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Royal Ballet Cinderella March/April 2023

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Dawnstar

Dawnstar

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I nearly had a heart attack just now when I checked the ROH website & saw "Cast Change" against tonight's performance. Mercifully it's Mendizabel replacing Storm-Jensen as the Fairy Godmother & not anything involving Morera! I mean, I would have liked to see Storm-Jensen but there will be other future opportunities whereas this is my only chance ever to see Morera as Cinderella, & I'm still gutted at having missed her as Mary Vetsera when she was injured last November.

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Sim

Sim

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26 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

I nearly had a heart attack just now when I checked the ROH website & saw "Cast Change" against tonight's performance. Mercifully it's Mendizabel replacing Storm-Jensen as the Fairy Godmother & not anything involving Morera! I mean, I would have liked to see Storm-Jensen but there will be other future opportunities whereas this is my only chance ever to see Morera as Cinderella, & I'm still gutted at having missed her as Mary Vetsera when she was injured last November.

Itziar is a beautiful FG, so you will be very glad to see her.  And I would be very glad to see you too....usual place.  You are very welcome as always.  :)

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Dawnstar

Dawnstar

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2 minutes ago, Sim said:

Itziar is a beautiful FG, so you will be very glad to see her.  And I would be very glad to see you too....usual place.  You are very welcome as always.  :)

 

I have already seen her a couple of weeks ago & really liked her in the role, not having seen her in that many classical roles previously. Basically as long as Morera makes it onstage tonight I'm not so bothered as to who the rest of the cast are! Thanks.

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Sim

Sim

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15 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

I have already seen her a couple of weeks ago & really liked her in the role, not having seen her in that many classical roles previously. Basically as long as Morera makes it onstage tonight I'm not so bothered as to who the rest of the cast are! Thanks.

Agree!!  

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Jamesrhblack

Jamesrhblack

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2 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

I nearly had a heart attack just now when I checked the ROH website & saw "Cast Change" against tonight's performance. Mercifully it's Mendizabel replacing Storm-Jensen as the Fairy Godmother & not anything involving Morera! I mean, I would have liked to see Storm-Jensen but there will be other future opportunities whereas this is my only chance ever to see Morera as Cinderella, & I'm still gutted at having missed her as Mary Vetsera when she was injured last November.

Having flown back from Vienna to see Morera this evening I would have been joining you in Casualty Dawnstar !!!

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Dawnstar

Dawnstar

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18 minutes ago, Jamesrhblack said:

Having flown back from Vienna to see Morera this evening I would have been joining you in Casualty Dawnstar !!!

 

I hope your flight was on time. I would have been terrified of delays. In fact even though I'm only coming from Cambridge I've decided to get a train half an hour earlier than usual just in case, as the other train line is screwed up.

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Jamesrhblack

Jamesrhblack

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26 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

I hope your flight was on time. I would have been terrified of delays. In fact even though I'm only coming from Cambridge I've decided to get a train half an hour earlier than usual just in case, as the other train line is screwed up.


Safely in London 🙂

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Swan

Swan

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4 hours ago, MJW said:


Delightful @Rob S I’m looking forward to Saturday’s matinee (and my first ever ‘standing’)


I’ve had scs and balcony standing tickets several times this season and am becoming quietly addicted… The price is great, the views of the stage have been consistently good and I can rest on the train home. I still enjoy the luxury of a seat though!

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Dawnstar

Dawnstar

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I'm very glad Laura Morera was on this evening & that I loved her in the role. I'm now stuck in rail replacement bus hell, after missing the last direct train because Covent Garden tube was temporarily closed, so at least I'm suffering for a good performance! I'm also starting to wonder if the railway has something against me seeing Morera as I had a terrible journey home after seeing her as Giselle too!

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bridiem

bridiem

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8 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

I'm very glad Laura Morera was on this evening & that I loved her in the role. I'm now stuck in rail replacement bus hell, after missing the last direct train because Covent Garden tube was temporarily closed, so at least I'm suffering for a good performance! I'm also starting to wonder if the railway has something against me seeing Morera as I had a terrible journey home after seeing her as Giselle too!

 

Oh dear - hope you get home eventually, Dawnstar!

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Dawnstar

Dawnstar

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5 minutes ago, bridiem said:

Oh dear - hope you get home eventually, Dawnstar!

 

It's looking like about 3am. What's particularly annoying is I went to this one rather than either her debut or her last to avoid rail replacement buses both weekends. I now may as well have gone on Saturday, when the bus stint would have been shorter & my train ticket would have been cheaper.

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Sim

Sim

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45 minutes ago, PatC said:

 Very much enjoyed Calvin Richardson this evening!

So did I!  He was so different from everyone else in the role!

 

@Dawnstar I do hope you get home safely. Agree that Laura’s performance would make the hassle worthwhile.  

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Dawnstar

Dawnstar

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Yes, lovely to meet you for the first time @J_New and @Nogoat & @Mummykool and then to meet@Sophoife at the stage door. I won't tag in those I've met before but nice to see them again too. As for whether it was worth it, I've only just got on a bus at Stevenage which is due to take nearly 2 hours to get to Cambridge so I'll get back to you on that...!!

Edited by Dawnstar
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LinMM

LinMM

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Just reading this at 5.35 ( as you do) I really hope you are now finally at home  Dawnstar …what a marathon journey! Glad you enjoyed Morera anyway. Wish I could have seen her and both Lamb and Osipova in the role too. 

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Sophoife

Sophoife

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After eating early in the excellent company of @Sim which was delicious despite the dilatory service, I took the easy option and the lift up to level 5.

 

There are aspects of this production I don't like - but that's really only some of the costumes. The sets were great, from my seat in the front row (A73) of the amphi I only missed the very front corner stage left. I thought the "garden" set was gorgeous. Sure beats the one AusBallet use for the Ratmansky with its Dali-style décor.

 

Act 1 costumes: who dat Lilac Fairy? Is she a refugee from Carabosse? Children just looked odd. Fairies, Cinders, sisters etc all fine even if Cinders very clean. Very anticlimactic transformation scene.

 

Lovely to briefly catch up at first interval with @Bluebird and her gang on the tiny bit of terrace left after the restaurant expanded.

 

Act 2: what a horrible costume mish mash. Gentlemen in frock coats and trousers from about 1830 with ladies in appropriate ball gowns. A jester in shiny shiny shiny parti-coloured garb, straight out of the Middle Ages but shinier.

 

Suitors for the Stepsisters from 1815. More men in tights that appear to be intended as breeches, as the red stripe only extended to the knee. These men finished up as fairies' cavaliers. A prince from about the 1770s, maybe 1780s, whose costume completely removed his neck.

 

It just looks so strange and I cannot fathom the minds of costume designers when they do things like this. It made the jester seem so out of place as to be almost ridiculous.

 

However. The dancing was gorgeous, Mr Ball taking super care of and presenting his ballerina in exemplary fashion. The Lilac Fairy, sorry, Fairy Godmother, was a late change to Itziar Mendizabal, how lovely to have her and Miss Morera sharing the stage. Annette Buvoli was a lovely Winter Fairy.

 

The Stepsisters, James Hay and Calvin Richardson, were almost muted compared with the comments some have made about other casts earlier in this thread. I loved the kisses from Cinderella at the end and how each sister reacted.

 

The final promenade up the endless stairs under a shower of gold really was a wonderful moment.

 

Also, there was a lady outside stage door with an umbrella that had seen better days: I offered to try and help fix it if it was just a bent spoke. It was @Dawnstar! I persuaded her inside as there was plenty of room due to the nasty drizzle. So nice to meet you, so sorry about the replacement buses, but on the bright side you got to speak to Mr O'Hare, Mr Ball and Miss Morera!

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Jorgeb

Jorgeb

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I am very curious to know what you think of the stepisters, James and Calvin. Why no one says anything about them or very little? I think they are the step-sister duo with the fewest mentions on the forum. Any reason for that?

Edited by Jorgeb
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Emeralds

Emeralds

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28 minutes ago, Jorgeb said:

I am very curious to know what you think of the stepisters, James and Calvin. Why no one says anything about them or very little?

Hi Jorgeb, good to have you back in the discussions! The feedback about James and Calvin is scattered (or hiding) in different parts of this very long thread, but what I remember is that members said: Calvin’s makeup looked like a drag queen and it reflected in his performance, but it was a good performance (not over exaggerated), Calvin & James made a funny but understated pair of sisters whose performances didn’t upstage Cinderella. I saw James in another cast with Bennet Gartside as his sister, and unlike many interpretations where the Stepsister is portrayed as being a bad dancer- awkward, ungainly and clumsy, James (in the performance I was at) actually danced the steps (including jumps and footwork) well, but just in case you thought he had forgotten he was a Stepsister (or his Stepsister had morphed into a Royal Ballet dancer), he then fell over, showing that he was still an accident prone and often clumsy Stepsister, which was very funny, because you didn’t see it coming. 😆😂

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Rob S

Rob S

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37 minutes ago, Jorgeb said:

I am very curious to know what you think of the stepisters, James and Calvin. Why no one says anything about them or very little? I think they are the step-sister duo with the fewest mentions on the forum. Any reason for that?

 

I don't know how many times Calvin has been a sister but there were mentions after his debut

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bridiem

bridiem

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As far as I'm concerned, James Hay is the star of the stepsisters - sweet, extremely funny, beautifully danced and completely believable. The dynamic with Bennet Gartside's understated 'tall' sister was the most effective for me.

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Emeralds

Emeralds

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3 hours ago, Sophoife said:

After eating early in the excellent company of @Sim which was delicious despite the dilatory service, I took the easy option and the lift up to level 5.

 

There are aspects of this production I don't like - but that's really only some of the costumes. The sets were great, from my seat in the front row (A73) of the amphi I only missed the very front corner stage left. I thought the "garden" set was gorgeous. Sure beats the one AusBallet use for the Ratmansky with its Dali-style décor.

 

Act 1 costumes: who dat Lilac Fairy? Is she a refugee from Carabosse? Children just looked odd. Fairies, Cinders, sisters etc all fine even if Cinders very clean. Very anticlimactic transformation scene.

 

Lovely to briefly catch up at first interval with @Bluebird and her gang on the tiny bit of terrace left after the restaurant expanded.

 

Act 2: what a horrible costume mish mash. Gentlemen in frock coats and trousers from about 1830 with ladies in appropriate ball gowns. A jester in shiny shiny shiny parti-coloured garb, straight out of the Middle Ages but shinier.

 

Suitors for the Stepsisters from 1815. More men in tights that appear to be intended as breeches, as the red stripe only extended to the knee. These men finished up as fairies' cavaliers. A prince from about the 1770s, maybe 1780s, whose costume completely removed his neck.

 

It just looks so strange and I cannot fathom the minds of costume designers when they do things like this. It made the jester seem so out of place as to be almost ridiculous.

 

However. The dancing was gorgeous, Mr Ball taking super care of and presenting his ballerina in exemplary fashion. The Lilac Fairy, sorry, Fairy Godmother, was a late change to Itziar Mendizabal, how lovely to have her and Miss Morera sharing the stage. Annette Buvoli was a lovely Winter Fairy.

 

The Stepsisters, James Hay and Calvin Richardson, were almost muted compared with the comments some have made about other casts earlier in this thread. I loved the kisses from Cinderella at the end and how each sister reacted.

 

The final promenade up the endless stairs under a shower of gold really was a wonderful moment.

 

Also, there was a lady outside stage door with an umbrella that had seen better days: I offered to try and help fix it if it was just a bent spoke. It was @Dawnstar! I persuaded her inside as there was plenty of room due to the nasty drizzle. So nice to meet you, so sorry about the replacement buses, but on the bright side you got to speak to Mr O'Hare, Mr Ball and Miss Morera!

Enjoyed Sophoife’s succinct, informative and witty report of the evening, from the restaurant review to production thoughts and report on the dancing.

 

Based on reports from Sophoife and other members, plus her own descriptions, I think it’s time Dawnstar was officially promoted from (her own assignation of) “fairly hopeless” Stage Door practitioner to Stage Door Expert. 😊🎖🏆 Thank you for putting the requests (which I echo) to Mr O’Hare, Dawnstar- you’re my rep! I’ve actually passed him three times inside the Opera House in the past and forgotten to say anything to him! 

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Fonty

Fonty

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16 minutes ago, bridiem said:

As far as I'm concerned, James Hay is the star of the stepsisters - sweet, extremely funny, beautifully danced and completely believable. The dynamic with Bennet Gartside's understated 'tall' sister was the most effective for me.

 

That was the first pairing I saw, and I agree.  I couldn't understand why the majority of the posts felt the step sisters were annoying/boring/unfunny until I saw other casts.  Although I didn't find any of the pairs deserved those adjectives, I do thing Hay brought something extra to the role.

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San Perregrino

San Perregrino

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1 hour ago, Jorgeb said:

I am very curious to know what you think of the stepisters, James and Calvin. Why no one says anything about them or very little? I think they are the step-sister duo with the fewest mentions on the forum. Any reason for that?

 

I believe i am right in saying the Calvin & James pairing were late to the Ball,  only debuting on 22/4 as part of the Ball/Morera cast. They danced again last night 27/4 and are scheduled to dance again on 29/4.  Far fewer performances than any other pairing hence less comment.  They have brought unique qualities to their characters and their interpretation is evolving even in the two performances i have been pleased to attend.

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