JohnS

I feel a little apologetic for questioning the assumption that dancers should expect to reprise their roles every time there’s a revival which might have rather fanned the flames: and the many differing opinions voiced highlight the difficult judgements that Kevin O”Hare has to make. I certainly hope we’ll see Laura Morera as Tatiana, Anastasia and Mary Vetsera (I thought she was the most compelling 17 year old Mary), and in many other roles. But I guess I’d still favour a further marginal shift towards extending opportunities to the younger, up and coming, wonderfully talented dancers - the single public performances for such fabulous debuts as we’ve seen this run and 2015 I think make a telling case for scheduling second performances.

I do worry a little about the suggestion that because dancers have a particular role in the repertoire, whenever there is a revival, they should reprise their role. On that basis when Swan Lake is revived, how are others given an opportunity to make their debuts? I guess one of the real challenges for Kevin O’Hare is ensuring all dancers renew their repertoire and develop new roles which I think inevitably means that dancers will need to retire some roles. My sympathies are with Kevin O”Hare on this but I do think there’s a lot to be said for giving young dancers more opportunities in Romeo and Juliet. We’ve had two extraordinary double debuts (Saturday’s matinee and 3 October 2015) and a second public performance would have been wonderful. Yes, Kevin O’Hare does encourage and nurture his dancers and, being greedy, I’d welcome a little more - I still think a trick was missed with the Mayerling Mary Vetsera casting.

In reply to capybara’s comment above Haven’t we been here before with that other memorable R&J public debut matinee for Yasmine Naghdi/Matthew Ball (3 October 2015) and again just one public performance?

Thank you Sim

Thanks Ian Nutcracker’s relevance? I’d have thought heralding Christmas was relevant for many people, even Ebenezer Scrooge eventually. Or will pernicious kill joys warn of the irrelevance of suggesting dreams can come true?

Thanks Dave - I did ask whether the filming was for Japanese TV (as with Frankenstein) but Front of House staff were quite sure it was a camera rehearsal for the live relay as it was “ROH equipment and Japanese TV brings its own equipment.” I have to say it makes more sense if it was for Japanese TV given the different casts and surely ROH’s experience in filming R&J? But that was not the ‘official’ story. I know some seats immediately adjacent to cameras are not sold (available for staff)/heavily discounted but I doubt if many seats are discounted and would have been a bit miffed if I’d been sitting in H4 which is several rows from the camera. I’d asked the usher at the matinee when it was unclear if there was to be any filming and she said that if there’s a problem, they look to move people - it would have been very difficult to do with a full house.

I certainly enjoyed last night’s performance and Akane Takada’s Juliet particularly but I wasn’t as engaged as with the matinee. I think that’s because Anna-Rose O’Sullivan and Marcelino Sambe were simply so believable as a couple and you cared desperately as to every twist, hoping that the inevitable would just for once be vanquished. Another fantastic cast last night with James Hay outstanding as Mercutio and three great harlots - Itziar Mendizabal, Claire Calvert and Mayara Magri. As regards the filming, the website ‘filming’ more accurately refers to the presence of cameras but filming requires camera operatives as happened in the evening. I was told it was a camera rehearsal for the live relay so the matinee performance was not filmed - it’s simply the time required to set up the cameras that meant they were in place fir the matinee. I imagine this will also be the case for 27 April when again matinee and evening performances have a ‘filming’ note. I have to say I was very fortunate to be in H4 for the matinee and H29 for the evening - I think my view would have been pretty restricted had I been in H4 when filming was actually taking place. I’ve always wondered why a camera is placed at A6/7 rather than A1/2. If I know filming is scheduled, I will avoid my favourite H3/4 seats but some filming dates are added after booking opens.

A fabulous afternoon. I was mesmerised by Anna-Rose O’Sullivan’s journey from young girl to lover and how towards the end of the Act 1 pdd she took control. Immaculate dancing as expected but so much more and a wonderful portrayal of the absolute horror she found oppressing her. Marci Sambe was tremendous - a complete performance and I think one of the best Romeos I’ve ever seen. I very much agree with the plaudits for Luca Acri’s Mercutio and I thought Teo Dubreuil an equally fine Benvolio. How good to see Kristen McNally as the lead harlot (she is such a fine dancer), with Mica Bradbury and Romany Pajdak. Elizabeth McGorian ‘s Lady Capulet was gripping at the end of Act 2, such a contrast from Alastair Marriott’s weak Escalus - would the Capulets and Montagues give him the time of day, let alone give up they’re swords? I’d had a quick pasta before going to the Stage Door to hear that Marci and Anna-Rose had already been out but whilst chatting to a couple I was delighted to see Anna-Rose emerge from the Stage Door and was able to have a quick word. It certainly added to my sense of occasion. We’ll see how this evening compares.

Hugely excited at the prospect of today’s double Romeo and Juliet - I’ve been looking forward to the public debuts of Anna-Rose O’Sullivan and Marcelino Sambe ever since the casting was announced (and for some time before then) and I’m delighted that Akane Takada and Ryoichi Hirano are dancing this evening. How wonderful to escape the everyday pressures, Arts Council pronouncements and ROH management irksomeness etc, and be transported by the fabulous Royal Ballet’s pursuit of excellence. All good wishes to today’s performers, many of whom I’m sure will be dancing/playing in both performances.

Years ago ROH Friends included Junior Associates - any one under 26. You used to get vouchers giving you money off tickets. I think the vouchers meant that Upper Slips places were either free or 50p. It certainly provided a fantastic introduction to the ROH, opening the door to a lifetime of performances (and where I’ve been fortunate to move from the Upper Slips to more favoured seats but still recall with great affection many of those early visits).

While agreeing with much of bangerballetboy’s comments and appreciating his focus is more on the new building aspect, I’m afraid I place more significance on what is not mentioned. I remain firmly of the view that the Royal Opera House needs to: Publicise Opera and Ballet performances in all Open Up areas with conviction (which could include bringing the Box Office into the Open Up area so there is much more of a focus on what’s on); Make the most of its website (which has lost so much functionality since its refresh); Ensure its pricing policy promotes accessibility and complements Open Up (we await the 2017-18 annual report to be published next month to see what %age of tickets sold for less than £x etc). These comments have received a fair amount of attention on this thread and elsewhere on the Forum and I think Open Up would be massively enhanced if they were addressed.

Hi Scheherazade - have you tried this link: https://www.roh.org.uk/events?gclid=EAIaIQobChMInZjemJGV4QIVwiaGCh2S0AMaEAAYASABEgJhrPD_BwE I think Richard found it some weeks ago and it still seems to work for me.

That’s why it’s best to use the full April display which then let’s you look at what’s on, what’s been on etc avoiding the unhelpful ‘Tickets & Events’. Infuriating that we still don’t have a decent calendar on the new website.

This link still works giving the old calendar but I think it’s better selecting the month for the detail. Select April and you’ll find Forza was on last night. https://www.roh.org.uk/events?gclid=EAIaIQobChMInZjemJGV4QIVwiaGCh2S0AMaEAAYASABEgJhrPD_BwE

You could try this link from Richard I think some time ago. If you click on calendar and select a month, you should be able to see what’s on and move from month to month. I don’t know how printable it is. https://www.roh.org.uk/events?gclid=EAIaIQobChMInZjemJGV4QIVwiaGCh2S0AMaEAAYASABEgJhrPD_BwE If you’re a Friend, there is the Magazine which is on line and the last few pages give a reasonably comprehensive calendar which is printable.

Many thanks Duck - I’ll look forward to reading what you make of Sunday’s performance and hopefully seeing the live stream given what you’ve already said.

Rocinante to the rescue? Once he’s rested from Don Q.

I’ve found Akram Khan’s Giselle absolutely gripping in the theatre and the cinema relays and terrifying in Hilarion’s prolonged torture and death. But there are questions which Leigh Witchel eloquently asks, as Richard says.

I thought there was a very thought provoking review of the production in last week’s links: https://www.dancelog.nyc/rebuilding-giselle/

I sympathise with some of Nogoat’s comments. I’ve never been that keen on the on stage shouting and I do think a lighter touch for some of the music would be welcome. I thought yesterday’s matinee was much heavier than the evening performance, particularly at the very opening. But I’m also impressed with just how big a change in tempo is allowed - very fast for Natalia Osipova but would anyone else attempt such a speed? Incidently has Martin Yates always conducted Don Q - I thought Tom Seligman might have conducted some performances last run? I like to think that as I know there’s going to be on stage shouting, I can forget about it and not let it bother me but I’d still prefer it if it were reduced if not cut. Is there a point when you think it’s all over for someone to start up again? What I much preferred was the firm clapping on the beat, tambourine playing and table drumming. And even with the on stage shouting, I’ve found Don Q a delight, very much lifting the spirits.

I’ve been meaning to add something about last Saturday’s matinee and evening performances which brought Frankenstein’s run to a close. I’d wanted to read again the posts from 2006 and the first run and managed to do that on the train. Rather good that there is now free WiFi in standard class on some Virgin trains (but not all). First I should say I very much enjoyed the two performances, with enthusiastic audiences giving them both a rapturous reception. I also hope Frankenstein will have further outings despite the critical reception and very poor full price sales. I know Mrs BBB explained that the filming for the matinee was for Japanese television. I was told it was for a documentary etc on Ryoichi Hirano but it wasn’t clear whether there would also be a broadcast in Japan of the full Frankenstein being filmed as part of the Ryoichi Hirano coverage. As regards the tweaks which Nogoat detailed so helpfully much earlier (page 4), I wasn’t at all sure about the extra stage crossing in the Prelude where Alphonse Frankenstein carries young Elizabeth through the storm with family in tow. We’d seen them enter the house and it didn’t seem credible to have them outside again. The other tweaks were fine but I still think it’s a shame that the reanimation is so rushed. I know people point to the incredibly brief reference to the reanimation in the novel but that is Frankenstein’s perspective and I think a case can readily be made for including the Creature’s perspective. I do hope Liam Scarlett might look again at the reanimation. While I very much like the Frankenstein/Creature scenes in Act 2, I do struggle with Frankenstein’s journal which the Creature has in his pocket after 7 years. There was a fair amount of discussion about the journal during the first run. His coat and its contents seem to be the Creature’s only possessions and it’s hugely improbable that he hadn’t discovered the journal. The implication in the Ballet is that he hadn’t understood the journal’s import. But are we really supposed to conclude that the Creature’s observing Justine help William to read enables the Creature, by osmosis, to read the journal and understand how he was created - and the route by which Frankenstein might create a wife for him? In the Ballet we only know that the Creature has been rejected by Frankenstein and society, being beaten up by at the start of Act 2. But in the novel during the 7 years the Creature had learned to read (including Frankenstein’s journal and Paradise Lost) and speak, observing from a safe distance the De Lacey family and being befriended by De Lacey, the blind father. So when the Creature met Frankenstein he knew of his creation and could plead for Frankenstein to make him a wife. When the Creature shows Frankenstein Elizabeth’s scarf in the Ballet, I wasn’t sure if this was part of his plea for Frankenstein to create a wife for him and not simply a threat that Elisabeth would be next. Doesn’t the Creature too readily move into revenge/destruction of Frankenstein’s family when he needs Frankenstein to create his wife? However, the cast sheet synopsis very starkly flags up revenge, but is it for the destruction of the journal and hence the steps that would need to be taken for creating a wife, although the Creature retrieves most/all of the papers torn from the journal (one missing page was retrieved by one of the maids in the matinee performance if I recall). In Act 3, it seems to me that right up to Alphonse’s death, the Creature is haunting Frankenstein alongside Justine and William, with no one else seeing Frankenstein’s various phantoms. I saw that Alphonse slips onto the bottom steps as the Creature dressed for the wedding rushes by. The next time we see the Creature he’s back in his familiar coat etc. While we don’t see the Creature kill Alphonse, I think it’s reasonable to assume that the Creature was only dressed in Frankenstein’s imagination and Alphonses’s death takes place just off stage (though if we’re quick we see Alphonse slip into position). I think the blood fest in the last part of Act 3 is a very telling compression of the narrative by Liam Scarlett and the closing scene with the Creature approaching immolation rather than the Arctic is impressive. On reflection, despite some weaknesses and questions in the narrative, I find Frankenstein a gripping piece of theatre and very enjoyable as such. I do find the Creature sympathetic, the pdd with William is very moving and to me William‘s death is more an accident than the Creature exacting revenge on Frankenstein which is made clear in the novel. Both the Creature and Frankenstein treat Justine appallingly and I find it difficult to have any sympathy for Frankenstein - he knows Justine is innocent as the Creature has told him what happenen, showing him William’s coat, but Frankenstein does nothing when he knows he should. Whilst I don’t think I’d choose to attend a concert performance of the music, it works pretty effectively to support the narrative and the Ballet and some phrases are haunting. And there were some execellent performances on Saturday. I was very impressed by Federico Bonelli and Laura Morera and found both Ryoichi Hirano and Nehemiah Kish very moving. James Hay was brilliant as Henry - such an accomplished dancer.

A very enjoyable double helping of Don Q this weekend with many of the cast on stage twice, some in the same role, others swapping roles, and Nicol Edmunds also swapping roles half way through the matinee. I thought the matinee took a little while to fizz. I found Gary Avis not as sympathetic a Don as Christopher Saunders (opening night), in part because to me Gary Avis played him as too much of a duffer for my liking. I think Christopher Saunders is much more the poetic dreamer. Reece Clarke and Itziar Mendizabal seemed rather shaky to me in Act 1 and I do hope Reece Clarke quickly recovers from his injury. I thought Mayara Magri a bit tentative in Act 1 and had been expecting a bit more of an explosion. Very good to see Alex Campbell and Fumi Kaneko and Romany Pajdak were sparkling friends, Fumi exquisite. Acts 2 and 3 settled and I very much enjoyed the opening pdd for Kitri and Basilio. The Dryads scene was lovely, Claire Calvert’s Queen and Mayara Magri’s vision particularly. I’m not as taken with Meghan Grace Hinkis as Amour. Act 3 fizzed - Alexander Campbell’s comic timing excellent. The evening was everything I had expected given the reports in the week, and more so with Laura Morera and Ryoichi Hirano both fabulous. Fumi Kaneko a wonderful queen and Isabella Gasparini captivating as Amour. I loved Kitri’s Friends - Anna-Rose O’Sullivan and Meghan Grace Hinkis. But this performance will be remembered for Natalia Osipavo and Vadim Muntagirov. Fabulous dancing and utterly intoxicating. Not sure what happened to Kitri’s shawl at the start of Act 2 - perhaps no one was cold given the heat generated by such a performance. I’ve very much enjoyed Don Q. It’s good to leave the theatre with a smile after each performance. I’ve been impressed with the narrative and I like the production. It’s good to find Don Q and Sancho Panza so sympathetic and engaging, particularly the Christopher Saunders/David Yudes pairing. And Don Q’s horse has almost as much character as Peregrine.

I think there’s only one public performance for Anna-Rose O’Sullivan/Marcelino Sambe - Saturday 13 April matinee. Fortunately I have a ticket. Tantalisingly the website shows the performance as being filmed, as are a number of performances of non cinema relay casts.

Sounds fabulous and very much looking forward to Saturday evening’s performance (casting shows Morera/Hirano). Who was Amour last night please?

Many thanks Capybara although a bit worried by your ‘more changes afoot’ note. I do hope Laura Morera and Ryoichi Hirano make Saturday night as I think this might be Laura’s last Royal Ballet performance this season. She is of course dancing ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ at Wilton’s.