Dawnstar

The ROH have done another tweet about the MacMillan triple bill but I'm not sure it's that helpful in terms of information about the pieces given the text is fairly vague. I suppose at least it's some publicity (I'm not sure if the comments about a lack of social media posts are somewhere on this thread or the booking one).

I meant to say more about last night's performance sooner but I think by now most of what I was going to say has already been said, and doubtless much better, by others. I think the only point I was going to make that no-one else has (that I can see) was Manon's demeanour in the first scene. When she was supposed to be listening to the Old Gentleman's blandishments she already started to look bored & just before he took her over to sit down she was checking out GM in what looked like a calculating "Is he richer than this chap?" sort of way. Having Manon as well as Lescaut eyeing up GM & his wealth in the first scene made her succumbing to his fur coat & necklace in the second scene follow more coherently rather than seeming to come out of nowhere. She was also more obviously interested in Des Grieux in the first scene than many Manons, to the point that when he danced his solo it felt like he might not actually have needed to have done such a lengthy display since she was already pretty interested! Also one more point on Richardson's Des Grieux: I found him very human. That probably sounds like a daft thing to say, but I mean that some Des Grieux can be a bit Romantic Hero stereotype whereas Richardson's seemed more like a fairly ordinary young man who got caught up in less ordinary events that he didn't always know how to deal with, or that he had to deal with by doing things that he didn't want to do. He looked utterly sick at having to cheat at cards and later having to kill the Gaoler.

Then perhaps they should invite all the critics to a performance other than the first night. Otherwise four sets of reviews of the same Principals in the same piece in 6 years doesn't feel like it's that helpful to either contemporary readers or for posterity.

Both of them have also done the Nutcracker Prince, though I suppose it's debabtable if that really counts as a full length lead role when he only appears in Act II! Back to Swan Lake, am I right in thinking this is the fourth first night that Nunez & Muntagirov have done, every one for this production? I know they are two of the best dancers in the classics but I wonder if by now the critics are wishing that they could see someone else?!

Clarke had actually done the Nutcracker Prince, Prince Florimund, Aminta & Des Grieux, and would have done Romeo if he hadn't been injured, before he did Onegin, which is more lead roles in full length ballets than either Sissens or Richardson have yet done. I saw that the cast sheet for tonight's Swan Lake didn't go up on the ROH website until nearly 6pm. I hope that doesn't mean they have had to make any last minute cast changes due to injury or illness. (I'm not going to tonight but hope to see this cast later in the run.)

The same for me. I've always waited for public booking before (apart from the 1 season when I tried having basic Friends membership) but when someone very kindly offered to get Sarasota tickets for me last week I very gratefully accepted. I've never seen any of the works being performed before & I would so like to, especially Facade, & it feels like this might be the only opportunity given the RB hasn't performed them in a long time.

That was why I booked for front row stalls back when lower prices & package booking meant I was just about able to afford to do so for occasional performances. I'd rather see dancers' facial expressions than their feet! Personally, at 5 foot 7, I could usually see them from the ankles upward when they were standing on flat feet & from the instep upwards for women en pointe. Also, after finding how much even a not particualrly tall person could block the view if you were sitting in row B or behind, I would only book for row A. Now, with prices so much higher, I'd stress that even more for those who can still afford the stalls.

One of the things I loved about his Des Grieux tonight was that he wasn't looking anxious in the happier scenes but smiled a lot during his Act I solo & both pdds, & also in the first part of the bracelet pdd. Some Des Grieux do tend to look fairly serious most of the time. I felt that by showing Des Grieux was so happy to start with it gave him a bigger emotional range to traverse later on. In the bracelet pdd it felt as though when he first spotted the bracelet still on Manon's wrist that he didn't immediately get really upset with her but started by asking her to remove it more lightly & only getting really upset with her after she had refused a couple of times. Unlike GM, I'm not someone who usually has much interest in feet but I did think what Melissa did with hers in parts of the final pdd was very expressive. She made it look as though Manon barely had the energy to get en pointe. I loved the huge grin that Hay gave during the drunk pdd when he managed to get his arm above his head & matching Hinkis's line!

Looks like Richardson as Des Grieux is the only debut tonight. Everyone else in the smaller roles I think has already appeared with at least one other cast. So that makes his the last debut of this run.

Yes, he did, very well. I thought his jumps particularly impressive. I could see Nakao as a possibility, given he's a Soloist & has had some reasonable sized roles recently e.g. Bratfisch. Among the Soloists I would also like to see Donnelly, though I don't know if that's likely (Gaoler to Benno...!). Another Benno from the last run who hasn't been mentioned yet is Richardson, who I thought managed to make more of the role acting-wise than most did. Now what we need to know is when these confirmed/likely/possible Bennos will be performing!

I assumed that they had come to watch the ship unloading. There probably wouldn't have been masses of entertainment in an 18th century colony that had only recently been founded (checking Wikipedia gives 1718 as the date New Orleans was founded & 1731 as the publication date of the novel) so every time a ship arrived it would surely be of interest to the colonists.

Has anyone seen anything else on Instagram to indicate any other Benno castings? I'm trying to decide between a couple of possible casts & knowing who the Bennos are going to be would help in deciding. (Instagram having kicked me off during the last run of SL, I can't check myself.)

It's hardly surprising that Sambe is in favour of current casting trends, given he's getting cast in almost everything at the moment. It would be much more interesting to hear the opinons of those dancers who are not getting cast as much, but I suppose anyone who might be less happy about it wouldn't be able to say anything publically.

@Silke H So will I! Though given they only seem to resort to offers occasionally it may take some time to find out.

Maybe MacMillan should have gone for the same option as Puccini then. He had the misery-at-a-port scene at Le Havre before departure. Although as far as I can recall his about-to-be-deported prostitutes aren't actually all as miserable as MacMillan's. [ETA Drat, it goes onto a new page just when I say something that only makes sense in the context of the previous post!]

Thanks. Interesting. That's not how I was imagining Requiem. I suppose that's another indication that the ROH could do more to inform potential audiences about the 3 ballets.

I confess I'm not actually sure which ballet it is that the photo is from. I'm guessing it's Danses Concertantes, given I assume Different Drummer will have individual character costumes rather than a group & when I saw Marianna Tsembenhoi dancing an extract from Requiem 2 years ago she was wearing a dress rather than a leotard, but I'm not actually certain.

I hoped they might repeat the offer, since there still look to be pleny of tickets available. The email I got today mentioned ballet on the ROH stream but no live performances. I mean, I get Different Drummer isn't exactly a great plot for Mother's Day but then I don't think Madame Butterfly is either! (Personally I'm giving my mother her ticket for Friday's Manon for Mother's Day, as it's only 2 days beforehand.)

Lescaut got 2 lots of money from GM in Act I (at least assuming Des Grieux continued to refuse to take any of the second lot) so I'd assumed he spent some of that on a new set of evening clothes. Either Manon or GM giving him more money on an ongoing basis is a possibility I suppose. He must anyway have had some source of money prior to pimping out Manon, given he could afford to keep a Mistress & dress respectably at the start.

I've just checked Twitter and indeed there's only been a single one, on 18th February, on there as well. I assume they will have some more posts nearer the time but given they are evidently not happy with the advanced sales, given the discount some people have been offered, then more posts further in advance would seem to be a good idea.

Having changed my account settings to sign up for emails I had hoped that I might get the offer for the MacMillan triple bill. No such luck. All I've had so far have been 2 emails exhorting me to buy tickets or items in the ROH shop for Mother's Day.

Isn't Lescaut already pretty close to the Beggar Chief? Lescuat must trust the Begger Chief because in his first solo he gives his coat to the Beggar Chief to hold his coat which has his purse in the pocket so he evidently trusts the Beggar Chief not to rob him. I interpreted it that Lescaut (having seen the Begger Chief nick the watch earlier) makes him give it back as soon as GM discovers the loss & tries to smooth things over because he doesn't want his friend/ally to get into too much trouble. Their short dance after the Beggar Chief has caught the coin seems to express mutual satisfaction, almost jubilation, that they not only got away with a potentially sticky situation but also both gained from it by working together. (Thinking about it, it's rather a pity that the Beggar Chief isn't seen again after the first scene.) While on the subject of Lescaut, something else I was musing on. Manon's Act II black & gold costume got some mentions a few pages back. I wonder if Lescaut also being costumed in black & gold in Act II is deliberate, to emphasise both his kinship to Manon & that both of them are getting access to wealth from the same source to enable them to get lavish, expensive clothes?

I'm trying to work this out. If McRae hadn't wanted to dance with Lamb then would she have danced with Muntagirov & him with Takada? I'm now trying to think if I noticed that on Monday. I may have been crying too much by that point! Lamb does seem to like her stares into the auditorium in other MacMillans though. I'm thinking of Countess Larish's first entrance in particular.

I've just checked it against @Saodan's website which is from 2012 onward & found an extra tour performance so 15. ROH 7th & 10th May 2011 ROH 3rd & 17th November 2011 Moscow Tour 21st July 2014 ROH 27th September, 5th, 9th & 10th October 2014 (5th & 9th replacing Cuthbertson) ROH 26th April & 3rd May 2018 ROH 2nd & 5th October 2019 ROH 26th February & 2nd March 2024 Anyone know of any others? Of course she could have also danced the role guesting with other companies. If not then over the course of 13 years she's done 1 performance less than an actor could notch up in 2 weeks of an 8-shows-a-week play or musical, which I know is normal for ballet but at the same times seems rather crazy to me.

A pity for Hirano that his 2nd ever performance of a role could well be his last. It's a shame that he didn't get at least a couple of goes at it. At least Lamb has had several runs of Manon, although 14 performances (if my maths is correct) over 13 years shows how few times dancers ever get to do roles. (Having just looked up the ROH performance database to see how may times she's danced Manon, I'm interested to see she previously danced the Mistress, which I hadn't been aware of.)