ENB Nutcracker at London Coliseum Dec 2021-Jan 2022

[Emeralds]

A heartfelt toi toi toi and chookas to the entire ENB company and orchestra, returning to one of my fave Nutcracker venues after having had the misfortune of having last Christmas’s performances shut down by Covid restrictions. 

 

Also a hearty “Enjoy the show!” to forum members going tonight. Please tell all, including whether they managed to check all Covid passes/lateral flow results in time, without queues stretching to Dover (haha). Please don’t forget to give extra time for travel if you are coming from outside central London, as TFL and rail companies said there are lots of cancelled services due to staff Covid and other illnesses.

 

Curtain call photos (if you are quick enough for ENB’s speedy “blink and you miss them” curtain calls) will be especially impressive and appreciated! 😀

Edited December 16, 2021 by Emeralds

[zxDaveM]

3 hours ago, Emeralds said:

Curtain call photos (if you are quick enough for ENB’s speedy “blink and you miss them” curtain calls) will be especially impressive and appreciated! 😀

 

...and you avoid the wrath of the curmudgedly Coli ushers

[Emeralds]

Just now, zxDaveM said:

 

...and you avoid the wrath of the curmudgedly Coli ushers

The speed of the bows nowadays prevent the ushers from doing anything. 😊 I barely have time to snap one before the lights come up. I notice they no longer present flowers/bouquets onstage either. Not sure if it was decided by Ms Rojo or another ENB boss (? to save time and hence overtime costs?).

 

I try to get seats that are not near the ushers’ positions and so far no usher has ever come down and said anything.

 

PS I noticed that when they performed Wheeldon’s Cinderella at the Royal Albert Hall in 2019, there were signs encouraging us to take photos at curtain calls if we wished but not during the show, countersigned at the bottom by Tamara herself, if I recall correctly. 

[Dawnstar]

2 hours ago, zxDaveM said:

...and you avoid the wrath of the curmudgedly Coli ushers

 

The last times I was at the Coliseum for both ENO, in November 2019, & ENB, in January 2020, I asked in the intervals if curtain call photos would be okay & on both occasions the ushers, who were very pleasant, said it was fine. So maybe they've relaxed their policy in recent years.

[Lizbie1]

 

3 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

The last times I was at the Coliseum for both ENO, in November 2019, & ENB, in January 2020, I asked in the intervals if curtain call photos would be okay & on both occasions the ushers, who were very pleasant, said it was fine. So maybe they've relaxed their policy in recent years.

 

I think the surtitles screen now actively encourages taking pictures while the performance itself isn't running, at least during ENO shows.

[capybara]

2 hours ago, Emeralds said:

I notice they no longer present flowers/bouquets onstage either. Not sure if it was decided by Ms Rojo or another ENB boss (? to save time and hence overtime costs?).

 

The absence of flowers on stage dates from within Tamara Rojo’s time as AD.

 

However, the rapid ‘company bow and off’ approach to curtain calls predates her.

[San Perregrino]

The curtain call for last night’s opening night at the Coliseum was relaxed and well deserved. A sumptuous production beautifully danced by everyone onstage adult or child. It was a joyous evening. A perfect antidote to the woes of the world. The relief, both on and offstage, that something worked so hard for, by so many, for so long, had been achieved was palpable. Erina Takahashi shone delicately as Clara/Sugarplum whilst Francesco Gabriele Frola and Aitor Arrieta excelled as Nephew/Nutcracker/Sugarprince. 

ps I forgot to mention the orchestra conducted sensitively by Alexander Ingram  and the icing on the cake, there was a live choir too.

 

Edited December 17, 2021 by prs59

[Emeralds]

4 hours ago, prs59 said:

The curtain call for last night’s opening night at the Coliseum was relaxed and well deserved. A sumptuous production beautifully danced by everyone onstage adult or child. It was a joyous evening. A perfect antidote to the woes of the world. The relief, both on and offstage, that something worked so hard for, by so many, for so long, had been achieved was palpable. Erina Takahashi shone delicately as Clara/Sugarplum whilst Francesco Gabriele Frola and Aitor Arrieta excelled as Nephew/Nutcracker/Sugarprince. 

ps I forgot to mention the orchestra conducted sensitively by Alexander Ingram  and the icing on the cake, there was a live choir too.

 

Lovely review and wonderful pictures of Erina, Francesco, Aitor and the company, prs59! Thank you for sharing them.

 

I think I almost could feel the relief from many miles away too- I felt so sorry for them not even being able to have a first night last year, unlike RB who had a few performances, no live stream facilities available in autumn, and they were very generous to put their show on YouTube for families and fans for free. So pleased for them and am looking forward to our shows. Glad to hear they were able to fit space for a choir to sing in person and that the orchestra did well under Alexander Ingram- he’s been very good at the performances that I saw and heard him conduct.

 

Did the Covid pass and test result checks take very long? Last last winter the queues snaked up St Martins Lane and around towards Charing Cross- and that was just bag and ticket checks. 

Edited December 17, 2021 by Emeralds

[San Perregrino]

5 hours ago, Emeralds said:

Lovely review and wonderful pictures of Erina, Francesco, Aitor and the company, prs59! Thank you for sharing them.

 

I think I almost could feel the relief from many miles away too- I felt so sorry for them not even being able to have a first night last year, unlike RB who had a few performances, no live stream facilities available in autumn, and they were very generous to put their show on YouTube for families and fans for free. So pleased for them and am looking forward to our shows. Glad to hear they were able to fit space for a choir to sing in person and that the orchestra did well under Alexander Ingram- he’s been very good at the performances that I saw and heard him conduct.

 

Did the Covid pass and test result checks take very long? Last last winter the queues snaked up St Martins Lane and around towards Charing Cross- and that was just bag and ticket checks. 

There were security staff checking covid passes before bag check and ticket check so it didn’t add any extra waiting time. To be honest if more patrons thought in advance to have their Covid pass and tickets to show on arrival the queues would move twice as quickly. Insider tip is that though there is a queue each way along the pavement, the shortest queue is neither of these but the one in the middle to enter through the middle doors. I had no bag with me and was through into the lobby in less than 3 minutes 😉 

[Emeralds]

Thanks, prs59! Good tips! 

8 minutes ago, prs59 said:

There were security staff checking covid passes before bag check and ticket check so it didn’t add any extra waiting time. To be honest if more patrons thought in advance to have their Covid pass and tickets to show on arrival the queues would move twice as quickly. Insider tip is that though there is a queue each way along the pavement, the shortest queue is neither of these but the one in the middle to enter through the middle doors. I had no bag with me and was through into the lobby in less than 3 minutes 😉 

 

[capybara]

The ENB Nutcracker matinee started 15 minutes late with Tamara Rojo coming out front of curtain to apologise. The Company had had COVID -related issues to sort out and they were doing the best they could.

 

She added thanks to the audience for coming and said, “We will keep going for as long as we can.”

 

🥲

[LinMM]

Gosh it really does sound bad up in London at the moment but all credit to ENB to keep going until the very last minute!! 
I bet Tamara is keeping fingers crossed about Raymonda ....even if theatres are still open will there be enough dancers to cope with such a big production. 
 

Here in Brighton case numbers were well above London for the past three weeks or so but are now going down again ( from end of last week ....so perhaps some light at end of tunnel. 

[maryrosesatonapin]

I really feel for Rojo re the uncertainty around Raymonda - it is such a huge thing for her.  Enough to make her ill with worry I should think!

[Emeralds]

4 hours ago, capybara said:

The ENB Nutcracker matinee started 15 minutes late with Tamara Rojo coming out front of curtain to apologise. The Company had had COVID -related issues to sort out and they were doing the best they could.

 

She added thanks to the audience for coming and said, “We will keep going for as long as we can.”

 

🥲

Thanks for the update, capybara. Wow- the ENB Nutcracker runs are always physically demanding on the dancers even when there are no viral illnesses running through the country. Fingers crossed they will be okay and be able to put on all their shows. Also hope they are prepping a lot of their very talented junior ranked dancers to be able to cover at short notice if both the original cast member(s) and understudies are unwell. 

[San Perregrino]

Erina Takahashi posted on social media how grateful she was that Joe Caley had recovered swiftly enough from Covid to dance with her after his having to withdraw from opening night. Joe Caley also posted.

[capybara]

I should end the day by saying what a fabulous performance ENB gave this afternoon. Led by Katja Kaniukova, Aitor Arrieta and Erik Woolhouse in the main roles (all wonderful), there were also stand out performances from Precious Adams (Louise and Lead Snowflake),  and Emily Suzuki and Francesca Velicu (Lead Flowers). If the corps numbers were full of substitutes it didn't show at all. The energy level of the whole ensemble was high octane - bravo to them all.

[CCL]

Hoping and praying I’ll be able to see ENB on the 27th…

[Emeralds]

 

21 hours ago, prs59 said:

Erina Takahashi posted on social media how grateful she was that Joe Caley had recovered swiftly enough from Covid to dance with her after his having to withdraw from opening night. Joe Caley also posted.

Well done to all the substitute dancers for stepping in so well! That’s three shows in two different leading roles that Aitor Arrieta has done in less than a week- and he’s scheduled to cover Ken Saruhashi again tomorrow....hope he’s getting enough rest and good meals!  Great to hear Joe Caley has made a good recovery with no serious complications, and was fit enough to dance. 👍

 

i have bookings after Christmas and am quietly hopeful and hoping that the company will be able to perform them, but will just plan something alternative to do in case we travel all the way in on (potentially) disrupted trains to find the performance cancelled at the last minute by illness or government restrictions.  

 

By the way, prs59, did ENB do digital cast lists and programmes like they did at the Royal Festival Hall summer performances, or are they back to printed programmes with paper cast lists now?  

[capybara]

1 hour ago, Emeralds said:

By the way, prs59, did ENB do digital cast lists and programmes like they did at the Royal Festival Hall summer performances, or are they back to printed programmes with paper cast lists now?  

 

There are printed cast sheets available free of charge and the usual kind of printed programme as well.

[Emeralds]

Basically, if one couldn’t get tickets for a certain cast, just sit tight as with the substitutions and Covid/injury/illness having to be overcome, there’s a good chance you could actually end up getting  the cast you wanted but wasn’t listed for. 😊

 

It’s a bit like the “revolving door “ situation my musician friend described in the orchestras- you catch Covid despite following rules, getting vaccinated when it’s your turn, masking up (unless the impresario/conductor doesn’t want the musicians to). So you feel terrible that you are being substituted while you recover in self isolation. The moment you recover, other colleagues and understudies have caught Covid, so it’s your turn to replace them! 

 

Fingers crossed ENB have enough well dancers, musicians and backstage staff to get through all this. 🍀🤞

[capybara]

This afternoon’s wonderful main cast is intact: Shiori Kase ❤️ Jeffrey Cirio 🔥 and Daniel McCormick 💥 but there are substitutions elsewhere.

[Sabine0308]

ENB just cancelled all Nutcracker performances until December 28. Source: their Instagram account. So sorry for everyone.😢😢

Link:

https://www.instagram.com/englishnationalballet/p/CX8r9E2KSsf/?utm_medium=copy_link

Edited December 26, 2021 by Sabine0308

[LinMM]

Yes just got an email from them just the general info about the cancelled performances as am not booked to attend.
Disappointing but partly expected I think.  

Still waiting for Boris to make some sort of announcement ....or not....so can go ahead and book Raymonda....or not! 

[Irmgard]

It was wonderful to be back in the Coliseum for the opening night of English National Ballet’s “Nutcracker” on 16 December, and it hardly felt possible that this was the first time the company has performed a full-length classical ballet, and in front of a live audience, for twenty-three months, such was the assuredness of the performance.  Having seen Peter Wright’s production by the Royal Ballet a couple of weeks previously, not having seen it live for many years, I was struck by how much there is to enjoy in Wayne Eagling’s production: the snow scene with skaters (although the men probably knock each other over once too often), the battle scene, the beautiful dance of the snowflakes (from a 20^th century Russian production) accompanied by a live choir of children from Tring, Eagling’s clever martial arts take on the Chinese dance, the exhilarating Waltz of the Flowers and, above all, the lovely pas de deux/trois for Clara and the wounded Nutcracker at the end of Act 1 to some of the most glorious music in Tchaikovsky’s score, and the joyous pas de trois/quatre at the start of Act II for Clara, the Nutcracker and Drosselmeyer.  The dancers’ joy at being back on the Coliseum stage was palpable, and the orchestra responded with a sublime reading of the score under the baton of Alex Ingram, as Maestro Sutherland is currently in Munich.  I was glad to see that the antics of the grown-ups in the party scene had been toned down from the last couple of pre-Covid seasons, and it was lovely to see the gracious and graceful Stina Quagebeur as the Mother, demonstrating the beautiful style with which Eagling originally imbued the first dance.  I have seen the child Clara and Freddie danced and acted better than the two who took the roles at this performance but there was no doubting their professionalism when the head of the nutcracker toy fell off long before Freddie had had a chance to pull it off: they improvised very well, so that anyone seeing the production for the first time (probably most of the audience in this case!), would not have known this was not meant to happen.  I booked my ticket months ago, just for the joy of being back in the Coliseum, and when casting was finally announced I was delighted to discover I would be seeing the eternally youthful Erina Takahashi as Clara/Sugar Plum Fairy, celebrating her 25^th season with the company and just as magical as when I saw her début as Michael Corder’s Cinderella when she must have been barely out of her teens!  She was partnered by the always elegant Francesco Gabriele Frola, replacing Joe Caley who was self-isolating, and their grand pas de deux in Act II definitely lived up to its name, showcasing their technical brilliance and artistry.  Aitor Arrieta was the Nutcracker, who dances the pas de deux with Clara in Act I, and, as always with this wonderful artist, he managed to transcend the mask to display genuine pathos with his injury and a heart-warming devotion to Clara.  In fact, casting him with Frola, it was very easy to believe the Nutcracker morphing into the Nephew/Prince as they both have such a charismatic stage presence. Presiding over events was the benevolent Drosselmeyer of Fabian Reimair, with the very cheeky Mouse King of William Simmonds making the most of the comic moments and certainly not outstaying his welcome in Act II. Of the divertissements in Act II, I noticed that there is no longer a male dancer in the Arabian dance, leaving just the four females, and I have to say it did not quite gel for me, as having the male dancer in the mix allowed for some rather spectacular partnering.  Otherwise, there was a very lively Spanish dance from Jung ah Choi, Francesca Velicu and Daniel McCormick, a particularly vivacious Chinese dance from Katja Khaniukova, with her firecracker fouetté turns, accompanied by Van Le Ngoc and Victor Prigent (and I notice she is the only female who has literally high-kicked away the scimitars of the men in the Coda in the four performances I have now seen), a bravura Russian dance from Noam Durand, and a particularly lovely Waltz of the Flowers led by Precious Adams, Emma Hawes, Skyler Martin and Erik Woolhouse.  But the evening rightly belonged to one of the company’s crown jewels – the glorious Erina Takahashi – and how wonderful to see that fabulous, undiminished technique of hers after the recent waste of her talents in “Creature”.

 

I had a double-show day on Monday 20 December.  The matinée started fifteen minutes late and was preceded by a heartfelt speech from Tamara Rojo, explaining that a lot of the dancers had tested positive in the morning and therefore they had had to recast and rejig some numbers to ensure the performance went ahead.  She thanked the audience for being there (from being a sold-out show, there were a number of empty seats where people had reacted to the omicron crisis) and for our continued support.  No doubt spurred on by the enthusiastic applause following Miss Rojo’s speech, the company, both onstage and in the pit, gave a sparkling performance, eliciting tumultuous applause, especially at the end of each Act. The performance was notable for several débuts, including a very debonair Drosselmeyer from Giorgio Garrett, an exceptionally well danced and comical Mouse King from William Yamada (making a welcome return to the stage, having been off since the Emerging Dancer competition in September 2020), and a very stylish Lead Flower from Emily Suzuki who had caught my eye the previous Thursday for the exquisiteness of her dancing as one of the corps of snowflakes and who brings a ballerina sheen to everything she does.  New to me was the Lead Snowflake of Rebecca Blenkinsop (it may have been her début, but the cast sheet – a real one and not a virtual one! – did not mark it) who was elegance personified.  Also new to me was Shunhei Fuchiyama in the relatively small role of the older Freddie, who only appeared in the battle scene but who was noticeable for his very clean technique.  In the divertissements, it was good to see Pedro Lapetra continuing to dance up a storm in Spanish, accompanied by a sparkling Emilia Cadorin and Chloe Keneally – the first time I have seen this lovely dancer emerge from the corps de ballet.  Noam Durand replaced Rentaro Nakaaki in a pared down version of the Russian dance, being accompanied by only two ladies instead of the usual four, and this was the only noticeable adjustment in the whole performance, although I am sure there must have been a number of other replacements.  Erik Woolhouse gave very strong support as the Nutcracker, especially in the Act I pas de deux.  Aitor Arrieta, replacing an injured Ken Saruhashi at relatively short notice, was a very gallant Nephew in the party scene, with his heart-melting smile as he partnered the charming child Clara of Amelia Clark (although I was sorry to note that both Claras I saw seem to have been coached to make the first infatuated walk towards the Nephew rather pantomimic instead of the naturalness I remember from previous years).  Clara/Sugar Plum Fairy was the exquisite Katja Khaniukova who brings a wealth of tiny detail to her character, along with her flawless technique.  She totally engaged in the battle scene and then brought great tenderness to the pas de deux with the wounded Nutcracker.  A magical moment for me was when she did the simplest of port de bras beside the kneeling Nutcracker, perfectly expressing the soulfulness of the music, before her bourrées backward around him which literally shimmered.  In the pas de trois with him and Drosselmeyer at the beginning of Act II, her joie de vivre was infectious and she looked as light as thistledown (as I heard an audience member remark) as they swung her around.  Whenever I watch Khaniukova in the grand pas de deux, I feel I am transported to the Mariinsky and am watching a ballerina in the great Imperial Russian tradition, and this was especially so at this performance with Arrieta, as conductor Daniel Parkinson who so far had given an excellent reading of the score became a bit self-indulgent, no doubt carried away by the gorgeousness of the music, and took the adage of the pas de deux at a very stately pace but Arrieta and Khaniukova are so innately musical that they filled out every phrase and gave a performance of such rare majesty that the audience spontaneously started to applaud rapturously some time before the finishing pose.  I have long admired the elegance and technical beauty of Arrieta’s dancing, and his solo reflected both these attributes, with his forward diagonal of cabrioles derrières particularly breathtaking for their lightness and precision.  Khaniukova started her delicious solo with the most delicate walks en pointe which seemed to float on air.  There is a softness about her in adagio dancing, especially her port de bras, which perfectly disguises her steely technique.  The delicacy of her footwork also made another magical moment for me when she bourréed backwards, weaving upstage, perfectly matching the scintillatingly delicate celeste accompaniment from company treasure Julia Richter. In the coda, both dancers gave explosive yet always tasteful displays of their technical brilliance, with Arrieta’s stunning leaps and turns, and Khaniukova’s immaculate fouetté turns which always elicit huge applause from the audience.  In fact, at their next performance on 22 December, which I also attended, she decided to do single fouetté turns in double time, instead of doing double turns, and the effect was so electrifying that the audience broke into applause halfway through.  It was one of those moments when I found myself wondering “Did I really just see that?”!  After all the uncertainty over the start of the performance, I concur with some people who had travelled from Sheffield to see it, that this was a performance well worth waiting for – and more!

 

The evening performance (sadly, more empty seats) also had some cast changes, most notably Fabian Reimair replacing Junor Souza and repeating his wonderfully genial Drosselmeyer. Luckily the leading trio of Shiori Kase, Jeffrey Cirio and Daniel McCormick was unchanged.  In the Act II divertissements, the Mirlitons pas de deux for me will forever be associated with the Louise of Ksenia Ovsyanick on whom Wayne Eagling created it during his first major revamp of the production for its second or third season.  Ovsyanick had that rare quality of demureness and other-worldliness which gave an ethereality to this butterfly-inspired piece, and I was delighted to see that Emma Hawes gave it much the same qualities in a charming performance, sympathetically partnered by Reimair. Erik Woolhouse danced up a storm in Russian and I greatly admired the lovely Angela Wood with her radiant smile as a Lead Flower.  The partnership of Shiori Kase and Jeffrey Cirio was ideal, as they both dance with quiet elegance but are capable of fireworks when required and both are possessed of great charm which carries to the very back of the vast auditorium. Thus the adage of the grand pas de deux was danced with a heady mixture of sweetness and grandeur.  It was wonderful to see Cirio soar into the air in his solo, after his choreographically earthbound Creature in September, showing what an amazingly versatile artist he is, and his beautifully clean landings were a joy to behold.  Kase’s solo was as delicate as spun sugar, with her dainty, filigree footwork, and then of course, she brought the house down with her stunning fouetté turns in the coda. All in all, this was a magical day at the theatre in very trying times and I was therefore very sorry to hear that, after coping magnificently last week in keeping the performances going, the company took the heartbreaking decision on Boxing Day to cancel all performances until 29 December due to the unprecedented number of positive tests yesterday morning.  Let us hope they can start again on Wednesday so that others have the chance to experience the magic!

[FionaM]

@Irmgard thank you for this detailed account … so much information and also your emotional reaction, it made me feel as if I was there …. and as well as wishing I had been!  Thank you 🙏 

[capybara]

Thank you, Irmgard. I was fortunate to see all three of the casts you reviewed in such lovely (and loving) detail and could not agree more.

The high standards achieved and the joy emitted, not just from each of the stunning leading trios but from the whole ensemble, is something to celebrate and treasure.

And to be able to do this when everyone's backs were up against the Omicron wall is nothing short of remarkable.

I had a wonderful time as an audience member and we can only hope that the doors will open again soon so that ENB's artists can continue to enchant children and adults alike.

[Sabine0308]

Wonderful review, thank you @Irmgard. How nice that you could see 3 performances! 💖💖💖

[Irmgard]

3 hours ago, Sabine0308 said:

Wonderful review, thank you @Irmgard. How nice that you could see 3 performances! 💖💖💖

I was actually lucky enough to see four performances but the fourth was the same cast as the second performance I saw, hence I just mentioned it very briefly ☺️

[LinMM]

On Dec 20th on this thread I said that Brighton Covid cases had started to recede again after being high in two previous weeks. 
However I just checked today and they’ve doubled again since then 😳 

This is now the highest number of cases I’ve seen in Brighton since the pandemic began in March 2020 😢

Am desperately clinging to the hope that hospitalisations won’t start jumping up now with Omicron supposedly milder etc etc. 
 

However am now really worried that with no measures at all in place at the earliest now realistically probably Jan 3rd that restrictions will end up coming in quite heavily when they do. 
I really fear for Raymonda now. 
 

[bridiem]

2 minutes ago, LinMM said:

On Dec 20th on this thread I said that Brighton Covid cases had started to recede again after being high in two previous weeks. 
However I just checked today and they’ve doubled again since then 😳 

This is now the highest number of cases I’ve seen in Brighton since the pandemic began in March 2020 😢

Am desperately clinging to the hope that hospitalisations won’t start jumping up now with Omicron supposedly milder etc etc. 
 

However am now really worried that with no measures at all in place at the earliest now realistically probably Jan 3rd that restrictions will end up coming in quite heavily when they do. 
I really fear for Raymonda now. 
 

 

All the evidence so far is that hospitalisations are not jumping up. So I feel more optimistic than for a while.

[Guest oncnp]

16 minutes ago, bridiem said:

 

All the evidence so far is that hospitalisations are not jumping up. So I feel more optimistic than for a while.

 

and of the inpatient admissions, it's unclear how many are for COVID v. with COVID. 

Edited December 29, 2021 by oncnp

[capybara]

1 hour ago, bridiem said:

From ENB Twitter: Performances of Nutcracker are resuming today at the @LondonColiseum. Casting update: Jeffrey Cirio replaces Isaac Hernández as the Nephew/Prince this evening. Please see our website for the most up to date daily casting: https://ballet.org.uk/nutcracker

It’s super news that ENB is back on stage.

 

[LinMM]

I suppose I just don’t trust this Gov!! 
That as soon as New Year comes then suddenly we get heavy restrictions coming in as we have had Christmas and the New year with virtually none!! 
It would of course be great if it turns out Omicron means less hospital cases etc as it would also mean we’ve then very likely turned a corner with the pandemic which would be great news 🙂

Im just not convinced we are going to get away with it completely just now when the rest of England catches up with London etc. 
If England were to introduce the same rules as Wales for theatres would that mean theatres like the Coli would have to go back to socially distanced performances?