Job Discussion Forums

[Darashii]

Has anyone gone to the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow during winter? I understand that it's closed right now, but it's expected to be open next year, and I want to see the Nutcracker. I heard (and indeed saw) how pricey buying tickets online is and then read that tickets can be purchased at a booth not far from the building.

My plans aren't concrete. I won't be in Russia for more than a few days, so it would suck if shows were selling out to people who bought online or weeks ahead of me. I just want to know what to expect.

(hoping this is the correct forum. )

[expatella_girl]

Whether or not the Bolshoi reopens in 2008 remains to be seen......

However, Moscow is awash in brilliant ballet and music. The Bolshoi is not better nor worse than plenty of other performance venues. The best that can be said for th Bolshoi theatre is that their budget is probably higher than other dance company's/theatres.

If you're only going to be in Russia for a few days, chances are that you will be staying in some kind of high end hotel and then leaving. At that time let the hotel concierge know that you are interested in upper end performance tickets and chances are good that what you want can be found.

On any day at any time for the *right price*, everything is available in Moscow. Let someone else take care of this for you when you get here.

[canucktechie]

The online prices are the real prices. They don't go any cheaper, except specially priced tickets for students and what have you.

I think the "booth" you're talking about is the main ticket office which is in the New Theatre building (where they are having performances now).

By all means book online if possible, you are going to pay through the nose to get tickets on short notice through a hotel or scalper.

[Red and white]

Tickets only go on sale 40 days before the performance, so it's not the same advance booking culture we have in the UK. The Bolshoi's main theatre is closed for repairs, but the company is still performing in the smaller 'New Theatre' next door.

Prices depend on what you want to see: a new production or something which is big box-office will cost, especially if you want good seats. On the other hand, I paid 300roubles for stalls seats to hear a Prokofiev opera at the Bolshoi (I'm fond of Prokofiev and had wanted to see this piece for a while).

If you're looking at other theatres I'd recommend the Stanislavsky-Danchenko Musical Theatre. Beautiful building, high-quality performances and cheaper tickets. Stalls seats for Swan Lake (about the most expensive ballet in the book) for 800r last year.

Other advice - buy from the theatre box office if possible. It might mean a bit of a walk and some tricky negotiating in Russian, but the agencies charge a mark-up and don't usually have better seats.

And while prices are high for the Bolshoi, in my experience they compare favourably with prices at Covent Garden. But then the price of having a life-size statue of myself made out of solid gold would probably compare favourably with ticket prices at Covent Garden!

[mdk]

For what it's worth I saw Swan Lake at the Mussourgsky theater in Saint Petersburg several years ago. The ticket office was sold out but suggested that I go to the theater cashier. It wasn't the Kirov, but the principals were all laureate artists.

When they heard I was working in Russia they sold me tickets at the domestic rate. I think I paid about six bucks. I ended up with a seat in a box looking over the flute player's shoulder.

P.S. There were about 50 people in the entire Hermitage. January it prime time to take a weekend and go up to St. Petersburg on the train.

Have you seen the Nikitin circus?