Northern Ballet - The Three Musketeers - Autumn Tour 2018

[Jan McNulty]

Northern Ballet premiered David Nixon's The Three Musketeers in 2006 and I remember loving it but we have not had the opportunity to see it again until this Autumn.  On Friday I was anxious before the start that it would not live up to my happy memories ... why on earth was I worried????  I absolutely loved this all over again!!!  There have been some changes to the start of the ballet - a scene with D'Artagnan and his father and subsequent journey to Paris has been cut and there is a slight change to how all the leading characters are introduced but the rest of the piece is how I remembered it.

 

I saw the three performances over the weekend and what joyous performances they were!  There are lots of good roles for the men and also for the women.  The scenario, credited to the late David Drew, seems very complex but if anyone has ever seen any of the many film versions it is very easy to follow.  I think the one it is closest to is the version with Michael York as D'Artagnan.

 

There is so much to enjoy in this piece - the washerwomen flirting with the men, the fight scenes with the Musketeers against Richleiieu's troops, the gorgeous duets, the King's presentation of the diamond necklace to his wife...  This piece falls more on the side of subtle comedy rather than darkness and I just could not keep the silly grin off my face!!!

 

Again Northern Ballet showed that they are at the top of their game, dancing as an integrated company.  It would be unfair to say that I enjoyed this cast more than that cast but I have got to say that Kevin Poeung was, for me, the definitive D'Artagnan. Antoinette Brooks Daw was incandescent as both Constance (with Kevin) and Queen Anne.

 

The audiences were wildly enthusiastic!

 

It was a weekend full of joy and I can't wait to get to Newcastle to see it again! 

[SheilaC]

Anyone in the North east who hasn't yet got their tickets for Newcastle next week can get them half price through a Travelzoo offer. Usually the company has good houses at the Theatre Royal so it is disappointing that sales aren't so good this year.

[Jan McNulty]

Northern Ballet have issued a gallery of wonderful photographs by Emma Kauldhar:

 

https://northernballet.com/the-three-musketeers/the-three-musketeers-photo-gallery

[Jan McNulty]

 

[Josephine]

David Nixon is currently speaking about The Three Musketeers on Radio 3''s In Tune. The interview began at about 5.13pm, for iPlayer reference.

[loveclassics]

I loved the ThreeMusketeers when I saw it the first time around, at Sadlers Wells.    I'm redecorating my home at present and I came across the CD of the music I bought at the time.  Just playing it brought back so many happy memories.  I do hope we get the chance to see it down South one more time. 

 

IMHO, this is the sort of ballet to bring in newcomers and I wish some enterprising TV company would think about broadcasting it.

 

Linda

[SheilaC]

Tonight's performance of Three Musketeers was dedicated to David Drew, whose long term initiative is the basis of the ballet. Although I had attended the world premiere, the eve of the day when Malcolm Arnold died, I had forgotten how many sections of the score are based on the same music as MacMillan's early masterpiece, Solitaire, slightly disconcerting as it's such a different piece. The company performed with their usual panache but seeing it after a week in which I have seen 3 Mayerlings and 3 Manons its light hearted approach was quite a contrast.

[alison]

13 minutes ago, SheilaC said:

but seeing it after a week in which I have seen 3 Mayerlings and 3 Manons its light hearted approach was quite a contrast.

 

Goodness, Sheila, that's what I call real dedication!

[Jan McNulty]

I saw the first three performances in Newcastle and am now feeling rather bereft that my stint of Three Musketeer-watching has finished.

 

David Nixon has choreographed this work as a glorious romp ... for me it has the same feel as the film version with Michael York as D'Artagnan so there are plenty of laughs as well as breath-taking romance and exciting sword fights.

 

The set is quite ingenious;  I particularly like the way the Queen's room (where she meets Buckingham) is revealed as a secret place of both despair and joy with hidden doorways.  The main set gives the impression of a huge wood-panelled room that is transformed by various back-cloths to give the impression of the washer-women's courtyard, and D'Artagnan's lodgings.  The orchestra played the score, an amalgamation of music by Malcolm Arnold, magnificently.

 

I saw the same 3 main casts that I had seen in Nottingham, with one or two exceptions.  In particular, it was good to see the wonderful Pippa Moore back on stage as Constance' Mum.  The way the story is told there are lots of smaller but meaty roles for the company's dancers to get their teeth into.  I enjoyed Natalia Kerner's performances as Marie de Hautbois - the Queen's servant who is in the employ of Milady.  She perfectly brought out the sly nature of the spy.

 

Ashley Dixon must take top marks for his portrayal of a drunken Porthos.

 

I loved all three D'Artagnan/Constances - Kevin Poeung/Antoinette Brooks Daw, Riku Ito/Ayami Miyata and Lorenzo Trossello/Sarah Chun.  Kevin just IS D'Artagnan and Antoinette is luminous as both Constance and in her beautifully interpreted and contrasted role of The Queen.

 

If you want to come out of a ballet on a joyous high then this is the one for you.  I just hope that we don't have to wait another 11 years for a further revival.  This ballet has LIFE in it.  It's on in Sheffield next week and then Canterbury...

 

Thanks to Northern Ballet for giving us such stellar performances over the last couple of weeks.  

 

Just editing to add that the mixed programme in Leeds combined with Three Musketeers has really shown the strength and depth of Northern Ballet and long may that continue!

 

 

 

 

Edited October 20, 2018 by Jan McNulty