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The Great Gatsby- Northern Ballet, Leeds, Sheffield, London (March-May 2023)

MaddieRose
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MaddieRose

MaddieRose

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(Note- there will be spoilers of the plot, just in case anyone wants to avoid them) 


Yesterday I saw the matinee performance of Northern Ballet's The Great Gatsby at the Sheffield Lyceum Theatre. The cast was led by: 

 

Jonathan Hanks- Jay Gatsby 

Sarah Chun- Daisy Buchanan 

Filippo di Vilio- Nick Carraway 

Harry Skoupas- Tom Buchanan 

Alessandra Bramante- Jordan Baker 

Rachael Gillespie- Myrtle Wilson 

Harris Beattie- George Wilson 

Archie Sherman- Young Gatsby 

Julie Nunès- Young Daisy 

 

I thought the performance was absolutely brilliant! I hadn't seen this ballet before, but I know the book well and I was excited to see how they adapted it. I thought they captured the era very effectively, and I liked the merging of traditional ballet steps with the 1920s jazz moves. 
 

The cast were all amazing, and the versatility of the company dances is always amazing. I thought Hanks did really well at getting across the emotion of Jay Gatsby; it must be quite difficult to express it just through dance, especially as in the book Nick in the narrator, and that's not something that can really be done in a wordless art form. I liked their utilisation of Nick in relation to his role in the book. He's there more often than not, but he's not as much of a major focus in scenes as Daisy, Gatsby or Tom. When I read the book I felt his character was there, but was often not a driving force. Fillipo di Vilio was wonderful in his role. 
 

Sarah Chun as Daisy was equally wonderful. Daisy's such an interesting character, and I think Chun captured how stuck Daisy is between Gatsby, her old love, and Tom, her husband. Chun and Hanks were a really good partnership, and they portrayed the reunion of their characters really well. Harry Skoupas as Tom showed the harshness of the character, and the double standards in his beliefs: he has an affair and that's fine, but he intervenes every time Daisy gravitates towards Gatsby and even Nick. One of my favourite moments was when Tom and Daisy's daughter comes in in the Second Act, and Tom picks her up and just looks at Gatsby as if to say- 'I've won'. 
 

I thought Rachael Gillespie as Myrtle was an absolute standout. In the party scenes in the 1st Act she had the free and loose way of dancing that almost defines the Roaring 1920s. This was immediately contrasted with how weak she feels after Tom hits her in front of their guests. As the mechanic George Harris Beattie was really good. The anger he showed in the Second Act, when he finds a fancy bracelet and realises his wife is having an affair, was as strong as the sorrow when he found Myrtle had been hit by a car. 
 

The costumes were amazing, and I think my favourite had to be Jordan's. Jordan's a bit more of a 'New Woman' compared to Daisy, and I liked the fact that her costumes, always slightly different from the rest of the women, reflected that. Alessandra Bramante was really fun in the role, with Jordan being one of the only main characters to not go through a lot of hardship during the events. 
 

Sherman and Nunès, as Young Gatsby and Daisy, had just as strong of a partnership as Hanks and Chun. In the First Act I thought the way Hanks and Sherman moved in the same way was really moving, and then was very happy when Act 2 features the older and younger pairs in sync. The ending scene, with Gatsby and the two Daisy, was absolutely beautiful, and so effective that everyone in the audience was astounded at the final gunshot. 
 

The orchestra was strong, especially the piano playing. The conductor was Lauren Wasynczuk, and she led the orchestra really well, and stayed when someone's phone went off in the front row TWICE! in the first Act (I wasn't chuffed with them, but luckily it was at loud moments). I thought the whole ensemble together were on the best of forms, and the ballet as a whole was really really good. 

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ChrisG

ChrisG

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I saw the last performance of the Sheffield run last night at the Lyceum, combining it with visits to some of my old undergraduate haunts! I saw the same cast as MaddieRose and echo everything she said. I hadn't seen The Great Gatsby before and I wasn't sure if I would like the complete ballet, but I very much loved it! I just thought I'd make a few general observations to add to hers

 

1 Though they haven't been called Northern Ballet Theatre for some time I love how the emphasis is still very much on theatre. Whether they're dancing works by David Nixon, Kenneth Tindall or Cathy Marston each movement the dancers make has a meaning in terms of the overall plot whilst remaining pure dance. They are all such good dance actors, especially in this show Rachael Gillespie as the ill-fated Myrtle and Harris Beattie as her angst-ridden husband George.

 

2 The music made me realise what an undervalued composer Richard Rodney Bennett was. I really liked how they matched the varied styles that he composed in to different types of scene. For the love scenes there were extracts from the romantic scores he wrote for films like Murder on the Orient Express and Nicholas and Alexandra. For the sultry Myrtle and George scenes there were the full-blown jazz workouts of his Jazz Calendar suite, and finally for the dramatic scenes in the second act where the plot well and truly thickened there were extracts from his much more spiky avant-garde concert hall works like the Concerto for Percussion.

 

3 These days Northern Ballet may be Made in Leeds, but in terms of conducting they're very much still Made in Manchester. I really enjoyed the conducting of the latest product of the inestimable Royal Northern College of Music conductor's course to head over the Pennines, Lauren Wasnyczuk, following in the recent footsteps of Jonathan Lo, Daniel Parkinson and Ellie Slorach.

 

4 Memo to self - don't travel 70+ miles to see a show on the night clocks go forward, especially on a night they closed the M56. I think this may have been the first night I actually saw the time flick forward from 1am to 2am on my phone!

Edited by ChrisG
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LinMM

LinMM

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Of course Northern Ballet was initially set up as Northern Dance Theatre and was originally “made in Manchester”

I saw it in its very early days on the Wirral in Port Sunlight at the Gladstone Theatre I think or it may have been in a Hall there I always thought was called Port Sunlight Hall but not sure if that exists any more!! 
Am going to see Great Gatsby in London on May 16th. 

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ChrisG

ChrisG

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6 hours ago, LinMM said:

Of course Northern Ballet was initially set up as Northern Dance Theatre and was originally “made in Manchester”

I saw it in its very early days on the Wirral in Port Sunlight at the Gladstone Theatre I think or it may have been in a Hall there I always thought was called Port Sunlight Hall but not sure if that exists any more!! 

You possibly mean Hulme Hall, and yes that very much still exists. Port Sunlight is such a beautiful place, and the Lady Lever Gallery is a must for anyone who loves the Pre Raphaelites. It’s all about 25 minutes drive up the Wirral from where I live

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J_New

J_New

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3 minutes ago, PeterS said:


injuries in the company means casting confirmation is delayed. i don’t have any further information 

 

Thanks, Peter - at least I know that I haven't missed seeing it then! So I might just have to take the plunge and buy a ticket without knowing the cast - all the performances seem to have sold quite well and I don't want to miss the chance of seeing it.

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Jan McNulty

Jan McNulty

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24 minutes ago, J_New said:

 

 

 

Thanks, Peter - at least I know that I haven't missed seeing it then! So I might just have to take the plunge and buy a ticket without knowing the cast - all the performances seem to have sold quite well and I don't want to miss the chance of seeing it.

 

From my experience it doesn't matter which cast you see.

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San Perregrino

San Perregrino

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49 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:

 

From my experience it doesn't matter which cast you see.

Production-wise that’s true. However, if one wishes to see a particular dancer in a particular role then it does matter. I’ve booked for one date so that I see the show as a whole. I may or may add other dates depending on casting. 

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Jan McNulty

Jan McNulty

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1 hour ago, J_New said:

Good point, Jan - I know they'll all be great! I haven't seen it before, so I'm really looking forward to it.

 

Having had to miss all the performances I had booked at the start of the season I still can't get to London!

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San Perregrino

San Perregrino

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26 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:

 

Having had to miss all the performances I had booked at the start of the season I still can't get to London!

That’s a b**mer. We’ll enjoy them on your behalf and I know the dancers will feel your support as ever even if this time it is from afar.

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Sim

Sim

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I have just been on the SW website to book tickets, and there isn't much left at all, even at the higher prices.  I managed to get two cheapish tickets for the Thursday matinee, but anyone interested in going, I suggest you get onto the SW website asap to try to book something.  

 

Very pleased for Northern Ballet that it is selling so well.

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alison

alison

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1 hour ago, Sim said:

Very pleased for Northern Ballet that it is selling so well.

 

And this despite it being its third showing. Dear Federico, can we have something else in future, please?

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zxDaveM

zxDaveM

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2 hours ago, PeterS said:

Interestingly the Second Circle is marked as sold out for all productions. I wonder if this section is closed off or has been allocated to schools and special interest groups? Curious to know does anyone have a ticket for this section? Thanks

 

I have a ticket for the Friday in row L in the 2nd circle

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Tango Dancer

Tango Dancer

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4 hours ago, alison said:

 

And this despite it being its third showing. Dear Federico, can we have something else in future, please?

 

Looks like your wishes are being answered next season as they've got some other things on the proposed agenda (including Romeo and Juliet - yay).  

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OnePigeon

OnePigeon

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I also have a second circle ticket for a Saturday matinee.  Glad it’s selling well!
 

I’m excited to see Gable’s Romeo and Juliet next season - I’m very intrigued to see what choices he made given how much input he must have had in MacMillan’s version.

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