MOSCOW, November 7 Vladimir Urin, General Director of the State Academic Bolshoi Theater of Russia (SABT), sent an appeal from the State Duma Committee on Culture with questions about the situation with the sale of tickets for the ballet «The Nutcracker» , said the head of the committee, Elena Yampolskaya.
“Regarding the long-suffering “The Nutcracker”. An appeal from our committee was sent to the General Director of the Bolshoi Theater; questions of interest to a wide range of citizens were asked. Why was this particular system for selling tickets for performances that are in great demand chosen? Are they going to change the rules of sale. Are there plans to increase the number of screenings «, Yampolskaya wrote in her Telegram channel.
She also noted that a question was asked about how the theater administration interacts with law enforcement agencies in order to suppress illegal sales and what is the reason for the messages about problems with purchasing tickets on the site.
“Once again, I would like to remind you that the law, which came into force more than four years ago, directly prohibits the sale of tickets by unauthorized persons, sales at a price above face value and inflating the cost of related services. Responsibility for relevant offenses is provided for in the legislation of the Russian Federation,” the deputy added.
Earlier, the Bolshoi Theater published a special pre-sale program for tickets for performances of the ballet “The Nutcracker” on its official website due to increased demand for the performance. According to the sales schedule, for performances on December 23-28, pre-sale of tickets will begin at the theater box office from November 4, and on the website from November 5. Ticket sales for productions on December 29-31 will start on November 11 and 12 at the box office and on the website, respectively. Tickets for performances during the January holidays from January 2 to 7 will be available for purchase on November 18 and 19. At the second stage, tickets remaining after pre-sale at the box office will be available for purchase on the website and at the theater box office.
Since Saturday morning, there were several lines at the theater, in the first there were people standing for bracelets for places in line, and in the second there were people who had already stood in line for tickets. People standing in it noted that the line for bracelets yesterday was chaotic. Previously, according to one of the customers, tickets were purchased using lists and notebooks compiled by volunteers. According to her, this was not the case this year.
Later, advertisements appeared on Avito for the sale of tickets and bracelets for places in line, the price ranged from 15 to 50 thousand rubles, the service blocked these advertisements. Another ad offered pre-order tickets to The Nutcracker. A certain agency promised tickets with an advance payment of 50% of the total cost.
Earlier, Yampolskaya stated that there is no need for new legislative norms in connection with queues for the Nutcracker, since everything has already been regulated, and advised contacting law enforcement agencies.