Free Theatre/Concert Tickets Discussion Thread

[Beate]

Oh dear, the Jubilee Line is down at the moment, so I hope everyone makes it in time for the 3pm show.

[Timbo]

I got there eventually at 2.55pm. The O2 stewards were excellent; they kept announcing that people shouldn't worry as they had put back the start of the show until 3.15pm because of problems with the tube. Inevitably there were quite a few people late, in fact the people next to me arrived about five minutes before the interval.
The show itself was really good and very entertaining.

[Rainey]

My obsession with being early pa*d off today (my mum who was coming with me & the kids thought I was making her leave an hour earlier than we had to), we made it to Canary Wharf when the Jubilee Line was suspended, not that familiar with that part of town, so we swallowed the cost of a taxi, arrived just before 2pm, picked our tickets up with hardly a queue and still had time to visit some of the free attractions in the O2 with the kids before the show started.

We all really enjoyed the show, the obedience of the horses was amazing and the kids where amazed by the man straddling 2 horses whilst jumping the fire jumps and also the stunt riders. The story was a bit weak, but the standard of the performers was excellent and we all thought it was a great show.

[opas]

The jubilee line going down must have caused a lot of problems for people. We were lucky and got there in good time. Got great seats in block 107, row K I think. Wasn't expecting to be so close to the performance. I don't think the upper tier was open at all so there was no chance of being stuck in the nosebleed seats but the row we were in was a bonus.

Have to agree with most of what has already been said. It is entertaining and the horses and people in the show are impressive. Couldn't tell you what the point of the story was though.

I noticed that there were quite a few seats remaining but as mentioned, people were still arriving almost 1 hour in and it did fill up. Don't think it really mattered in terms of following the story and I think I preferred the second half anyway. Not sure I would have pa*d the top end price to see it (I wonder how much those VIP tables were) but it was an enjoyable afternoon out for the family.

[Beate]

Yes the only way on public transport would have been to take the DLR from Bank or Canary Wharf, get off at Cutty Sark and take the bus from there to the O2, but it's a bit of a roundabout way and you need to know what you are doing.

[opas]

raineylb, you did well to get to Canary Wharf, it is so close, yet so far when the jubilee line is down! Hope the taxi didn't cost too much. There is also the Thames Clipper which you can take from Canary Wharf to the O2. The price of their tickets is not fantastic (you can get a discount if you have an oyster card or travelcard), but it is a more scenic way to travel.

[Rainey]

I asked at the ticket desk when we got off the train and they advised that way Beate, but as you say it sounded rather complicated and I had the kids with me who were so looking forward to the show and it was already 1pm, so decided not to chance it.

Opas, it was only when we got to the O2 and see signs for the Thames Clipper I thought about that, but wouldn't have known where to go to get it etc, it cost us £21 for the taxi, but when you consider a family ticket for Apassionata was £249 yesterday on Ticketmaster I think we still had a great deal overall.

..... a friend of mine who were going to meet there ended up getting a taxi from London Bridge and the people behind us got a taxi too......it was a good day to be a London Cabby!! lol

[opas]

To tell you the truth, the Thames Clipper is not well advertised at Canary Wharf, if you are unfamiliar with the area it is not the easiest to find. It is probably about a 5-10 minute walk away from the Tube Station but I would have thought that tube staff could have signposted the way to people as an option to get to the O2.

Blimey the family tickets were £249! . Yes, £21 for the taxi for you to make it in good time is still fantastic when you put it in perspective

[Beate]

I wish I'd been around, I could have all shown you the way.

[mattymc13]

I'm not going to be very complimentary about Apassionata. I thought the first half was poor. It was just like dressage with music and colour. There's something about equestrian audiences too. They are very unique. They clap far too much. Why are you clapping a horse trotting around? Anyway, the second half was miles better. The scene with the lady and the six horses (three brown, three white (as you can see I'm such an expert...)) was simply beautiful. Those particular horses were absolutely adorable and I wanted to take them all home. Also watching those guys throw themselves around, behind, under and off horses were entertaining. But overall it was generally rather grating. I love the animals, I really do, and it was really quite sweet. But the god awful storyline seemed extremely retrofitted. I still couldn't tell you what it was all about. There just seemed to be a load of people stealing Michael Bolton's old hair from each other. I'm happy I saw it, but I do feel for anybody who, like me, expected to see a lot more action, as opposed to some overpriced dressage. It's a **1/2 job for me. Distinctly average.