheatre. Been a while though so probably standards have slipped while I've been away;-)

More of a Glyndebourne girl now when I can get my freebees.

[Maydup]

It really, really doesn't matter what you wear to the opera. Unless it says "Black Tie" for a gala night, it is come as you are. No-one will be asked to leave if they're wearing jeans or casual clothes but this is an excellent move to reassure people that the expereince is about the music and the singing and not about our attire.

There's nothing wrong with dressing up either. But the attitude of those who do is sometimes very inimidating for those who don't or who can't.

[Baldric]

Smart casual is good, if it gets a few more people through the doors, as a matter of choice I would not wear Jeans, have not done so for 30yrs+ even for dog walking.

[emmie]

ENO, English National Opera, so no singing in a foreign tongue. And opera wasn't always grand. Jeans to the opera no way, not even if they say all come along wearing them, it wouldn't feel right, nor going to the theatre or out to dinner.

[emmie]

it doesn't have to be black tie, also doesn't have to be ripped jeans and t shirts. Having been to the Metropolitan Opera House i would say that you wouldn't go their dressed like some latterday hippy.