To see him on stage.... extremely tempting.

I would like to remind you of the Meet & Greet...

SolarSystem wrote:

I would like to remind you of the Meet & Greet...

Ha ha, I already can see myself... eyes and mouth wide open... and unable to say anything...

LOL Great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He could fly me anywhere first!

MJN Air. 16 passenger seats. This should be enough for us. 

Confirmation??????????????? How shall I manage this???????????? Panic!!!!!!!!!
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/s129/sherlock/news/a536756/benedict-cumberbatch-confirmed-to-play-hamlet-in-london-in-2014.html

Yes, totally agree with you. Ticket first... however to manage... and then I start thinking about everything else.

So, this is important. Please read the information provided by cumberbatchweb. And then we will have to keep our eyes open in the new year. 


Hamlet - Info Post

I’m currently getting so many Hamlet emails that I had to have a panicked phone call to my web host last night to ensure that I had enough storage for them so I thought it was worth a quick post.

Pretty much all we know at the moment is that Benedict Cumberbatch is doing Hamlet in London in Autumn 2014. That’s it.

But in answer to other questions:

When do tickets go on sale?

Not known as yet. Likely January/February for an Autumn show. They might announce that tickets will go on sale at a certain date and time but equally West End shows often just randomly go live with their ticket booking with little fanfare as it reduces strain on servers. If it is in a proper West End venue there is unlikely to be much in the way of priority booking. Certain groups of theatres like ATG have membership schemes which might give you a days priority but equally that won’t apply to all shows. Chances are the tickets will just go on sale to all at once.

What venue will it be at?

I’ve been told no venue has been chosen yet. The producer reported to be producing is Sonia Friedman which is important to know as she favours large commercial West End venues. If she is producing it is highly unlikely that it will be at the National Theatre, Old Vic, Globe etc. It will be a West End venue.

Ignore the sad muppet on twitter who is claiming it’s the Duke of York. That’s a fake account.

How much will tickets cost?

If Sonia Friedman is producing I would budget between £50 and £75 for a stalls seat with premium seats anywhere between £80 and £100. Premium seats are seats that the venue has decided have the best view (this may not actually be the case) and which are sold at a premium as a result. There is never any reason to buy a premium seat unless there are no other seats available – the mark up isn’t worth it. An excellent resource to look at when booking tickets isTheatremonkey. This details all the West End venues and has seating plans for each where seats are graded in terms of quality for money. Avoid any seat marked in red on a Theatremonkey seating plan.

Tickets will sell out in 2 seconds won’t they? Panic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That depends on the venue. Let’s get the worst case scenario out the way. They choose to do it in the Donmar Warehouse. That has 250 seats. It has a membership structure but it caps its membership levels. This means if you wanted to join now to get priority booking you would need to spend a fortune to guarantee yourself tickets. Even with membership you may only buy 4 seats to ONE performance. You would then have to battle with the public booking or the Front Row scheme if you wanted more. In short the Donmar is an utter nightmare.

But…

That is the worst case scenario. Hamlet will be a very hot ticket and interest is sky high. Logic says any producer will want to maximise their return by holding it in a decent sized venue. Also your average West End run is 10/12 weeks given people plenty of opportunities,. And the West End? It really doesn’t sell out. I can’t name a single show in the West End that is currently playing (which isn’t at the Donmar) that you couldn’t currently get a ticket too. You might have to wait a while to get tickets to The Book of Mormon or Matilda but you can whaltz into most plays without blinking.

Mojo has a cast with huge fandom interest – Ben Whishaw, Rupert Grint and Colin Morgan. It’s not sold out – in fact there have been ticket offers. When they recently extended it I could book for closing night with zero effort. Jude Law as Henry V? You can still get tickets. Nothing really sells out – not Daniel Radcliffe in The Cripple of Inishmaan or Ben Whishaw and Judi Dench in Peter & Alice. Chimerica which was probably the best thing I saw this year didn’t sell out in its West End transfer. Opening and closing weeks tend to sell completely but generally you can get tickets.

I mean I wouldn’t wait around for weeks after Hamlet tickets do go on sale and I’m sure it will sell heavily but I don’t think people need to start panicking that it will sell in 10 minutes. As it just won’t if it’s in a proper sized venue.

Can I book as a group – we all want to go on the same day?

Anywhere but the Donmar that shouldn’t be an issue. There is normally a number for group bookings. I wouldn’t particularly advise group bookings though. Golden rule is the more seats you need the poorer seats you get. If you want 8 together you might end up ¾ of the way back in the stalls when there were seats scattered in the front 3 rows. Just pick a date and everyone book their own seats.

Fans should only go once – it’s selfish otherwise

I’m getting a lot of this in my mentions (along with theatre snobs decrying people who go to the theatre to see a particular actor) and I’m sorry but no. Noone should be dictating to fans how they behave or shaming them if they pick up tickets to a couple of shows. Inevitably people are going to come from overseas and want to see it more than once to make their trip worthwhile. This does not make them the worst person ever. Again if it’s in a large venue fans going more than once isn’t an issue. At all.

Thank you, Susi. Now I feel a little more relaxed concerning the ticket booking.
I love the Donmar Warehouse - but that would in fact be a bad venue.
To avoid all venue problems I'd recommend a huge stage set up in Hyde Park...
(Of course, I'd make it to the front row! )