Cats: Francesca Hayward and Steven McRae to star in film version

[Quintus]

Is there a rival production about Dogs that half of ENB can run off and join?

[bangorballetboy]

1 minute ago, Quintus said:

Is there a rival production about Dogs that half of ENB can run off and join?

 

"sit up, lie down, roll over, play dead..."

[Fiz]

I got the wrong Graham, Ian, and I would be grateful to the admins if they could delete that comment as I see someone else had already commented on it. I saw this morning on his Facebook page that Henri St Clair is touchingly proud of his wife as he has every right to be.

[Richard LH]

13 hours ago, jmhopton said:

Yes I would love to see an Osipova /Coralles recording.

 

No!! Please keep Takada, plus I suggest Vadim (see this lovely rehearsal) 

 

 

or with whoever, for this live streaming and any related released recording.

 

She has danced this before to acclaim https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/don-quixote-royal-opera-house-london-review-akane-takada-dazzles-as-natalia-osipova-suffers-on-stage-9939671.html 

 

The younger principal girls have had little enough opportunity for exposure in this way, as discussed on the Forum previously. 

Edited November 9, 2018 by Richard LH

[Ian Macmillan]

Fiz:  No problem, all tidied up now.

[capybara]

2 hours ago, Richard LH said:

 

No!! Please keep Takada, plus I suggest Vadim (see this lovely rehearsal) 

 

 

I would totally agree, Richard if it were not for the little problem of the schedule by which we booked for DonQ:

15th Feb.: Nunez/Muntagirov

16th Feb: Takada/McRae

19th Feb: Takada/McRae (cinema relay)

20th Feb: Nunez/Muntagirov

 

But, whatever happens, there is no way that Takada should be replaced for the cinema.

[LinMM]

Will Hay now get his chance?.....just a thought ....and they are dancing Two Pigeons together 😀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀⭐️⭐️

[LinMM]

Wasn't thinking ....as its a cinema performance it would have to be  principal performing....so Corrales .....Muntagirov  possibly even Campbell? 

[JohnS]

30 minutes ago, LinMM said:

it would have to be  principal performing....so Corrales

 

I don't think Corrales is a principal - yet (unless you've heard anything about promotions mid season).

[Fiz]

Thank you, Ian.

[LinMM]

I thought Corrales was taken on as a Principal with the Royal as he was a Principal with ENB

[bridiem]

6 minutes ago, LinMM said:

I thought Corrales was taken on as a Principal with the Royal as he was a Principal with ENB

 

No - he's a first soloist.

[LinMM]

Well that is interesting then as he has taken a drop in "standing" as it were to join the Royal....he must have been very keen then.

To me he is then every inch a Principal in the making. 

He also does seem to be doing quite a lot of Principal roles this season. Is he doing more than other First soloists?

[LinMM]

Also that means Hay is still in with a chance then as he is a first soloist too!

[bridiem]

41 minutes ago, LinMM said:

Well that is interesting then as he has taken a drop in "standing" as it were to join the Royal....he must have been very keen then.

To me he is then every inch a Principal in the making. 

He also does seem to be doing quite a lot of Principal roles this season. Is he doing more than other First soloists?

 

I reckon he's doing more than some principals...

[capybara]

Let's think about this..........James Hay has not been cast as Basilio so it is surely very unlikely that he would suddenly be given the role AND the cinema relay in one big jump, and with only one show before the broadcast too.

 

I am sure that I've heard Kevin O'Hare explain that there is an expectation that the cinema audiences will see Principals and that, to balance this, he likes to field Soloists for Insight relays.

[LinMM]

Looks like Campbell or Ball then! 

I think she has danced with Campbell before at least.

[alison]

It's not uncommon for dancers from other (British, especially) companies to drop in "rank" when joining the Royal Ballet: Sarah Lamb, Tamara Rojo, Alexander Campbell all did, and it doesn't seem to have harmed their careers. I think they usually end up at an appropriate level  

[Esmeralda]

9 hours ago, capybara said:

Let's think about this..........James Hay has not been cast as Basilio so it is surely very unlikely that he would suddenly be given the role AND the cinema relay in one big jump, and with only one show before the broadcast too.

 

I am sure that I've heard Kevin O'Hare explain that there is an expectation that the cinema audiences will see Principals and that, to balance this, he likes to field Soloists for Insight relays.

 

Interesting. Would absolutely love this with seeing more of the Soloists in rehearsals but this season was - until now - mainly Principals. Though to be fair, the season is young and we had only 3 of them, but still only one soloist and one first soloist. Except I have forgotten about someone. Last season we really had some fantastic rehearsals with Soloists/First soloists like in the Nutcracker and even First Artists/Arists for Alice so I would really love it if O`Hare would give more time to the lower ranks in the Insights!

 

 

 

[Lynette H]

14 hours ago, capybara said:

 

I am sure that I've heard Kevin O'Hare explain that there is an expectation that the cinema audiences will see Principals 

 

 

Perhaps, just as for The Unknown Soldier,  where Naghdi took over Hayward's performances, there may be a similar style swap here with other casts rather than giving the broadcast to someone not previously cast. 

[Fonty]

I know someone who performed in the stage show.  There, the casting directors were looking for singers who could dance.  While it is a wonderful opportunity for those that have been cast, it seems odd to me that the film is casting dancers who are not exactly famous for their singing talents.  

 

I would have thought people who specialised in musical theatre would be more appropriate.  People such as the Strallen sisters, who seem to pop up all over the place in these sorts of shows.  I only mention them because they are the nieces of Bonnie Langford.  Who was, of course, in the original show. 🙂

[serenade]

18 hours ago, LinMM said:

Looks like Campbell or Ball then! 

I think she has danced with Campbell before at least.

 

I really hope Campbell gets it but I think it's unlikely.  Considering the hand he's been dealt recently I'm surprised they even cast him as Basilio at all!! 😡 

 

But my ideal would be Osipova/Corrales for the cinema broadcast.  I know he's first soloist now but maybe he'll be promoted by the time the cinema comes along haha!

 

As for Cats...I think it's great Hayward, McRae and Cowley are cast.  I love Cats and I'll definitely see it but with slight trepidation because I'm really not a fan of McGregor at all...who knows what direction he's going to take the choreography in.

[Lizbie1]

1 hour ago, Fonty said:

I know someone who performed in the stage show.  There, the casting directors were looking for singers who could dance.  While it is a wonderful opportunity for those that have been cast, it seems odd to me that the film is casting dancers who are not exactly famous for their singing talents.  

 

 

I'm not a fan of modern musical theatre singing, but in terms of the technique required there's a big difference between singing 6 or more live performances a week for a very long run and singing in the highly controlled environment of a recording studio. That might explain it.

[Fonty]

19 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

I'm not a fan of modern musical theatre singing, but in terms of the technique required there's a big difference between singing 6 or more live performances a week for a very long run and singing in the highly controlled environment of a recording studio. That might explain it.

 

Possibly.  Presumably they had to sing for their audition.  Did I see somewhere that Idris Elba is also in it?  In that case, I will definitely go and see it. 👍

Edited November 11, 2018 by Fonty

[Pas de Quatre]

Well, as so many roles in famous filmed musicals were not sung by the actor or dancer at all,  but lip synced to the recorded score, I can't any reason why it may not be the same this time.

[bangorballetboy]

16 minutes ago, Pas de Quatre said:

Well, as so many roles in famous filmed musicals were not sung by the actor or dancer at all,  but lip synced to the recorded score, I can't any reason why it may not be the same this time.

 

Things have moved on quite a bit since Marnie Nixon’s days!

[Sunrise]

3 hours ago, Fonty said:

I know someone who performed in the stage show.  There, the casting directors were looking for singers who could dance.  While it is a wonderful opportunity for those that have been cast, it seems odd to me that the film is casting dancers who are not exactly famous for their singing talents.  

 

I would have thought people who specialised in musical theatre would be more appropriate

 

50 minutes ago, Pas de Quatre said:

Well, as so many roles in famous filmed musicals were not sung by the actor or dancer at all,  but lip synced to the recorded score, I can't any reason why it may not be the same this time.

 

The Cats director, Tom Hooper, also directed the film of Les Miserables, and filled his cast with mostly actors who could sing rather than musical theatre stars, presumably to raise the profile of the film. I thought that it mostly worked fine and even though the singing wasn't as powerful as what you'd hear onstage (I was terribly disappointed by Hugh Jackman), it was still really interesting for me (some thought painful) to see actors like Russell Crowe sing, if not well, then still very emotionally. They can still put their own stamp on it.

 

The cast also made a huge thing of not lip syncing, but singing live onset to give a more authentic performance - I'll be curious to see if the same goes for Cats, especially given the amount of dancing involved!

 

I can't wait to see Idris Elba in this!

Edited November 11, 2018 by Sunrise

[bangorballetboy]

11 minutes ago, Sunrise said:

 

 

The Cats director, Tom Hooper, also directed the film of Les Miserables, and filled his cast with mostly actors who could sing rather than musical theatre stars, presumably to raise the profile of the film. I thought that it mostly worked fine and even though the singing wasn't as powerful as what you'd hear onstage (I was terribly disappointed by Hugh Jackman), it was still really interesting for me (some thought painful) to see actors like Russell Crowe sing, if not well, then still very emotionally. They can still put their own stamp on it.

 

The cast also made a huge thing of not lip syncing, but singing live onset to give a more authentic performance - I'll be curious to see if the same goes for Cats, especially given the amount of dancing involved!

 

I can't wait to see Idris Elba in this!

 

But Hugh Jackman has had quite a career in stage musicals - he won a Tony for The Boy from Oz and was nominated for an Olivier for Oklahoma!.

[Sunrise]

19 minutes ago, bangorballetboy said:

But Hugh Jackman has had quite a career in stage musicals - he won a Tony for The Boy from Oz and was nominated for an Olivier for Oklahoma!.

 

I know, that's why I was so disappointed, I knew he was an amazing singer and performer! But I felt that in "Who am I" in what should have been one of the most powerful moments in the film, he seemed to "say" his lines rather than sing them, so it sounded more "realistic" but it really destroyed the song for me (I'm probably too attached to the way it "should" be sung). By contrast, Russell Crowe doesn't have a musical theatre voice at all and was never going to rival the professionals, but the way he sang "Stars" was straightforward and heartfelt and it worked for me.

 

In any case, I think that acting for a camera on a set requires very different skills to those needed on stage so it makes sense to me to fill the cast with as much acting talent as you can pack in! I mean Judy Dench, Ian McKellen, Idris Elba, etc etc!

Edited November 11, 2018 by Sunrise

[capybara]

20 hours ago, alison said:

It's not uncommon for dancers from other (British, especially) companies to drop in "rank" when joining the Royal Ballet: Sarah Lamb, Tamara Rojo, Alexander Campbell all did, and it doesn't seem to have harmed their careers. I think they usually end up at an appropriate level  

 

Interestingly, Rojo was initially hired by the RB as a First Soloist but became a Principal before the start of her first season because a vacancy arose, or something.

Was Alexandra Ansanelli another dancer who took a drop in rank to join the RB? Perhaps even Leanne Benjamin?

Not so, however, were Kish (2010), Golding (2014) and, before them, Bonelli and Samodurov.

 

William Bracewell came across from being a BRB Soloist to a Soloist contract with the RB, but was promoted after only one year.

 

In the case of Corrales, it makes sense for him to get to know the RB rep. by dancing soloist roles (e.g. Hungarian Officer in Mayerling) as well as principal ones. Moreover, following his promotion to Principal at ENB, he only danced for about three months before being felled by injury, poor man.

 

 

[Sunrise]

1 minute ago, capybara said:

Was Alexandra Ansanelli another dancer who took a drop in rank to join the RB? Perhaps even Leanne Benjamin?

 

I think that's correct with Ansanelli. Sarah Lamb too? Also Cojocaru went from principal to go back in the corps! A drop in rank seems to be worth the risk!

[graemew]

4 hours ago, Fonty said:

 

Possibly.  Presumably they had to sing for their audition.  Did I see somewhere that Idris Elba is also in it?  In that case, I will definitely go and see it. 👍

 

Frankie is a very talented lady - I bet she can sing! 

 

Steve McRae needs to be wary about visits to the vets! 

[MissMonk]

I'll admit I'm very  happy about this news but at the same time I'm kind of annoyed at it because I was really looking forward to Don Q. Surely this has been something that's been in pre-production and casting for a while. I would understand why they would keep them on regular performances until announced, but a cinema relay must have been planned a while ago. I'll probably feel less annoyed once its announced McRae's been taken off Don Q. But for now he's still there and in limbo. I do look forward to the movie though. It was my Grandmothers favorite musical.