Royal Ballet Cinderella March/April 2023

[Fonty]

2 hours ago, alison said:

This one wouldn't have.

 

I'm planning on going to see it in a cinema - I just haven't decided which one yet, as my locals are heavily booked.

 

You must live in  a posh area, Alison.  I have just booked two tickets at my local cinema.  Judging by the seating plan, there are currently all of 6 people booked in.  

[Emeralds]

15 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

 

One young woman I overheard commenting after the evening performance certainly didn't seem to be expecting what she got: I heard her say that she was baffled by it & had been expecting something like Wicked!!

I wonder if she had been reading the review by Rupert Christiansen in the Spectator (or had been told about it), where it highlighted his comment, “If you like Wicked, you’ll like this”. Actually quite a lot of his other points in the article, such where he praised Ashton’s work and noted the creativity and beauty of Ashton’s classical choreography, were spot on. (I don’t think it’s behind a paywall if clicked from Janet and Ian’s Dance Links posts....I managed to get it.) 

Edited April 12, 2023 by Emeralds

[Emeralds]

16 minutes ago, SLH said:

Please can someone enlighten me - is the live stream tonight also available as a livestream on the ROH's stream service?

Good question. I think it isn’t, but as I haven’t signed up for the service yet, I can’t ask them directly. If you’re thinking of signing up specifically for this livestream, or you want to catch it but not in the cinema, can you email or contact them quickly before tonight? My feeling is that it isn’t, so as not to be unfair competition to the cinemas but you should check with the streaming team in case you miss out.

 

 

 

 

 

[alison]

It won't be - would undermine the cinema audience.  And I guess we won't be getting a free Big Screen Sleeping Beauty this year, either.

[alison]

25 minutes ago, Fonty said:

 

You must live in  a posh area, Alison.  I have just booked two tickets at my local cinema.  Judging by the seating plan, there are currently all of 6 people booked in.  

 

My third-local is completely sold out - although admittedly in a smaller screen than the ones I've been to there previously.  My first-local is a neck-aching front row only - and I'm waiting to see if it gets upgraded to a bigger screen, as has previously happened.  If not, that leaves second-local, which I don't like for live screenings as there's no break-out area/food etc. (there are 2 30-minute intervals, which is a long time to kill), and it's always in a wide but not very deep screen, so again neck-aching - or I'll have to go farther afield.

[Emeralds]

5 hours ago, Benjamin said:

Livestream Tonight! Who’s tuning In? 

I’ve already seen tonight’s cast and have another obligation so can’t make it - I can recommend tonight’s cast highly- lots of wonderful dancers, eg Nunez and Muntagirov as Cinderella and the Prince respectively, the Season Fairies, Godmother, Jester, Dancing Master, Prince’s friends etc. 

 

PS for those worried about whether Cinderella’s entrance at the ball will be blocked by the ensemble, I expect the cameras will zoom in so that cinema audiences get the best view! I’ve managed to see it each time from balcony sides.

Edited April 12, 2023 by Emeralds

[Dawnstar]

27 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

I wonder if she had been reading the review by Rupert Christiansen in the Spectator (or had been told about it), where it highlighted his comment, “If you like Wicked, you’ll like this”.

 

Ah, I didn't think of that, though I had read the review. I saw Wicked many times when it was first in the West End 2007-8 so I do like both, but I can't say I thought of Wicked at all when seeing Cinderella.

[Dawnstar]

12 hours ago, alison said:

McRae didn't start his solo off the same (usual?) way on Monday, for a start.

 

Thanks. I don't know the choreography well enough to be certain what was different, I just got the vague impression that some of it was. I suppose in McRae's case he might change some things to try to protect his past injuries.

[alison]

As we seemed to be having conversations in parallel on two different threads, I've moved most of the discussion about cinemas and availability into the News and Information thread here:

 

I may move some of the posts in that thread over here, too.  Apologies if it doesn't all make perfect sense  

 

[Balletbloke]

3 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

 

Thanks. I don't know the choreography well enough to be certain what was different, I just got the vague impression that some of it was. I suppose in McRae's case he might change some things to try to protect his past injuries.

I believe that's exactly what he's doing - and who can blame him?

[Tango Dancer]

Well tonight's cinema relay was rather lovely.  I liked some parts of it very much indeed and others slightly less. 

 

I thought Marianela was lovely, engaging and charming.  She always lives the parts so fully.  I also really liked Fumi as the Fairy Godmother.  She really excels in fairies and non-human characters, always capturing something eerie and ethereal in her beautiful arm movements and elegant turns.  

 

Vadim was wonderful as always but criminally under-used.  The ballet would have benefited from twice as much Vadim and half as much stepsisters in my view.  I mean he looked fantastic and danced like a dream as always and I'd be his Cinderella any day, but he really needed more to do. 

 

I was not a huge fan of the stepsisters.  As my great aunt would say "they were a good turn but on too long."  I mean Gary Avis is always great and Luca Acri had unexpected comic depths but their pieces went on too long and weren't that funny so I'd have been glad with much less of them in Act 2 and more of the corps dancing which was really lovely.  Lukas BB looked really fantastic as Wellington - nice cheekbones and great legs.  But I'd have been happy cutting that bit as it did nothing for me.  

 

I really loved Taisuki Nasao as the jester.  He had some great jumps.  I also liked the fairies especially Mayara Magri as Winter because the variation seemed to suit her. 

 

I liked the music especially the third act and the set and most of the costumes.  

 

So overall I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I won't say it's my favourite ballet but it was a lovely way to spend an evening and there were some really great performances.  

[Linnzi5]

19 minutes ago, Tango Dancer said:

Well tonight's cinema relay was rather lovely.  I liked some parts of it very much indeed and others slightly less. 

 

I thought Marianela was lovely, engaging and charming.  She always lives the parts so fully.  I also really liked Fumi as the Fairy Godmother.  She really excels in fairies and non-human characters, always capturing something eerie and ethereal in her beautiful arm movements and elegant turns.  

 

Vadim was wonderful as always but criminally under-used.  The ballet would have benefited from twice as much Vadim and half as much stepsisters in my view.  I mean he looked fantastic and danced like a dream as always and I'd be his Cinderella any day, but he really needed more to do. 

 

I was not a huge fan of the stepsisters.  As my great aunt would say "they were a good turn but on too long."  I mean Gary Avis is always great and Luca Acri had unexpected comic depths but their pieces went on too long and weren't that funny so I'd have been glad with much less of them in Act 2 and more of the corps dancing which was really lovely.  Lukas BB looked really fantastic as Wellington - nice cheekbones and great legs.  But I'd have been happy cutting that bit as it did nothing for me.  

 

I really loved Taisuki Nasao as the jester.  He had some great jumps.  I also liked the fairies especially Mayara Magri as Winter because the variation seemed to suit her. 

 

I liked the music especially the third act and the set and most of the costumes.  

 

So overall I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I won't say it's my favourite ballet but it was a lovely way to spend an evening and there were some really great performances.  

Ditto. I feel exactly the same way. Marianela was divine - I think she was just stunning. I loved her footwork and always am swept along with her joy of dancing. The prince is sadly mightily underutilised. I was rather disappointed he doesn't have that much to do! Of course, what Vadim did was princely and elegant, but I kept waiting for some choreography to show off his technical brilliance and it just never happened.

 

I did enjoy the step-sisters and giggled several times. However, there can be too much of a good thing and it started to wear a little thin for me... I thought the jester was great, but am not quite sure what the point of him was - I did enjoyed the dancing very much though. I loved the costumes, actually. Fumi was lovely as the Fairy Godmother and I'd expect nothing less of her. I thought the fairies were good - probably Winter was my favourite. I didn't see the change from old woman to Fairy Godmother - the camera didn't seem to be in that area? Fumi just suddenly appeared, though I did see a human hand helping the old lady's wings through the door at one point.

 

The orchestra was brilliant. I really like the score and the music grows on me every time I listen to it. I liked the sets and the lighting looked great. All in all I really enjoyed myself - cut out some of the step-sisters and give more to the prince and I'd say it would be even better. Bravo to everyone! Roll on Friday.

[Guest oncnp]

and at least one of the features appear to be on the YouTube channel

Edited April 12, 2023 by oncnp

[Nina99]

I’ve just come back from the cinema relay and I really enjoyed it.  This was my second viewing since I was there in person on opening night. I enjoyed being able to get a better look at the performers expressions, and in particular, the sets and costumes most of which I liked very much. I also enjoyed the extras that one habitually gets with cinema relay.  DarceyBussell and Petroc Trelawney are engaging hosts and Darcey, of course, knows what she’s talking about.

 

I agree with Tango Dancer and Linnzi5 that Marianela was superb, but that Vadim although also terrific but very much under used. No wonder he could afford to take time in the middle of final rehearsals for Cinderella, to go off and do a couple of performances of Swan Lake with the BRB!

 

I also agree about the sisters, whose antics, I thought, wore a bit thin after a while. Maybe seeing them in close-up at the cinema, make them a bit more dominant.

 

 

 

[Missfrankiecat]

I watched the livestream in a packed cinema in Cornwall and really enjoyed it despite it being the same cast I saw in person at ROH a couple of weeks ago.  The camera work is excellent and allows really close scrutiny of footwork and facial expressions.  Did anyone else wonder if Vadream was a little under the weather?  He looked very pale and was breathing very heavily at times after minimal (for him!) exertion.  He was still excellent - beautiful presentation of Nela and solid lifts.

I enjoyed the commentary items presented in the intervals.  The design and costumes made more sense after listening to the explanations and the close camera work allowed us to see the floral details on all the costumes, some of which had escaped me - even the jester was covered in white poppies.  And finally - the mystery of the oranges explained by Darcey - of course, Ashton was writing immediately post WW2 when oranges were exotic treats here in the UK with rationing.  Apologies if someone has explained this before!

[alison]

23 hours ago, alison said:

 

McRae didn't start his solo off the same (usual?) way on Monday, for a start.

 

I take it back: I realise, after watching the broadcast tonight, that I was confusing the Prince's second- and third-act solos.  So McRae was quite probably doing the same as the others.  My apologies.

[taxi4ballet]

For those who also saw the live stream in the cinema - at what point did the cinema put the house lights up? Ours put them on at the very moment the curtain fell, so people were getting up and leaving all through the curtain calls. Is that usual in the cinema, or was ours a bit too enthusiastic? 

[alison]

Ours was precisely the opposite: I'm not sure the house lights ever came up

 

The "transformations" were all rather a cop-out in the cinema: I wonder if they have other, more effective, shots from other cameras which might be spliced in before a recording is completed?

[Linnzi5]

9 minutes ago, taxi4ballet said:

For those who also saw the live stream in the cinema - at what point did the cinema put the house lights up? Ours put them on at the very moment the curtain fell, so people were getting up and leaving all through the curtain calls. Is that usual in the cinema, or was ours a bit too enthusiastic? 

It didn’t put them on until all of the curtain calls were over. A few people did leave as soon as the performance was over, but not many.

[Linnzi5]

57 minutes ago, oncnp said:

and at least one of the features appear to be on the YouTube channel

They usually appear within a few days.? I always enjoy the features and tonight’s were as interesting as usual, I thought. 

[Jamesrhblack]

Re the oranges, isn't the point that Prokofiev quites from his opera The Love for Three Oranges at that point, so it’s an “in” joke?

[Nina99]

One thing I omitted to say in my post above, was that I found out, as I was leaving the cinema (in Croydon), that the person sitting next but one to me, was Alfreda Thorogood, who was, of course, married to David Wall. I didn’t get to speak to her but I must say she still looks good for her 80 something years.

Edited April 13, 2023 by Nina99

[Benjamin]

19 minutes ago, Jamesrhblack said:

Re the oranges, isn't the point that Prokofiev quites from his opera The Love for Three Oranges at that point, so it’s an “in” joke?

Maybe it’s a bit of both?

[akh]

20 hours ago, Fonty said:

 

You must live in  a posh area, Alison.  I have just booked two tickets at my local cinema.  Judging by the seating plan, there are currently all of 6 people booked in.  

We had a very good turn out here in Worthing and a very mixed audience so not a "posh" crowd. They left delighted with their evening.

[akh]

8 hours ago, Linnzi5 said:

It didn’t put them on until all of the curtain calls were over. A few people did leave as soon as the performance was over, but not many.

Neither did ours and only the very few people with buses to catch left before the house lights went up.

[Angela Essex]

9 hours ago, taxi4ballet said:

For those who also saw the live stream in the cinema - at what point did the cinema put the house lights up? Ours put them on at the very moment the curtain fell, so people were getting up and leaving all through the curtain calls. Is that usual in the cinema, or was ours a bit too enthusiastic? 

Ours didn’t get put on at all (Basildon). Lots of elderly people trying to make it down the steps in pitch black as the credits rolled. Luckily no one fell down the stairs though. 
 

Agree with what others had said. I could watch Marianela all day - she is perfection and so joyful. Would have liked much more Vadim and less ugly sisters too. I think the film relay focused close in on ugly sisters a lot whereas in person they’d be less prominent as one could watch the whole scene. Summer was my favourite fairy - Melissa Hamilton was beautiful. 

[bridiem]

10 hours ago, Linnzi5 said:

Ditto. I feel exactly the same way. Marianela was divine - I think she was just stunning. I loved her footwork and always am swept along with her joy of dancing. The prince is sadly mightily underutilised. I was rather disappointed he doesn't have that much to do! Of course, what Vadim did was princely and elegant, but I kept waiting for some choreography to show off his technical brilliance and it just never happened.

 

I agree that the prince is underutilised, but I think that what he does do is very demanding technically, and extremely beautiful. 

[Fonty]

9 hours ago, taxi4ballet said:

For those who also saw the live stream in the cinema - at what point did the cinema put the house lights up? Ours put them on at the very moment the curtain fell, so people were getting up and leaving all through the curtain calls. Is that usual in the cinema, or was ours a bit too enthusiastic? 

 

My cinema didn't put the house lights up until after all the credits had rolled.  However, 20% of the audience left as soon as the curtain fell.

 

 

P.S.  There were 5 people in the audience....

[gdallas]

We were at ROH last night 12th April. It was almost completely the same cast as for the Gala opening night but to me it seemed much more enjoyable. Everything was tighter, smoother and the orchestra was wonderful. Perhaps because I was in the stalls this time as opposed to amphitheatre but I think the production has settled down and I felt that MN had really developed the role. Dancing was superb of course! I loved it. I’m going again. One of my best evenings at the ballet. Thank you RB 

[theorist]

Alas, last night's showing at the Edinburgh Cameo was cancelled for technical reasons, By the time I had got my refund it was too late to get to another cinema.

[alison]

Oh no   Are there any Encore shows you can get to?

[Linnzi5]

28 minutes ago, theorist said:

Alas, last night's showing at the Edinburgh Cameo was cancelled for technical reasons, By the time I had got my refund it was too late to get to another cinema.

I'm so sorry to hear this. Very disappointing. As Alison said, there are Encore shows available - I think many are on Sunday? I hope you do get to see it.  

[Linnzi5]

1 hour ago, bridiem said:

 

I agree that the prince is underutilised, but I think that what he does do is very demanding technically, and extremely beautiful. 

Sorry. I probably didn't make myself clear. Ashton's choreography is notoriously challenging, I know., and it was executed in a brilliant manner.  I  thought Vadim was as excellent as usual - he is a wonderful technician, who is elegant and who always delivers. I felt his solo was so short in comparison to Marianela's and hers so much more complex - I was disappointed not to see more of him. I felt the prince had no obvious character moments and I really knew nothing about him other than he was a prince who fell in love with a lovely, young girl. I suppose what I am saying is that the story is underdeveloped somewhat - though I understand there is limited time to explore the characters. I wondered if anything had been cut out for the prince tole from this production? Or maybe something more could have been added for the prince (and removed from the sisters)? I never feel disappointed in the princes in Swan Lake or Sleeping Beauty (though in both of these the female principal characters are the 'stars' of the show, of course).  I think I am just being picky - I know Cinderella is a fairy tale but the prince's role seems a little one-dimensional to me, which is a shame.