Alice Shortcake

I'm afraid the designs ruined the production for me. I found them ugly - particularly the pink and magenta outfits worn by some of the men - and at times unintentionally comical.

I think the absence of a wicked stepmother is due to the fact that she doesn't appear in the pantomime version, which was influenced by Rossini's stepmother-free opera. Besides, three dame roles would have been over-egging the pudding!

The showing at York Picturehouse wasn't sold out but it was by far the biggest audience I've ever seen at a ballet/theatre live relay.

I enjoyed the show tremendously but a couple of things didn't really work for me. As several people have mentioned, the pumpkin coach non-transformation was deeply unmagical, and it seemed odd that the Fairies of the Seasons came all the way from Fairyland but didn't bother to give Cinderella the gifts that help to create her going-to-the-ball look.

Oddly, the only costume I wasn't keen on - other than the unholy daffodil/Easter chick hybrid outfit sported by Spring's attendant - was the Fairy Godmother's. There were moments when I had the weird feeling that the Lilac Fairy from "Sleeping Beauty" was making a guest appearance!

Oh, the noise of squashed plastic beakers and dropped water bottles...I forgot to mention those!

Last night I attended an opera performance that went a long way towards putting me off live theatre for good, thanks to the audience. I've never known so many patrons leave their seats during a show - the noise they made by clumping up and down the stairs of the dress circle was maddening. The couple sitting next to me both left the auditorium TWICE. I can understand why this happens at pantomimes and other children's shows, but not at "Madama Butterfly"! Are adult bladders weaker than they used to be? Is it no longer possible to go for more than an hour without food or drink?

On 01/09/2021 at 19:37, Jan McNulty said:

No idea Becca and worried that there is no mention of "Up North" dates given that this had been supposed to premiere in Manchester in Autumn 2020.

A "national tour" is still mentioned, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed there'll be some Manchester performances. I did email ENB about this but never heard back from them.

I was so looking forward to seeing Raymonda in Manchester. That production and Opera North's Parsifal in Leeds were my most disappointing Covid-related losses of this year.

From a Bored Panda thread entitled "People Share What Careers Look Glamorous From The Outside But End Up Being A Nightmare":

"Ballet dancer

Parents spend tens of thousands (or more) on training. They give up their entire teen years and schooling (most elite ballet dancers are homeschooled and a large percentage move away from home for training in high school).

Most dancers you see on stage in a ballet are paying to be there. The bottom rungs of ballet companies are pay to play. Then when you have paid to dance a few years you might be able to get a position that pays you with a dozen pairs of pointe shoes and a stipend for performances. Then maybe you'll be promoted to the bottom level where you get paid 20K a year and have no health insurance. All while putting your body through major torture."

https://www.boredpanda.com

Ye gods! In which ballet companies do dancers pay to play?

How on earth can ENB's 'Raymonda', a POSTPONED production, be eligible for a prize?

There was some unplanned drama in the first act of 'Cinderella' at today's matinee. The elements of the kitchen set, instead of coming together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, crashed into each other and caused the curtain to be lowered for a few minutes until the problem was sorted out! It didn't stop a large and well-behaved audience of children enjoying the show immensely, with the wicked stepmother being thunderously booed, panto style!

I have to say that although I enjoyed the performance and the unusual take on the Cinderella story, the score left me cold. I really missed Prokofiev's music.

I thoroughly enjoyed the live broadcast, but did anyone else find the first act much too dark? Perhaps the old DVD gave a false impression of the production - most recordings of that era were over-lit for the TV cameras - but I was a bit disappointed when the curtain rose to find that twilight had already fallen and Osbert Lancaster's lovely buildings and clouds were barely visible!

On the credit side, thank goodness the night hours no longer have to carry those comically huge candlesticks...

I'm really looking forward to seeing this in Leeds later this month. The last time I saw a Northern Ballet Cinderella was back in the 80s - in that production Cinders was a dressmaker in her family's upmarket shop and the score was by Johann Strauss.

5 hours ago, Xandra Newman said:

Hopefully the filming (and cinema relay) of last night's cast will produce a "Concerto/Enigma Variations/Raymonda" DVD.

This cast should have danced on Opening Night too (but one can't have it all  ). A creme-de-la-creme cast.

I do hope there will be a DVD. I can't get to the 5th November relay and there is no encore showing at York.

I book aisle seats whenever possible in order to make a quick getaway - not necessarily in order to catch the last train home, but to avoid the infantile whooping and screeching that passes for applause nowadays. When did British audiences start to behave like this? 

I had to stop watching after about twenty seconds because the CGI human/cat effects made my skin crawl. Evidently some people are more sensitive to this sort of thing than others, but to me it's high octane nightmare fuel!

I had the same problem earlier this year after an opera performance (hello, fellow York resident!) Rather than risk having the show ruined by worrying about the risk of being stranded in London I decided to spend the night at one of the many budget hotels near King's Cross.

Interesting to hear that there will be a DVD of 'Victoria', but not of 'Casanova', which was also filmed.

Problem solved - tickets are available via the Birmingham Hippodrome but not from BRB's own website!

Public booking for the 19/20 season was supposed to open at 11 this morning. I'm sitting here, credit card in hand, dying to give BRB my money, but so far nothing has happened. 

21 hours ago, ismeneb said:

The triple mirror behind the ballerina is very distinctive but not at all like the sets for any of the possible ballets, so might be an artist’s symbol for the 3 ballets. It’s a rather lovely picture. 

Something that looks like a triple mirror formed part of the set for 'The Haunted Ballroom':

https://www.flickr.com/photos/crossettlibrary/16592603783

A couple of days before making a rare trip to London to see 'Akhnaten' at the Coliseum I developed the worst cough I've had for decades. Despite equipping myself with cough mixture, lozenges and bottled water I was terrified I'd become That Awful Person Who Coughs All the Way Through. Mercifully, other than a minor spasm near the beginning I remained cough-free throughout the performance - only to make up for it at the hotel, where my seal-like barking caused the woman in the next room to knock on my door and ask if I needed help!

I hope the production won't look as dark on DVD as it did in the cinema relay. I recently bought the new 'Onegin' DVD and was very disappointed by the dinginess of many scenes - perhaps I'm comparing it to the old (and therefore over-lit for TV) National Ballet of Canada version, or perhaps I need to invest in a better player!

More info here:

http://www.russian-national-ballet.com

Watched once - just not my cup of tea. £16 including postage and packing.

Have there been any alterations to the reanimation scene, in which Victor made the monster from spare parts in about 90 seconds?