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simonbfisher

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Everything posted by simonbfisher

  1. Sim, sadly the last of Eric’s cats, Boris Borisovitch Ratmansky, died last year and with him, it seems, much of Eric’s will to carry on in a life which was, most of the time, overwhelmingly sad and frustrating. He steadfastly refused to countenance looking after another cat, and with hindsight I think we can know why.
  2. Does anyone have the complete cast list for this? The DNB website is unforthcoming, and the young lady at the Vue in Staines (upon Thames - sorry) didn’t understand what I meant.
  3. Many thanks, Jamiel - Friday 24 Nov?? I am feeling really guilty now.....
  4. Hello Jamiel, Thank you very much for this considered response. I do appreciate it. Yes, your colleagues did find us four seats "in the wings" for the second half - the problem then was that the spots were shining straight in our faces so the experience of the dance was again limited, though in a different way from the dreaded Row G. Even the birthday boy was visible only when he blocked the light - which was not an inbuilt feature of the choreography, for some strange reason 😅 Please do not take to heart my remarks about YOUR remarks - I think you just need to slow down a bit and e-n-u-n-c-i-a-t-e; some of your audience is elderly and *ahem* hearing-challenged. You came over warm and enthusiastic, which is more than half the battle, I guess.! Thank you for your very generous offer to see the second programme - my partner and I will be in Japan at that time (Kabuki and Sumo; catholic tastes) otherwise we should gladly have taken you up on it. I think, for what it is worth, that what you are aiming to do is fantastic, and I wish you all the success possible. Don't be put off by grumpy audience members - we will always be there in one form or another. Onwards and upwards, Jamiel.
  5. We went on opening night 29/09, always happy to support new enterprises in dance. Good points - friendly staff and enthusiastic audience; enticingly eclectic line-up. Bad points - until we protested and were moved in the interval we simply couldn’t see the dancers below their shoulders (no rake to speak of) which at £65 for the seventh row of eight was really ridiculous; dangerously low lighting for audience to enter by, made worse by blinding spotlights onto our faces; angle poise lamp in lighting box pointed at rows G and H instead of down at the desk; doubtlessly interesting speeches by the organiser delivered too fast and too informally for us to follow; I gather Melissa Hamilton did a dying swan - we couldn’t see her, and I gather Steven McRae was a wizard tap dancer - we couldn’t see him either. But on the other hand the invisible pianist was fab. We won’t be going back.
  6. We have two seats in the front row of the Stalls which we shall be unable to use. Face value £65 each. We'd love them to go to a good home!
  7. We have two front row stalls seats for Sunday 29th Oct at His Majesty's Theatre. We shall be abroad, so unable to use them. They are priced at £65 - would anyone like them?
  8. Quoting Geoff above: the chap I asked a simple question of last week regarding the amphitheatre bar who went full John Inman on me, pointing and squealing “I’ll get right back to YOU!” How would you have preferred him to change his way of speaking, exactly?
  9. Can someone explain something that is puzzling us …. When Larisch enters the music room in Act 2 she is the only woman not wearing gloves, and she seems to make a point (and this was strongly picked up by the cameras for the broadcast) of emphasising her bare arms. Why is this? Are we missing a vital piece of plotting, or did she leave her gloves chez Vetsera, or does it somehow show that she is no better than she should be? We have several more performances to watch and I would love to be able to stop worrying about this.
  10. A sudden clash with a family event - Linbury Stalls C5 and C6 for sale. £35 each, but will take less!
  11. But what a well-endowed minority : German for example has a rich choice of 16 words for “the”! 💪🏼🇩🇪
  12. Well Sim, you’re the boss - but the heading is “Performances seen and General Discussions”. I really fear that if we don’t all start acting more responsibly there will soon no longer, as in the recent dark days, be any “performances seen”.
  13. Really great to see McRae back again last night - maybe everso slightly tentative at first, but soon full steam ahead. Amazing what his determination and the splendid ministrations of all the support staff at the Opera House have managed! The House was packed and very enthusiastic, but I have to say I was so disappointed (?angry) that only about 5% in the Stalls and Stalls Circle were masked, despite the repeated encouragements in the announcements. I am afraid I even had to ask the woman sitting next to us to stop coughing with an open mouth... Meanwhile, at the National Ballet of Canada : "All patrons, 12 years of age or older, must provide proof of vaccination to attend performances by The National Ballet of Canada .All audience members must wear a mask at all times in the lobby and auditorium, except when eating or drinking. Neck gaiters and bandanas will not be permitted."
  14. “We left Giselle at the end of Act 1 … and now I am going to write my verdict on the whole ballet, though I have no idea what happens in Act 2.” No, that doesn’t work, does it. We left S W at the very end of Creature, standing ovation and cheers and all, very moved, and with a lot to think about. Thematically linked to Büchner and to Shelley, but very much its own creature (ahem), the desperation of the relationship with Marie, her helpless drudgery, the Creature’s wondering love, their beautiful pdd (actually a pd3 with a mop - think Cinderella and her broom then immediately forget her again), all make this readable as a love story. But it is much more than that. The manipulation of the Creature and the rest of the crew by the mad-Leontes-clad Major was a political statement; the decrepitude and eventual collapse of the set, their world, is too close to our own situation for comfort. Plenty to get one’s teeth into as far as the unravelling of the ideas is concerned. Jeffrey Cirio, and the choreography created on the Creature himself, were extraordinary. He flows, he jitters, he silently screams, he weeps - quite beautifully. How he managed still to be standing at the end was a marvel. The movements of the Corps were mesmerising - and though repetitive at times, never tediously so. Repetition is their life, after all. All the supporting principal roles were clearly defined and clearly danced. Poor Marie and her broom have come in for a lot of stick (sorry) on here but we thought she was a fully developed and tragic figure - her acting and her dancing (when permitted, which given her lowly status was not often) were heart-rending. Yes it was loud. The initial moments made our seats vibrate, but it was not constant and grew less noticeable as the ballet went on. As inveterate tutters at background muzak in restaurants we were not unduly disturbed. It is subjective, I know. The music in Act 2 with its assimilation of the Boléro was fascinating, and the voiceovers - of which we are not automatic fans - made sense and added to the helplessness of these last (?) humans, creatures all. We have booked to see it again.
  15. Dangerous Liaisons is showing in cinemas on Tuesday 14th Sept. So far it will, it seems, be just Balu and me in the Basingstoke Odeon.
  16. We went yesterday - on the plus side the weather was glorious, ditto the setting, and the dancers and musicians seemed to be having a great time. On the minus side, we arrived at 12.00 on the dot, having been told that seating would be allocated on arrival from 12.00. We were given seats in what we were told was the third row (despite apparently being first in line). When we went to the seats shortly before the 3.00 start we found they were in the 8th row - five rows of more comfy seats were in front of the stage. I queried what the arrangement was, and was told that they were more expensive seats for VIPs. None of us can recall being given the opportunity to buy "more expensive seats" (it seemed to be a flat rate of £85.00) and we were not ecstactic to be told that we were NOT Very Important People. So a bit of a sour note there. Once the performance started, it transpired that because of NO rake, a low stage (2 feet high) and the many very necessary hats in front, we could see just the dancers' heads (and in Reece Clarke's case his shoulders as well) and the occasional flash of torso between the hats. After a three hour journey (and £85.00 each - yes, it was in a very good cause, but still £85.00....) this was so very disappointing.
  17. Thank you Fiona and Cabybara - obviously after only four days I should not be upset about not having received a response yet !
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