AnticaFiamma

This week he was supposed to conduct The Queen of Spades at La Scala but was fired for the same reason. Good riddance!

Naghdi wished Nunez a speedy recovery from her illness on Instagram btw

This is a very long shot and very last minute, but if anyone has a spare ticket for tomorrow general rehearsal I'd be happy to buy it.

Federico's performance next week will be his last

just dropped you a line!

The cast list of tonight is out, Mock and Clarke are in

Obviously this is very very very subjective, but I think I'd go to Ball & Cuthbertson over McRae & Lamb. Wonderful dancers as they are, Romeo and Juliet are not necessarily McRae's and Lamb's finest roles (on the emotional rather than technical side of things), while Ball and Cuthbertson are really strong together. As for the supporting cast, I thought David Yudes' first act was not the best but he did much better in the second one, although it was a debut and he can only improve with time; James Hay's Mercutio, on the other hand, is fabulous. Tomas Mock is a fine Tybalt and very much similar to Bennet Gartside: not as good as Ball or Avis, but (imho!) better than Thomas Whitehead. Speaking of Saturday's cast, I really liked Reece Clarke as Paris: the previous week I had been slightly underwhelmed by his debut next to Hirano and Hamilton, but I was very impressed by how much he improved after just a couple of performances. If he gets promoted to principal we might not see his Paris again so better catch it while we can! They're both very fine cast, but personally I'd go for the Ball & Cuthbertson cast over the McRae & Lamb's one, even just to see fresher/budding performances.

Mmm I think not? I think he was kinda half-kneeling on the steps when he bit the cap off (I hate when he does that), drank it and then laid next to her before the pain kicked in and he rolled down.

Yup, and then fell down because of the pain as he does with Naghdi

It's interesting because both Capulet and Lady Capulet call Tybalt "my brother's son", which might be a mistake or simply mean that one of the Capulets mean brother-in-law. But which one? 🤷‍♂️

There's not much in the text to support this view, but in the 1996 movie Lady Capulet and Tybalt kiss during the ball, and some productions of the play imply an incestuous relationship between the two of them (eg: Michael Bogdanov's production in Stratford, 1986; Wayne Jordan's in Dublin, 2015). Zeffirelli's 1968 movie is, according to ‎James N. Loehlin, 'the first to introduce a sexual affair between Tybalt and Lady Capulet', which is implied through glances, dancing and Lady Capulet's excessive grief for her nephew's death. The Old Vic production directed by Zeffirelli was a major influence on MacMillan, so maybe this is an idea that Zeffirelli had experimented with on stage before bringing it to the movie? Btw, I heard a lot of people talking about Tybalt as Juliet's brother at ROH, and indeed if you're not familiar with the play and Tybalt is played by someone young (eg: Matthew Ball) you can easily believe it, especially since Lady C's expression of grief is a bit unusual coming from an aunt? I've always looked at it as incestuous, but because I read it through the lenses of movies and productions that came after MacMillan. But who knows? It might be interesting to know what the dancers are told during rehearsals.

She danced alongside Corrales in October, it was the opening night cast! Lamb & McRae is the only couple who played both in Autumn and now

There is a discussion on this in another thread, but long story short we don't really know. In the announcement of his retirement they say that "details of Bonelli’s final performance with The Royal Ballet will be announced in due course". I booked just in case!

David Yudes as Mercutio tomorrow, is it a debut?

David Donnelly is a very joyous Benvolio too

I don't love autobiographies but it made me want to give Hallberg's a try. Also surprised Apollo's Angels is not there!

Very lovely evening, I can't wait for their performance! And it really reminded me of this video

Calvin Richardson's Ulysses and Mayara Magri's Myrtha were two of my favourite things about the Autumn season at Covent Garden: tonight I came in with great expectations, and they were all surpassed. I'm sure no one could say it was a debut – let alone a double one! – they danced with the chemistry and intensity of very experienced partners. Magri is a white-hot Juliet: she virtually dies at the end of the bedroom pad des deux and spends the rest of the act in a state of desperation almost too intense to behold. Her confrontation with her parents, her meeting with the friar and the decision of drinking the potion are one gem after the other. Her final scene in the crypt is a masterclass in grief and determination: while for many Juliets the silent scream is just part of the choreography, Magri joins the list of great actresses that (like Helene Wiegel in Mother Courage or Jessica Tandy in The Birds) turn this "trope" into a moment of pure expressionism. You hear that scream. For some reason, it really moved me that she stabbed herself right under her left breast, exactly where she had put Romeo's hand two acts earlier. The dancing is also first rate (those arabesques! those bourrees!) and the only reminder that just a couple of months ago she was dancing a perfect Myrtha in Giselle. Juliet is the exact opposite of the queen of the Willis, and the fact that she danced both parts so perfectly really is testament to Magri's talent. Richardson is her perfect match, his Romeo is youthful, charming, surely experienced with women but absolutely unprepared for Juliet. He brings raw sexual tension to the balcony and the bedroom pas de deux, and he had amazing chemistry not only with Magri but also with Benvolio and Mercutio. Their scene before the ball was perfectly executed, one of the finest I've seen in the past couple of weeks. His grief at Mercutio's death was unbearable, and the heartbreak in the Capulets' crypt was just beyond words: when he drags Juliet's body by the arm he is so bent that almost collapses under the weight of his loss. It was truly an exceptional night and it's a real shame that this was their only public performance this season. So far Fumi Kaneno & William Bracewell have been my favourite R&J of the season by a mile: now there's a very close second.

Calvin Richardson was amazing in it, he's so expressive! Most Romeos just act in denial or shell-shocked, which is legit but not as gripping

Sold!

Standing ticket, D-31 of stalls circle, tonight performance. DM or comment if interested!

Francisco Serrano as Mercutio, David Donnelly as Benvolio, Gary Avis as Tybalt and Reece Clarke as Paris for the matinee. Are Serrano's and Donnelly's debuts?

Oh god yes, that slow-motion movement was fantastic, it hit me like a ton of brick. I had a sense of deja vu because they played the slow motion trick a lot in Theodora, which I had seen the previous night, but when Nunez did it last night she was really magnificent and added so much gravitas and depth to the moment.

What a lovely performance last night! He might have struggled a little with some of the early lifts, but Federico Bonelli's Romeo will be sorely missed. Before the show Kevin O'Hara said that Bonelli had really made the role his own and Fede spent the three following hours showing how right he was. From his being on the stage from the moment the curtain rose – following Rosaline more closely than any other Romeo – to the senatorial way in which he drapes the cape around his body, his Romeo is a fully fleshed-out character, brought to life with intelligent acting and the beauty and elegance of his dancing. Núnez was just wonderful, she really is the gift that keeps on giving: I'll never forget how tenderly she laid her head on Romeo's chest while leaning on him at the party; her sensuous abandonment on Fede's shoulders during the balcony PDD; how fiercely she confronted Paris and her father; and how achingly her arm reached out for the window from which her love had left before succumbing to the sleeping draught. The whole performance was stunning, but the bedroom pdd was a true highlight. The rest of cast was just as good, and the long curtail call was as moving as the show: the company's affection for Bonelli and Montes is SO evident!