Sim

Yes, and last night. It really is worth trying to get a ticket for the 25th if you can. x

Due to being married to a Scouser I have decided to sacrifice my ticket so that I can watch the Champions League final with him! The things we do for love.....luckily I have tickets to their other shows! This one is amphi left, D37. Very, very slightly restricted view but a great one. £21. This is a 'proper' ticket so I can either post it out upon receipt of e-transfer or will be at the House a few times before June 1st so could do an exchange. Please PM me if interested. Thanks, Sim

FionaE, I really don't appreciate your patronising suggestion that we have been 'taken in' by the British press. Polunin has largely been the architect of his own reputation post-RB. Don't forget about social media.....his rants against gay men and overweight people were written by him, not the British press. Believe me, a lot more people read about him on Instagram and other social media than they do in the press. As Penelope says, he has had a largely positive portrayal here, except when he presents poor ballets, at which point the press will say so. To suggest that Polunin has acquired a negative reputation because of inaccurate representation in the British press is manifestly untrue.

I think she was Swanilda....

I completely agree with John and Anna. How rare to see an R&J where all five lead males are on a par with each other technically, passionately and dramatically. Add into the mix a totally believable Juliet who sizzles with her Romeo and it made for a very special night indeed.

You will all be pleased to know that Cesar has cut his hair! More importantly, what an incredible Act 1 he and Francesca Hayward have just delivered. I am already drained!

So sorry to hear this, balletyas. Feel better very soon.

Many thanks, Richard.

Do they release a simple list of all the productions coming up for the new season, or do we have to look at it month by month??

So would I.....those are two ballets I could happily see every year. I am also very surprised that we get less than two hours' worth of Ashton ballets the whole season. His ballets always sell well, so I wonder why their Founder Choreographer is being ignored? I mean, much as I love Manon, we have only just had it. Why put it on again so soon when it didn't even sell that well last time around?? Why couldn't we at least get Rhapsody or Symphonic Variations as part of a triple bill???

You are most welcome to them Dave! 😃

I can’t believe they are reviving the dire Live Fire Excercise. As it’s with Corybantic Games, unless the tbc is something amazing I will be saving money on this bill! Very happy about many of the other ones.

Neither would I...

I really like this. As with The Trocks, the comedy works because the dancing is so good 😊.

What a wonderful, intelligent and deeply-felt debut from Beatriz tonight.

Wow what a great way to start!!

The same cast as described in imy review of the Saturday matinee. Brilliant!

I don’t think that Tybalt has to seethe for the interpretation to be believable. Simmering, repressed anger is just as dangerous as fully-expressed anger! I thought Ball’s take was fascinating and it worked for me.

Let’s hope so.... 😃

Yes, I was getting that and other little glitches too. All seems fine this morning.

Matthew is scheduled to dance Tybalt on Tuesday. 👏👏

I was standing in the Stalls Circle and had no trouble seeing his face. Maybe someone should inform Mr O’Hair (!) about the problem?! He might then suggest a quick trip to the barber before Tuesday!

There seem to have been a few glitches with the forum tonight! Thanks Lin.

I loved the matinee today. What a sublime cast. Everyone was firing on all cylinders (physically and dramatically!) and gave an ensemble performance worthy of the best. It has been a long wait to see Cesar Corrales onstage again, but if we had to do without him for most of the season, it was worth the wait to see him debut as Romeo today. His Romeo is young, passionate, sensual and everything he does is from the heart. Absolutely no hesitation to start a love affair with Juliet, even though he knows who she is from the get-go. No hesitation at all to grab the sword to avenge his best friend's death, despite what the consequences might be; he just goes for it and a pox on the consequences. He was so in love with his Juliet, like a puppy on a lead just waiting to be let go so he can run to her and be with her always...it just doesn't work out that way. His despair in the crypt scene was so sad. He was willing her so hard to go on and get up, and when he couldn't, you could feel the weight of his agony take over his whole body, and he wanted none of it. His fight with Tybalt was one of the most ferocious (and at times uncontrollable) I have ever seen. He knocked the sword out of poor Matthew Ball's hand a couple of times, and the latter had to scramble to retrieve it, but did so very well. He seemed almost surprised by the ferocity of the attack coming at him. In the last run, I wasn't as crazy about Francesca Hayward's Juliet as some other people were, but I think that had much to do with her partner, with whom she was utterly miscast. Today, no such worries. She and Corrales had great chemistry, and were totally believable as the young, star-crossed lovers. When they first encounter each other at the ball, it's as if neither of them understands what is happening to them. As love and lust slowly dawn on them, they become more and more fired up and passionate, and this will make the fall hurt much more. Unlike Romeo, we can see Juliet have brief moments of hesitation; her nurse has told her who Romeo is, and she knows deep down that nothing good can come of it. Foreboding shadows darken her lovely, expressive face a couple of times, but she throws caution to the wind and experiences that which she really wants to experience. The final scene in the tomb was so moving, from her as well as from him. I think he is the one who really broke my heart, but she contributed to that; how she crumpled over him when she discovered he was dead was just heartbreaking. He had died a bit too far away from the side of the bed for her to be able to reach his arm to pull it up and kiss his hand in her death throes, but her final, empty reach was just as moving; she couldn't even have him in death. Very sad. I loved Matthew Ball's Tybalt...it was a very different interpretation, an 'English' Tybalt, if you like. He wasn't angry and fuming and lashing out. He was subtle, simmering, sardonic, smug, sarcastic, smirking, sexy and sublime. He was much more measured than we usually see with Tybalts, and this worked as a very effective contrast to Corrales' Latin passion. This Tybalt just thought it was all a fun game at first....he smirked at the Montague boys, toyed with them like a cat with a half-dead bird, obviously considering them as pathetic little boys trying to be big men with their swords and their provocations. However, the simmering cauldron had to boil over, and the job be completed on the half-dead birds. All of a sudden, Tybalt's fury and humiliation manifested themselves through his sword. As mentioned above, this was one helluva fight. There were no regrets after killing Mercutio, and that's when I felt really angry at him. I really hope he is doing it again on Tuesday night. And speaking of Mercutio....Marcellino Sambe, wow! One of the best I have seen. Again, last time I didn't think he was that great in the role. THIS time was a completely different matter. Fabulous dancing, fun, cheeky, full of life....all of which made the waste of his death so much more poignant. A truly bravura performance. Excellent also from James Hay as Benvolio. I always feel sorry for poor Benvolio; by the end of the story, he has lost both of his best mates in the space of just a few minutes. I always wonder whatever becomes of him! But I digress....James Hay was an exuberant boy, and the trio were utterly believable as three teenage mates, roaming around Verona, having fun....until Romeo falls in love, at which point they are all doomed in one way or another. Gary Avis was his usual patrician lord, and I love the feeling I get with him that he is just fed up with dealing with all these hormonal teenagers: Paris always whining asking why Juliet doesn't like him, Juliet not paying attention to nor fulfilling his wishes, Tybalt constantly angry and making a scene at his ball, Romeo also causing problems in his house....I can almost hear him cry in despair 'will no-one rid me of these hormonal teenagers?' Christina Arestis is a very sympathetic Lady Capulet; she loves and comforts her daughter, but as a woman in those days there wasn't much she could to help Juliet with her situation as Lord Capulet's word and will are final. Well done to a very special all-round cast who gave a luscious rendering of this ballet. The fact that I have seen it so many times and yet can still be moved by it is a huge tribute to all the fantastic casts the RB has at the moment. I am in awe.

You wouldn’t have thought so, watching that Act 2 sword fight. My goodness, so ferocious. He really meant it!