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Henry

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  1. Henry
    Should the Royal Ballet have had a Coronation Gala? Famously on the eve of the 1953 Coronation, there was the gala performance of "Homage to the Queen" with music by Malcolm Arnold, choreography by Frederic Ashton, designs by Oliver Messel. A very British team. Is anyone familiar with "Homage to the Queen"? Would it have been worth re-staging for a 2023 Coronation Gala? Ballet is not short of Kings and Queens. Is there anything else that you would have liked to see in the programme? An extract from Neumeier's "La Dame aux Camellias/Camillas"?? (sorry) It seems a bit on an omission on the part of the Royal Ballet and Opera House. Still, at least it wasn't decided to do another 3 act McGregor... A link to the programme is here
  2. Henry
    I was talking only about the Winter Fairy. Sorry not to make this clearer. I think Isabel McKeekan was the Fairy Godmother and Laura Morera the Autumn Fairy.
  3. Henry
    I notice that the role of Winter Fairy is usually given to a taller dancer - Beryl Grey, Zenaida Yanowsky, Gina Storm-Jensen, Hannah Grennell. However, I didn't notice anything in the choreography that particular utilises height. Have I missed something? This does explain the line-up in Act II of Spring, Summer, Winter, Autumn. Often in line-ups of dancers, the taller dancers are put in the middle with the shorter dancers at the ends.
  4. Henry
    Maybe many are aware already - but just to mention that Tom Pye, the set designer for the new production of Cinderella, has just won an Olivier award for his set designs for "My Neighbour Totoro". The sets and production of Act I reminded me a lot of "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child". As far as I know, Mr Pye was not involved with this, however, the projection designer and special effects designer, I believe, did work on it. I agree that the costume design does make me think of a technicolour film/ cartoon. I don't necessarily mind that. The bits that I would like to get rid of are the wigs, hairdos for the fairies, their escorts, dancing master, etc. and also get rid of the children who accompany the fairies.
  5. Henry
    On Sunday, I thought the Neapolitan female dancer was Katja Khaniukova - but I think her hair is blonde now.
  6. Henry
    There were 22 swans apart from Odette in Act II but 24 in Act IV. I couldn't think of a good reason. 2 were peasants in Act I and didn't have time to change?? Any suggestions? Thanks
  7. Henry
    Saw the Sunday matinee and enjoyed the performances of all the cast a lot. The scenery seems a little dowdy and dated. We were in the first row (A) of the balcony. In the last act, the plunges from the ramp into the lake and ascent to the skies were not visible. So I suppose it was not visible for most of the balcony. My companion, less familiar with the ballet, didn't know what had happened at the end. It's really not difficult to check for the sight lines for this. It isn't necessary for the director, designers to go to the balcony. If they can't see the audience, then the audience can't see them. All they have to do is stand on the ramp and look at the auditorium to see which seats can't be seen.
  8. Henry
    Thanks for pointing me towards the accounts. Always an interesting read for any organisation! I had assumed that principals (apart of course, for guest principals) were normal full time employees - with rights to holiday days, holiday pay, sick pay, pension scheme etc. Isn't it unusual for a full time employee to be allowed so much time to take on other paid work?
  9. Henry
    Having attended the 29th Dec matinee, I was browsing cast sheets when I got home and was surprised to see how many of the corps and soloists were also dancing in that evening's performance. Mostly the soloists were in a different role. Having arrived at the theatre at, say, 09:30 for a 10:00 class, they will get to leave the theatre at almost 23:00 after showering and changing. The soloist roles of Clara & Hans Peter have always seemed very tough for me. They are on stage for most of the performance, they are expected to join in most of the dances - Spanish, Russian etc. Even when SPF & Prince are on stage, Clara & Hans Peter are expected to sit at the front of the stage and watch, rather than allowed to go off stage, have a drink of water, stretch a stiff muscle etc. The role of the Prince has never seemed that demanding to me, compared to Hans Peter. However, the Prince has been sitting out all of Act I, probably playing games on his mobile phone and having a coffee. He arrives in Act II covered in biing, looking like he has spent the afternoon at the hairdresser's, does 10 minutes and gets the applause! Principals usually have only 2 or 3 performances in total in a run of Nutcracker. Soloists will sometimes take on a principal role. It is rare for a principal to take on a soloist role. For example Osipova & Clarke are the last casting for this run. What have they been doing since November?? (Please don't take this too seriously)
  10. Henry
    If you paid by credit card, I suggest contacting your credit card company and explaining the situation.
  11. Henry
    To be honest, I am disappointed. It was interesting to have some focus on the dancers in the company apart from just the principals. My understanding was that the less experienced dancers enjoyed being coached in a more challenging role. It seemed to produce a well attended performance (so good box office receipts?) with relatively low overheads. Didn't you enjoy deciding who you thought should win - and not just the Director's choices?
  12. Henry
    Looking at the carpet and reflection in the glass, the photo is taken at the Royal Festival Hall on the Southbank. London Festival Ballet used to have a summer and winter season there. Winter would be Nutcracker with, I suppose, children. To my eyes this photo, which looks very posed, doesn't look like winter. Anybody know more? Or better?
  13. Henry
    The Guardian has now removed the photo with Robert Helpmann.
  14. Henry
    On the Guardian link for the Beryl Grey photos, there is a photo with Robert Helpman labelled "With Robert Helpmann performing in John Milton’s masque Comus at Sadler’s Wells theatre, London, September 1942", but isn't that Margot Fonteyn and not Beryl Grey?? I am sure others will know better than me.
  15. Henry
    My recollection - so not reliable - is that the curtains are even more recent. That they were replaced in the big 2000 refurbishment and rebuilding project. Certainly the the Royal School of Needlework says that they were working on them in 1997. https://royal-needlework.org.uk/about/rsn-work-on-display/
  16. Henry
    If I had seen this at 8pm at The Place with a glass of wine beforehand. I would have enjoyed this a lot. However, at a Saturday matinee, billed as an "alternative festive show" to The Nutcracker, I feel it is misplaced. Male nudity, "f-word"s, and you need to know the Medea story to follow the performance. Some of the audience left in the first 20 minutes or so.
  17. Henry
    That's happened before. They had to repeat the scene - and the tree did rise. Also in one of the Mayerlings, the rail of dresses in the Empress bedroom scene failed to lower properly and was stuck at the top - but in sight. The rail of dresses was there in the next scene, Rudolf's bedroom.
  18. Henry
    Just on the "what's changed?" theme - Drosselmeyer froze the boy. Didn't he used to send the boy into the air? May I ask, what are the views on the new silver wigs for Snowflakes and the gold wigs for Sugar Plum Fairy and Prince? P.S. How do those crowns stay on SPF and Prince without elastic?
  19. Henry
    Thanks. That's interesting. The Emperor Franz Joseph is usually depicted with moustache and sideburns - but no beard. Though I suppose that in the ballet, all this is done to show the passing of time.
  20. Henry
    May I ask, did Marcelino Sambe have a beard? Just curious about the way that there is a beard for Act I and not for Act III. Do they grow one and then shave at the interval? Or is it fake? I was disappointed to see that the make-up department had decided that he needed blusher on his cheeks this evening. It really didn't look right. (Not for the first time that ROH Make-up have made a mistake in my opinion...sorry. Maybe that should be a separate thread.)
  21. Henry
    I am not going to tonight's (29/11) performance - but my guess is that Hirano will be presented with a well deserved bottle this evening.
  22. Henry
    My guess would be that the bottle presented to Matthew Ball, was a thoughtful gift from Steven McRae.
  23. Henry
    It was Mayara's hat that fell off on 15th Oct 13:00 performance. As most dancers do, she ignored the mistake and carried on. I did feel that in this instance, what Mitzi Caspar would have done was to pick the hat up!
  24. Henry
    Having been at Saturdays matinee, may I ask? Did anyone go to the Gala Dinner on Wednesday? What was the menu, the experience? What time did it finish? Of course it was a fund-raising event - but I am curious to know how the experience felt. I haven't attended one of these - but I have been tempted. Thanks.
  25. Henry
    I have a lot of sympathy for this view. I think the practice started n the music industry where the expressions a "live recording" (i.e. recorded during a concert performance) and a "studio recording" (i.e. in a studio with multiple tries & re-tries, editing together of parts that were recorded separately etc.) are used. By that comparison, this would be a "live recording" rather than a "studio recording". That being said, often recording theatre performances for a DVD etc is done over 2 performances so that any performance mishaps, technical mishaps, etc. can be corrected in the edit and the preferred shots selected. Occasionally, it does happen that there has to be a cast change - illness, injury - and most of the recording from one performance has to be used. But I think you are right. They should distinguish between a "live recording" and a "live stream" (where it is watched as it happens - mistakes and all).
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