Which cast Romeo and Juliet ROH 2015?

[Bluebird]

Lauren Cuthbertson and Federico Bonelli are to be the guest artists at the Genée Final this evening.

[alison]

Oh, I see.  I thought I was missing a gala or something

[Billyelliott]

We're all going to see Golding and Hayward on Friday 23 October as a half term treat from Grandad

So excited as we have never been all together 3 generations , and never managed to see Romeo and Juliet before !

[thewinelake]

Cuthbertson & Bonelli were very sweet and tender, I thought. Not as spectacular as I was expecting, but more moving - great chemistry between them.

 

I was chatting with a guy at the interval who had tickets for Osipova who seemed a little gutted to be missing her. Having seen her Fille mal gardée, I reckon she'd make an excellent Juliet. Some other time, I guess.

[Sim]

I think they were thwarted by the smaller stage. Also, it is very hard to dance this 'cold' and out of context. A very nice performance though.

[thewinelake]

yes, good point - the small stage made the running around seem somehow silly!

[FLOSS]

"Spectacular" is not the first word that comes to mind when I think of balletic versions of Romeo and Juliet.As far as MacMillan's balcony pas de deux is concerned it is extremely difficult to bring off effectively if there is no balcony, the music is recorded and the lighting is wrong. When the dancers are left simply standing looking at each other you really notice all those bars of music in which there is no dancing.Music which usually accompanies Juliet staring down from the balcony and Romeo lurking in the shadows and then making himself known to her does not work in quite the same way when the dancers are forced to stand and stare at each other.With a balcony the dancers get off to a flying start without one it is all a bit flat and lacking in atmosphere more like a rehearsal than a performance.But you can't have everything and it was a good performance given the compromises that had to be made to make it possible.

 

Although I would  be happy if MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet were rested for say five years and we got a chance  to see Ashton's version  in the form danced by ENB thirty plus years ago I accept that the MacMillan version has considerable strengths. Perhaps the greatest of them is that it can be performed equally well as dance drama or as pure dance  I think that it is the fact that it can be danced effectively at any point between the extremes of expressiveness and pure classical technique  means that there are few dancers who don't bring something interesting to the roles of Romeo and Juliet. A far greater problem, for me, lies in the casting of Mercutio. which in my books is just as important as the titular roles. Dancers able to dance Mercutio seem to be in short supply Few of the dancers who I have seen recently in the role perform the off centre turns that are in the choreography or make much of Mercutio's taunting of Tybalt or the character's death.In many ways it seems to have been downgraded to a supporting role rather than one which is cast at principal level or at the very least with a dancer who is able to command the stage with his technique,personality and acting ability. 

 

As to who you should try to see? Well of course Osipova would have been interesting but I think that Lamb and Muntagirov could well turn out to be something special as they were exceptional together in Manon last year.Bonelli and Cuthbertson are well worth seeing. Cuthbertson is one of those dancers who does things her own way and makes you look at some roles afresh.For those who were not able to get tickets for Naghdi and Ball you could try for the day seats.I shall certainly be seeing them and Hayward too.While Nunez is a fine Ashton dancer,and there are too few in the company of whom that can be said, I don't find her that convincing in dramatic roles.She is too one note for me so she is not on my list of must see dancers in this ballet.However if the company were dancing Ashton's Romeo and Juliet she would probably be my first choice because everything is in the choreography in that version and she really understands how Ashton's choreography works.

 

I haven't mentioned every casting permutation and no one should assume that omission means criticism.As far as Osipova's Juliet is concerned we shall have to wait for another season or two before we find out whether or not the role suits her.I think that Muntagirov may find it is of more assistance to his  performance that he is now making his debut with someone who knows this version of the ballet really well. As far as the rest of the run is concerned  I hope that if any further gaps appear in the schedule are filled from the company's ranks rather than outside it. I am sure that this season's new casts would benefit from additional performances. I .think that the reality is that whichever cast you see you are unlikely to be disappointed and if you are able to do so you should try and see a couple of casts,ideally an established one and one with newcomers in it.

 

As far as comparing ticket prices for the Royal Ballet and ENB is concerned.I am not sure that comparing ENB and the Royal Ballet is really comparing like with like as the two companies are different in the number of dancers that they employ and the size of their respective repertories.I don't know whether state subsidy covers the same proportion of their costs. I suspect that ENB gets more of its costs from the state because it tours.As I understand it  the Royal Ballet operates a system of cross subsidy so that popular ballets help cover the cost of its mixed bills. The company could cut costs in all sorts of ways, part time employment; letting older dancers go; only programming full length works and so on. I am not sure that I would like the results of  pursuing a more hard nosed commercial approach as far as programming and casting is concerned.Artistically it would be a disaster.

Edited September 20, 2015 by FLOSS

[loveclassics]

I'd love to see the Ashton version too.  With so few of his ballets being performed why can't it be brought out of retirement?  Is it being performed by any other companies?

 

Linda

[Jan McNulty]

Not as far as I am aware. I believe Peter Shaufuss owns the rights (but stand to be corrected if not).

[gottokeepworking]

We're all going to see Golding and Hayward on Friday 23 October as a half term treat from Grandad

So excited as we have never been all together 3 generations , and never managed to see Romeo and Juliet before !

 

 

Hope you have a fabulous time - local girl done good!

[Two Pigeons]

I think you are right Janet. Ashton either willed them to him or his executors made the decision after his death. Either way I feel it was (on the whole) a good decision. Schaufuss was very good to Ashton in his last years. Admittedly Apparitions was a misfire but I will always be grateful that I had a chance to see Romeo and Juliet, with all its flaws, danced by artists who believed in it passionately and under Ashton's supervision.

 

Although I understand that Shaufuss has turned out some rather bizarre performances since I think the ballet would have become a lost legend without his intervention.

 

I cannot see it being mounted at the Opera House. I would suspect that both tbe dancers and the box office would take the view that it is inferior to the Macmillan version and not be too keen on delivering the subtlety it needs.

 

FLOSS makes the point that Mercutio is a vital role and as important as the leads. I agree with her on this but I would add to that Tybalt as a significant component. When BRB launched their production in tbe early 90s the Romeos and Juliets were a bit uneven. However, Peter Ottavanger and Evan Williams were outstanding as Tybalt and tbe drama was heightened accordingly.

[penelopesimpson]

Lamb just doesn't do it for me. She was good in Manon, but I just can't imagine her as Juliet (she's too sophisticated). Of all the full length ballets R&J is (for me) the one in which both leads need to be equally convincing otherwise the performance is a let down. In Swan Lake, Beauty, Don Q it's all about the beauty of the dancing and the drama of the set pieces (eg swan corps, Rose Adagio) but R&J is all about the central relationship. I love Vadim's dancing and I'd love to see him as Romeo again but I just don't feel much enthusiasm for the performance which I have booked for and wonder whether I should spend that fifty odd quid on something else. R&J will be back again soon enough.

Telegraph review confirms all my worst fears about Lamb as Juliet  I am seeing Salenko and Macrae on Thursday but am going to return my ticket for the Lamb Muntagirov production on October 1.  I mean no disrespect to Sarah Lamb who has a strong following, but we each have our personal favourites and she has never moved me as a dancer.  As the reviewer identifies, she is the wrong choice for Juliet, IMPO.  I wish Mr. O'Hare had given Osipovas performances to Hayward and Cuthbertson who both convey the emotion that I look for.

This means, of course, that a fearsome responsibility hangs on the slender shoulders of anyone who tackles the role. And on Saturday night – the first of the Royal Ballet’s autumn season – that fine dancer Sarah Lamb served up a Juliet of physical grace, lightness and technical polish, but also of disappointing emotional distance and chill.

There is little about her here to suggest an Italian, in the first flush of womanhood, ecstatically engulfed by the flames of true love. On initially encountering Steven McRae’s quicksilver Romeo, her Juliet reacts with same sort of mild-mannered happiness with which she earlier greets her intended, Ryoichi Hirano’s gallant Paris.

[FLOSS]

Penelope personally I would hold on to the ticket. I suspect that Lamb and Muntagirov will be somewhat different from Lamb and McRae. Can I ask do you find that the critic of the Telegraph experiences performances in the way that you do? I tend to find that even if I have been to the performance that he is writing about I haven't been to the performance that he is describing.

[Sim]

I find that with many critics, FLOSS!

[penelopesimpson]

Penelope personally I would hold on to the ticket. I suspect that Lamb and Muntagirov will be somewhat different from Lamb and McRae. Can I ask do you find that the critic of the Telegraph experiences performances in the way that you do? I tend to find that even if I have been to the performance that he is writing about I haven't been to the performance that he is describing.

I will maybe take your advice as I am keen to see Muntagirov in the role.  You may also be right about the critic BUT my problem is that he completely describes how I feel about Lamb.  She is a wonderful dancer but I look for huge emotional involvement of the type Alina Cojocaru gave us in bucketloads.  Ditto Mara Galeazzi and I can see the same quality in Francesca Hayward.  For me neither Nunez nor Lamb have that appeal, particularly Lamb, which is why I tend to avoid her performances.  I come as often as I can afford but with ticket prices now so high, plus trains and taxis, I have to be very specific in booking for particular casts.  Muntagirov has been rehearsing with Hayward so I wish they had given her at least some of the Osipova performances.

[Nina G.]

As fine a technician Sarah Lamb is I am skipping her Juliet too and I am sticking to Cuthbertson/Bonelli, Naghdi/Ball and Hayward/Golding.  Lamb (except as Manon) has never moved me. I always enjoy Cuthbertson's Juliet, and no doubt I'll enjoy Hayward/Golding and Naghdi/Ball too. 

 

I've come across a review of the General on here:

 

https://katchkadeemtheatre.wordpress.com/2015/09/18/the-royal-ballets-romeo-and-juliet-50th-anniversary/

[Jan McNulty]

I will maybe take your advice as I am keen to see Muntagirov in the role.  You may also be right about the critic BUT my problem is that he completely describes how I feel about Lamb.  She is a wonderful dancer but I look for huge emotional involvement of the type Alina Cojocaru gave us in bucketloads.  Ditto Mara Galeazzi and I can see the same quality in Francesca Hayward.  For me neither Nunez nor Lamb have that appeal, particularly Lamb, which is why I tend to avoid her performances.  I come as often as I can afford but with ticket prices now so high, plus trains and taxis, I have to be very specific in booking for particular casts.  Muntagirov has been rehearsing with Hayward so I wish they had given her at least some of the Osipova performances.

 

I saw a dancer as Juliet many years ago and was so unmoved I chose not to see her in that role again.  Some years later I was invited to go with a friend who had an extra ticket - it was for the dancer I had not wanted to see but I went anyway.  What I had not given a thought to was the fact that over around 10 years the dancer had matured into the role and I was totally blown away by her performance!  I was so glad I had gone to see what turned out to be a wonderful and rewarding performance.  

 

I can appreciate your points Penelope, and realise I am lucky to follow companies where the ticket prices are considerably cheaper than top price tickets at ROH, but I would still give her one chance.

[aileen]

Given the RB's fondness for wigs, I wonder whether Lamb might benefit from wearing a dark coloured wig to make her look more Italian. I find her quite a cool dancer anyway and I think that her fair colouring (which is an asset in roles such as Aurora, SPF) probably exacerbates this.

 

On the question of reviewers, I suppose that their opinions are as subjective as the ones posted on this forum. There's only one review (of a Bolshoi Swan Lake) which I remember as being so wide of the mark that I wondered whether I had been at the same performance.

[Jan McNulty]

I once knew a lady from Northern Italy who had white-blonde hair, and I gather blonde is not an unusual hair colour in the north of the country.  I tend not to get hung up on hair colour.

[Fonty]

Yes, it is quite a common hair colour in certain parts of Italy.

 

In fact, Shakespeare never actually describes Juliet at all, does he?  Apart from the fact that Romeo thinks she is the most beautiful girl he has ever seen, I don't recall any physical description. 

Edited September 21, 2015 by Fonty

[alison]

I have to say, I've been finding the tone of some of these Juliet casting discussions extremely depressing for some time.  I appreciate that some people are extremely disappointed at Osipova being a no-show once again, but the tone of some of these comments is highly disrespectful to dancers they may not even have seen in the role.

 

I'm also - once again - moving this into the more appropriate thread.

Edited September 21, 2015 by alison
For clarification

[Jacqueline]

I once knew a lady from Northern Italy who had white-blonde hair, and I gather blonde is not an unusual hair colour in the north of the country.  I tend not to get hung up on hair colour

Fair hair is common in northern parts of Italy, along with a sort of almond eye colour. My friend's husband and family were from the Verona area and all had this colouring. Juliet could very well have been blonde.

Personally, I think wigs should be avoided wherever possible. There have been some absolute horrors over the years with people sporting syrups that clearly don't  match their complexion and as such are so distracting, in the end you can't take your eyes off them for all the wrong reasons! Maybe not quite as terrible as some of the Russian examples but when in doubt, don't.

[Jacqueline]

Alison, my post about hair colour came in just after yours on the other thread and is now stranded where it doesn't make sense. Could you move it over here please? I don't know how to do it,

[alison]

Done, Jacqueline - thanks for alerting me.  And you can't do it yourself: only Mods can move things around - it's one of the crosses we have to bear.

[Fonty]

Well, in the hope and expectation that Jacqueline's other post is moved on to here, I will agree with her comment about wigs. While there may be a good reason for using a wig that changes someone's hair length (the last act of Manon, for example), I have never understood why some parts require dancers to wear wigs that are clearly unsuitable.  The ghastly toppers give to the Sugar Plum Fairy spring to mind.  Yes, there should be a suggestion of sprinkles of sugar, but a bit of fairy dust on the ballerina's own hair would be quite sufficient.  I remember watching Yoshida in this role, and could not help gawping at the horrible white wig she was having to wear. 

 

As far as Juliet is concerned, I don't mind what colour hair she has, providing she convinces me that she "hath not seen the change of fourteen years"

[RuthE]

I *have* liked Sarah Lamb very much as Juliet in the past. She was, in point of fact, my first RB Juliet (in the January 2012 run), and I liked her in the Autumn 2013 run too.  However, I was at Saturday's performance and for some reason this time she didn't do it for me at all. I think perhaps my memories of McRae with Obraztsova in the last run - who I loved so much together at the dress rehearsal that I ended up going to see all three of their performances - were too fresh in my mind for me not to find their chemistry lacking.  I'd previously seen Lamb opposite Bonelli and Pennefather.

 

(Edited to add: I've just read the Telegraph review and particularly the following paragraph: "much to enjoy ... but ... repeatedly had me thinking back to the devastating, Wagnerian passion that Tamara Rojo and Carlos Acosta ignited together as the star-cross’d lovers just a few years ago, on the same stage.".  Um, yes. I saw them do it three days after I first saw Sarah Lamb do it, and I actually can't argue with that.)

Edited September 21, 2015 by RuthE

[penelopesimpson]

I have to say, I've been finding the tone of this Juliet casting discussion extremely depressing for some time.  I appreciate that some people are extremely disappointed at Osipova being a no-show once again, but the tone of some of these comments is highly disrespectful to dancers they may not even have seen in the role.

 

I'm also - once again - moving this into the more appropriate thread.

Interested to read your comment but non-plussed.  Every time I have mentioned Sarah Lamb I have praised her as a fine dancer with a strong following.  I have then gone on to say that I PERSONALLY do not find her emotionally moving and one or two other contributors have made similar comments.  So that I do not fall foul of the rules could you please clarify in what way I have been disrespectful?  Is it not permitted to give personal opinions or preferences?  Surely the fact that one is able to discuss so many different dancers only demonstrates ones commmitment to ballet and some degree of knowlege.  I have not seen any post that has been in any way disrespectful or even critical; people have simply stated what moves them.

 

To be honest, I find your post scarily judgmental.

[Jan McNulty]

I haven't particularly found the tone of this specific thread depressing but taken in conjunction with the Osipova thread in News I think it leads to depressing overall.

[aileen]

I can't see what all the fuss is about. Everyone has been very respectful about Lamb, acknowledging her technical excellence, but some of us have merely said that she doesn't appeal to us artistically or in certain roles, which is a personal and subjective matter. In contrast, some much more negative, and sometimes rather personal, remarks have been made about Golding, Soares, Acosta, McRae and others which have not attracted much comment. Some dancers just don't appeal to you; few dancers excel across the rep. That's how it is. It's not really for other people to convince us to change our mind about a dancer as we are all entitled to our own opinion.

 

As for Saturday's performance, I accept that it can take a dancer a couple of performances to get into a role and so that performance might not fairly represent what Lamb can bring to the role. Having said that, I personally don't have the time, money or inclination to see the same cast multiple times and an experienced dancer who has danced the role several times before should really be at the top of his/her game right from his/her first performance in a run.

[alison]

I *have* liked Sarah Lamb very much as Juliet in the past. She was, in point of fact, my first RB Juliet (in the January 2012 run), and I liked her in the Autumn 2013 run too.  However, I was at Saturday's performance and for some reason this time she didn't do it for me at all. I think perhaps my memories of McRae with Obraztsova in the last run - who I loved so much together at the dress rehearsal that I ended up going to see all three of their performances - were too fresh in my mind for me not to find their chemistry lacking.  I'd previously seen Lamb opposite Bonelli and Pennefather.

 

(Edited to add: I've just read the Telegraph review and particularly the following paragraph: "much to enjoy ... but ... repeatedly had me thinking back to the devastating, Wagnerian passion that Tamara Rojo and Carlos Acosta ignited together as the star-cross’d lovers just a few years ago, on the same stage.".  Um, yes. I saw them do it three days after I first saw Sarah Lamb do it, and I actually can't argue with that.)

 

Well, I couldn't argue with the Rojo half of it, but Acosta, Romeo and Wagner definitely don't go together in my book

 

I have then gone on to say that I PERSONALLY do not find her emotionally moving and one or two other contributors have made similar comments.  

 

No, I realise that the comments are actually strewn across the Alina Cojocaru thread, the Osipova injury thread and this one: I've moved so many around in an attempt to keep things in some sort of reasonable order that it's difficult keeping track.  But overall the impression they've given me has been one of negative and potentially hurtful comment, not necessarily only in relation to Ms Lamb.  Anyway, I've edited my original post to show, I hope, that my comments had a broader scope. 

 

Incidentally, I'm one of those who found her extremely moving in Manon

[RuthE]

Incidentally, I'm one of those who found her extremely moving in Manon

 

So did I (particularly with Muntagirov, when she took over after Lauren Cuthbertson's injury). I'm generally more of a fan of her contemporary things, though...

[penelopesimpson]

I can't see what all the fuss is about. Everyone has been very respectful about Lamb, acknowledging her technical excellence, but some of us have merely said that she doesn't appeal to us artistically or in certain roles, which is a personal and subjective matter. In contrast, some much more negative, and sometimes rather personal, remarks have been made about Golding, Soares, Acosta, McRae and others which have not attracted much comment. Some dancers just don't appeal to you; few dancers excel across the rep. That's how it is. It's not really for other people to convince us to change our mind about a dancer as we are all entitled to our own opinion.

 

As for Saturday's performance, I accept that it can take a dancer a couple of performances to get into a role and so that performance might not fairly represent what Lamb can bring to the role. Having said that, I personally don't have the time, money or inclination to see the same cast multiple times and an experienced dancer who has danced the role several times before should really be at the top of his/her game right from his/her first performance in a run.

Well said, Aileen.  Would that I had the sort of wallet that allowed me to go to several performances of each ballet so that I could finely judge the nuances of respective performances.  In this context I enjoyed Sarah Lamb in Manon, a role which I thought she was well suited for.  Equally I adored Francesca Hayward who brought a different and to me greater emotional intensity to the part.

 

Like you, I expect to pay my money and get what I pay for.  If that sounds harsh, well it is a harsh world and taken together with travel (5hrs each way for me) my ballet outings are epics of organisation.  Injuries are terribly sad, not least for the dancer concerned and everybody who cares about ballet will understand that such disappointments are part and parcel of this particular art form.  My argument, if it is an argument, is that having busted a gut and broken the bank to get a ticket to see Osipova and Muntagirov, I am less than thrilled that Juliet is now to be danced by a ballerina I do not especially appreciate and who IMPO is not well suited to this role.  In this context I also made the comment that it would be nice if RB had another dancer with the star quality of Osipova.  That is not in any way to denigrate others, it is merely to state a fact.

[aileen]

Well, I have a single, half an hour bus journey to the ROH and I'm still fussy about casts!