Sim

Ticket now spoken for.

I am so bummed out because for the first time ever I have done my back in and won't be able to make it for tonight's show. Even more bummed out because I don't have a ticket for the 8th. Anyway, very last minute but if anyone would like this ticket please send me a DM. £14. Thanks. Sim

I have tickets for the 28th and whilst I am sorry not to be seeing Lauren (especially after her tour de force as Manon) I am thrilled that she is being replaced by Fumi so that I can unexpectedly see this wonderful partnership again this season.

Yes, those good old days, when you had to fill in that tiny form, write out a cheque (remember those?!) and provide a stamped addressed envelope for return of tickets. When you could still rely on the mail. As you say, Mary, the excitement of opening your returned envelope was so much fun. I always used to add a little note requesting certain seats, and almost always got what I asked for.

I believe that anyone who uses the ROH aside from the 'home' companies has to pay to rent it. There might be the odd exception, but I don't think the Opera House has the financial luxury of being able to support visiting companies (staff, insurance, electricity and everything else involved).

Yes, it's usually the case that Manon takes off her bracelet and throws it at the Gaoler or onto the floor right next to him. She is so disgusted she would never want to keep it. In the heat of the moment Lauren probably forgot to take it off!

May I also add a kind reply....as I am not seeing this cast, it was wonderful to have such a good and incisive description of it. Thanks Dawnstar.

Ten times mine!!

A very emotional evening, not least because of the presence of Dame Antoinette Sibley. Kevin O’Hare came out before it started to tell us that in this 50th anniversary of Manon, the creator of the role was in the audience and that it’s her 85th birthday! Joe Sissens brought her out from behind the curtain at the end and she got a huge ovation. The house lights went up and she could see everyone applauding her. She had a huge smile and gave a graceful and balletic acknowledgment to us. She looked beautiful. A moment to treasure.

I very much look forward to hearing your report from front and back stage!!

Yes, I remember. I was at Daria's farewell performance at the RAH and we gave her the send-off she deserved. Coming from the fans and audience, it meant the world to her.

Well, as I always say, if I want any information of any kind my first port of call is always this forum! That's how I found out about Ryo replacing Steven.

This.

Me four. I'm going to the Saturday matinee so unfortunately will not be able to see Sara Mearns, but I'm very happy with the casting otherwise.

And a fake blood capsule in the mouth that they can bite on to make them 'bleed' from the mouth.

What thiiiiiiiiiings?!

Yes it was. He replaced the injured Steven McRae.

More's the pity.

Lin I am so sorry to hear this. Feel better soon, and good luck for the 7th and/or 8th.

I forgot to mention when I wrote about Friday night (I was so in the moment, even the next day!) how lovely it was to say hello to so many forumites. Hopefully we can repeat on Tuesday night!

Me too!

Oh yes. From the previous couple of times these were my favourites: Fumi/Will Anna-Rose/Marcellino Frankie/Cesar Yasmine/Matthew Yasmine/Alexander (sadly not to be repeated) Of course now there are other potentially great pairings, but I don't want to divert this thread. Maybe when it is confirmed that R&J will be shown next season we can do a casting wishlist!

About last night. Fumi made an incredible debut, up there with Yasmine Naghdi’s of a few weeks ago. Fumi’s Manon just made me sad. I had a visceral feeling of abject sadness throughout the evening. This Manon’s misery in her situation was made clear from the moment she clapped eyes on GM in the Act 1 bedroom scene. She was pleased to get her coat and necklace, but at what price? One that she really resented paying, but did so to please her brother and raise them both up from poverty. From the off she let me know that love was more important to her than lovely things, but that these last were the one thing that love couldn’t give her. Money can’t buy you love, but here love couldn’t buy her money; DG is also relatively poor. Vadim had already made an indelible impression on me as DG in the past, and unlike some others I didn’t find his Act 1 disappointing in any way. I remember people saying the same thing about the Naghdi/Bracewell first show. Maybe it just takes time to warm up, but I don’t think that’s the case. For me, Vadim (and Fumi) danced joyous young love in both of the Act 1 pdd. Some people commented on a ‘lack of passion.’ Again, these pdd are about the tentative first steps of young love, not the deep passion that comes later. Manon and DG are, after all, teenagers. When I think back to being a teenager in the first flushes of love or even a crush, it wasn’t deeply passionate, it was all about discovery: discovery of this new thing called love, both emotional and physical (I was thinking of Bob Marley “is this love that I’m feeling?” which Vadim and Fumi were also wondering). The deep passion came later! But maybe that’s just me. I thought that these two made their feelings soar in both of the Act 1 pdd, their winning smiles lifting the choreography even more, their delight in each other reaching the rafters. So, no disappointment for me in Act 1. Of course in the second two acts everything changes, and Vadim embodied these changes so beautifully, through his aching dancing to the look of pain and heartbreak on his face in the brothel scene. Just when he discovered love for the first time, it was torn away from him, and he just couldn’t fathom it. Here he was in a world that disgusted him, but he would do anything to get his Manon back. The way he conveyed this in his yearning Act 2 solo broke my heart (not for the first time). My daughter and I were saying one of the things we loved about Fumi’s interpretation was how she separated her feelings from the gifts. So the only time she looked happy in the brothel scene was when GM gave her the bracelet after her solo. It was as if looking at it made her remember the whole reason she was subjecting herself and DG to all this unhappiness. The bracelet pdd in Act 2 spoke volumes to me. It is the genius of MacMillan, and the sheer artistry of the RB dancers, that the whole story can be summed up in these few minutes. At the beginning, they are so happy to be reunited, but as things move on we quickly understand that Manon does not want to be constricted by anybody, even the man she loves. DG, on the other hand, wants her for himself and doesn’t understand that she needs to be free. There is also the matter of her recent past. He is understandably hurt and angry that she is still wearing the bracelet given to her by GM, and that she has kept the dress. This comes between them and it is at that moment, when the music becomes ominous, that they both realise that this isn’t going work, that love is not enough. The look on Vadim’s face at that point made me shiver with sad anticipation. It prepared us for what was coming in Act 3, and my goodness, what an act it was. Gary Avis as the gaoler was, as ever, evil incarnate, and he and Fumi made very clear what was happening to her. Humiliation, physical and emotional pain, a pathetic and inadequate man trying to exert power over a vulnerable young woman…all was so devastatingly apparent. The final pdd was heartbreaking: DG willing on his Manon, but knowing from the start it was futile; looking around desperately for help when none was forthcoming, trying to elicit some form of hope from Manon where none was there…I just wanted to throw my arms around him. Both of them danced it beautifully and with such depth. Vadim’s despair at the end, arms raised in desperation, alone in a physical and emotional wasteland, made my jaw drop along with the curtains. Just amazing how so much can be said without uttering a word. For the other debuts, I liked Joe Sissens’ Lescaut but there is room for character development and that will come. His dancing was, of course, wonderful. Likewise Leticia Dias as the Mistress. Lovely dancing and characterisation. I also liked Tara as Madame: as my daughter said, she had a lot of class and you can imagine that she had done well as a courtesan/prostitute and was then able to open her own establishment. My big disappointment of the evening was Christopher Saunders as M. GM. He made no impression on me of any kind. This character needs to be very nasty in order for us to understand why Manon and Lescaut risk everything to escape from him. When it is Gary Avis, he makes it so clear that he believes he owns Manon, that he decides if anyone else can touch her, and when, and for how long. There is also that menacing aura about him, so that when he does what he does at the end of Act 2 it doesn’t surprise us. Instead, here we had an almost avuncular GM, smiling all the time and often looking more like a proud father than a nasty individual who has just bought a gorgeous young girl. Very bland and I’m afraid that aspect of the ballet just didn’t work for me. Gosh I have just seen how much I have written. This was only meant to be a few words, but then my few words couldn’t do justice to the poetry of last night’s performance.

Well we will be there on Tuesday as well…and after tonight, I can’t wait!

Agree with all the above. An astonishing debut from Fumi, matched every step of the way by Vadim’s heart-wrenching depiction of Des Grieux. More tomorrow when I can think straight. But now to sleep, perchance to dream about what I saw tonight. 😢❤️