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Birmingham Royal Ballet - Romeo and Juliet - Spring 2016

Jan McNulty
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Two Pigeons

Two Pigeons

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This is a fair point capybara and I suspect that Christiansen is one of those people who start out watching a BRB performance automatically deducting 20 points just because they are not the RB.  However, he is a professional critic and should be more objective when reviewing even a strange company's performance.  I have just been re-reading this thread and I see that nottsballetlover and I saw both Iain and Jenna's performances between us.  I find the differences between our reviews and Christiansen's so different as to be like the reports of a battle in a civil war as given by each side.

 

I think I have given enough time and energy to this now.  I must remember that Christiansen is someone who raves about the Anthony Dowell production of Swan Lake and says it is the best this country can offer.  I feel we are fated never to agree but at least I can take the view that I am objective in my views. He cannot .

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Fonty

Fonty

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Well all of his credibility was lost for me in the headline, before I even started reading the review.  Mr Christiansen (or the arts editor) doesn't seem to be aware that in Shakespeare 'wherefore' means 'why', not 'where'.  So that backfired the review before it even began, as far as I'm concerned.  I haven't seen this production so can't comment on the review itself, but for a company with such fab dancers I am surprised that they could get R&J so wrong....so I trust the reviewers on this forum, who have seen multiple casts, much more!   :)

 

 

Same here, Sim.

 

As far as I am concerned, BRB is a superb company, and I simply cannot believe that they would give a performance that was anything other than wonderful.  Such a pity I can't see their R & J, but never mind.  I am enjoying it second hand via this forum. 

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Jan McNulty

Jan McNulty

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Well, IMHO Birmingham Royal Ballet are a company absolutely at the top of their game with enormous talent spread throughout.  

 

I saw 4 performances at the Lowry last week (I had to miss Thursday because I was in Leeds) and in every single one of them the entire cast was committed, interested and exciting.  Every single dancer, no matter established company member or student, was completely engaged in the action - it didn't matter where you looked you were seeing the great, good and peasantry of Verona!

 

I'm not a huge fan of the Macmillan Romeo.  I am a lot more familiar with the way it is performed at BRB than at RB and I prefer BRB's set and costumes with the exception of the dreadful mandolin dance and Escalus costumes.  At the Friends' rehearsal on Wednesday afternoon, Dominic Antonucci performed the role in mufti and to me it looked much more powerful.

 

And so to the performances!

 

On Wednesday evening Joseph Caley and Momoko Hirata led the cast.  I had enjoyed their performances in Birmingham greatly but they ratcheted it up to another level on Wednesday evening.  Momoko had deepened her interpretation and gave an intelligent and very emotional performance.  Joe Caley comes over as a young lad about town who falls headlong in love.  They have, for me, great on-stage chemistry.  And yes, I was sobbing by the end!  James Barton and Jonathan Caguioa were terrific as Mercutio and Benvolio respectively.  Rory Mackay plays Tybalt as an older character who thinks himself better than the general populace and most of the time wishes he could stamp them out of existence!  Ana Albutashvili was again a passionate Lady Capulet; her grief at Tybalt's death is almost scary to watch!  Feargus Campbell was a Paris who wanted a trophy wife and who knew he was doing the Capulet's a favour by marrying her.  What a fabulous performance altogether!

 

(I gather from friends that William Bracewell and Delia Matthews gave outstanding debut performances on Thursday afternoon and that Nao (Wonder Woman) Sakuma and Chi Cao were wonderful on Thursday evening.)

 

I finally caught up with Iain Mackay and Jenna Roberts on Friday evening.  I absolutely agree with every word said about them by Nottsballetlover and Two Pigeons.  It was an emotionally intense performance of great beauty.  Tyrone Singleton had a really dangerous edge as Tybalt - to the extent that I really would not want to meet him in a dark alley after he had danced this role!!  Wonderful stuff.  Mathias Dingman gave us a glorious virtuoso performance as Mercutio - utterly believable and scintillating to watch.  Brandon Lawrence, of course, inhabited the role of Benvolio.  Samara Downs was terrific as Lady Capulet.  The soon to be retired Steve Monteith is a kind and gentle Paris who genuinely cares for Juliet.  He has been one of my favourite dancers since he joined BRB and I was so pleased to see him as his BRB career comes to an end in a role that fits him like a glove.  This had been another wonderful performance.

 

Saturday afternoon was very, very special indeed and I felt truly privileged to have witnessed this performance.  Due to Cesar Morales' indisposition, William Bracewell stepped up to the plate as Romeo to Yaoqian Shang's Juliet.  In only his second performance as Romeo and with little opportunity to rehearse with Yaoqian he gave one of the best performances of Romeo I have ever seen.  He was totally subsumed into the role but not only was his characterisation spot on but his dancing was just glorious,  What can I say about Yaoqian - oh wow - she broke my heart.  It is unbelievable to think she is so young and can give a performance of such incredible emotional intensity.  There were shivers running down my spine from her first appearance.  She and William were breath-taking together.  I was in tears in the balcony pdd and sobbing out loud by the end.  Max Maslen mad a terrific debut as Mercutio too.  Brandon Lawrence, Rory Mackay and Feargus Campbell as Benvolio, Tybalt and Paris continued to impress.  In years to come, those of us who saw this performance will be able to remind people of how we were there at the beginning of what I am sure will be stellar careers for Yaoqian and William.  There wasn't a single principal on stage this afternoon either but I am sure we saw several principals in waiting!

 

At this point I should mention Nurse as portrayed brilliantly by Marion Tait, Ruth Brill and Ana Albutashvili.  Marion Tait could well have been Lady Capulet's nurse minding the next generation too.  Ruth Brill and Ana Albutashvili were much closer in age to Juliet in their portrayal and were very spunky as well as caring and loving.  There was one of "those" moments last night in Act 3 when Yijing's Zhang's Lady Capulet looked at Ana Albutashvili with a look that said "there is something going on and I know you know what it is"!  Brilliant!  BRB are lucky to have so many wonderful actor/dancers throughout the company.

 

So a remarkable end to a remarkable week.  Mr Christiansen can put that in his pipe and smoke it!!!

 

And now for Saturday evening...  We were sitting in the auditorium waiting ... and waiting ... for curtain up.  About 10 minutes after the scheduled start time Company Manager Paul Grist appeared and made an announcement that Jamie Bond had literally been injured warming up at 19:20 and that Tyrone Singleton would be taking his place.  (We heard in the interval that, fortunately Jamie does not seem to be seriously injured).  So Saturday night unexpectedly became Tyrone's debut as Romeo with a Juliet (Wonder Woman) with whom he has never danced a major role before!  The late start was so that he and Nao could rehearse the lifts in the balcony scene!  Apparently they rehearsed Act 3 in the interval.  

 

Well what can I say ... you never would have guessed that they had not danced together before; they had tremendous on-stage chemistry and were utterly fabulous together.  Tyrone always strikes me as a very aristocratic dancer so although he was a lad about town you could tell that he was an upper class lad abut town.  He was also very romantic and fell headlong in love with Juliet.  He was very moving in the final scenes in the tomb.  Nao has been dancing the role of Juliet for many years but still comes over as an utterly convincing 13 year old.  She truly is just awesome.  Again I felt privileged to be witnessing this remarkable performance.  Mathias Dingman and Jonathan Caguioa were perfect foils as Mercutio and Benvolio.  It was wonderful to have another opportunity to savour Steven Monteith's lovely Paris.  Valentin Olovyannikov was a tetchy, jerky Tybalt.

Edited by Janet McNulty
Changed to show that Will Bracewell was Romeo not Juliet!
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Jan McNulty

Jan McNulty

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The Prokofiev score of Romeo and Juliet as we know it today was created to accommodate the needs of Lavrovsky who was the first choreographer to use it to make a ballet. It will remain in copyright until 2023 so there is no possibility of cutting or re-ordering it without the agreement of the copyright holder until then.

 

 

 

I'm not quite sure what you mean here Floss.  I have seen several productions where some sections have been cut and there has been minor re-ordering.  The Gable/Morricone production springs to mind as does the Ashton.  Maillot's must also have cuts as that is also one of the shorter versions.

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Sim

Sim

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Don't forget that Rupert Christiansen has described the RB as his 'team' and that, sometimes, people find it difficult to make the necessary mental transition when they watch a company with which they are less familiar.

But surely that is exactly what a professional critic is supposed to do?!

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trog

trog

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The Prokofiev score of Romeo and Juliet as we know it today was created to accommodate the needs of Lavrovsky who was the first choreographer to use it to make a ballet. It will remain in copyright until 2023 so there is no possibility of cutting or re-ordering it without the agreement of the copyright holder until then.

Thanks for the comprehensive info.

 

 

Is the Tudor version to music by Delius? That really would a refreshing change.

Yes, I too would like to see it. There are also ballets done to Berlioz R&J. Darius James did one for his company and (IMO) this was superior to the second version done to the familiar Prokofiev score.
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Jan McNulty

Jan McNulty

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I couldn't find it online.

 

When Sir Kenneth MacMillan reset his production on BRB in 1992 the set and the costumes were new designs.  He may have done one or two tweaks but I am not familiar enough with the RB production to say.  I prefer the BRB set and designs apart from the awful mandolin dance costumes.

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cavycapers

cavycapers

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Ah, thank you, so choreography is the same, costumes and sets different. That's a relief. I had tickets for Birmingham x 2, but my mum was unwell, so am now going to have a little R and J fest down in Plymouth instead!

 

It's funny, the awful review, it has made me think about the review from Jonathon Jones in the Guardian, when Banksy's Dismaland first opened, in which he called the installation 'thin, threadbare and boring'. My friend and I went on the last night, and could only get halfway round for laughing, and would have gone back many times if we could, there was so much to see and take in, and we could only conclude that anyone that had written a review like that must have been forced to leave his beloved London on a cheap day return to Weston-super-Mare, probably involving an early start with a hangover, and having to walk to the installment from the station on a cloudy overcast day, because there was no way otherwise that he was experiencing the same show we had.

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Jan McNulty

Jan McNulty

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Well, IMHO, BRB's current run of Romeo and Juliet can only be described as spectacular.  I can't get (sadly) to either of the last 2 weeks of the tour but I have loved all 9 of the performances I saw.

 

I was very glad to have one final opportunity to see Steven Monteith dancing with the Company - he is a lovely Paris who really cares about Juliet .  It is a great role for him to finish his dancing career on and I wish him all the very best for the future.

 

On the basis of having seen 2 out of his 3 performances as Romeo so far I would have to say that William Bracewell is the best Romeo I have ever seen.  His dancing is exciting but he is so much more than that.  Near the start of act 2, for example, when Romeo is day dreaming you could see every thought crossing his face - he was definitely composing a sonnet for Juliet.  I was so thrilled on Friday afternoon to see him and Delia Matthews in the title roles.  They were just sublime together, dancing to each other and for each other.  Delia does not overdo the girl with the doll bit (which probably would have just looked silly given her height) but beautifully conveys a young girl on the verge of womanhood.  

 

Brandon Lawrence was Delia's Paris; he was very romantic (it is quite hard to imagine how Juliet even sees Romeo!) and he genuinely wants Juliet for herself - not as a trophy wife.  He is hurt rather than angered when she does not want him in Act 3.  With his portrayal I could easily see him as a Romeo next time around!  Lachlan Monaghan gave a very intelligent performance as Mercutio, very much the playful lad around town.  Jonathan Caguoia was terrific as Benvolio.  He, Lachlan and William were very well matched as the trio of lads.  Friday afternoon was very special indeed.

 

On Thursday evening Yaoqian Shang gave her second beautiful performance as Juliet, this time with Cesar Morales as her Romeo; another partnership to savour.

 

Friday evening also proved to be highlight for me with Nao Sakuma and Chi Cao showing the way.  They have danced together so much that they can just inhabit the roles and it was a beautiful emotional performance from both of them.

 

So three fabulous performances to end my R&J watching for this season.  BRB are a company on the top of their game; they are also performing R&J in Nottingham and Plymouth.  Do go and see them if you can!

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nottsballetlover

nottsballetlover

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Sorry, no views from Nottingham from me for this. Severe illness made me miss all but one of the 4 Nottm shows I booked and that was a blur.... Oh for some kind of insurance for tickets! I think ATG theatres do. Never mind, health comes first, roll on BRB's June shows in Brum!

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sonik1965

sonik1965

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Sorry, no views from Nottingham from me for this. Severe illness made me miss all but one of the 4 Nottm shows I booked and that was a blur.... Oh for some kind of insurance for tickets! I think ATG theatres do. Never mind, health comes first, roll on BRB's June shows in Brum!

sorry to hear nicola i allways look forward to your reviews on here me & my mum loved thursdays performance in nottingham with delia mathews as juliet & william bracewell as romeo tho i dont think we have converted my dad to ballet & i dont think he will be rushing out to get any future tickets lol :) hope u get well soon

 

 

all the best paul

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cavycapers

cavycapers

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Mimoko Hirato and Joseph Caley did the best 'dead'tomb PDD I have ever seen (and I've seen a fair few!). I guess it helps that she is so tiny. I then had to walk through Plymouth city centre to get back to hotel. Not so lovely! Glad I'm not a yoof anymore.

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cavycapers

cavycapers

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Delia Matthews danced the final R and J in Plymouth last night, and I thought it was really lovely. It was nice to see a tall Juliet, and there were times when she danced as if a young foal, surprised at the length if it's own limbs. I truly believed she was a teenager in the cusp of adulthood. Her sideways approach to the bottle of potion was amazing. All in all, beautifully acted by Delia.

 

If I'd been Juliet, it would have finished by the first interval, as I'd have been very happy with Brandon Lawrence's divine Paris!

 

I'm even getting used to the hairy mandolin players. When they spin around, they look like Christmas trees.

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