Jump to content

DON QUIXOTE - ROYAL BALLET AUTUMN 2023

capybara
 Share

Recommended Posts

Fairy

Fairy

Posted
Posted
17 minutes ago, Fonty said:

I wonder what criteria are used in order to qualify?  I live in London, and could have got there with very little notice.  I know I am on their mailing list.  I have had 3 emails now offering me a discount for the Cellist double bill.  I have seen it before, and quite enjoyed it, but not enough to see it again unless it was with something I really wanted to see.  

 

I was one of the people who managed to get a cheap ticket to Don Q yesterday. I didn't receive an email or anything but just happened to check the website at around 9am yesterday and when clicking on a seat, there was an option to select a £12.50 ticket. I presumed it was some sort of website glitch that would time out when I went to put my card details in but it worked and I got the ticket! 

  • Like 9
  • Thanks 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Replies 1.5k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Fonty

Fonty

Posted
Posted (edited)
3 minutes ago, Fairy said:

 

I was one of the people who managed to get a cheap ticket to Don Q yesterday. I didn't receive an email or anything but just happened to check the website at around 9am yesterday and when clicking on a seat, there was an option to select a £12.50 ticket. I presumed it was some sort of website glitch that would time out when I went to put my card details in but it worked and I got the ticket! 

 

Lucky you, but having checked the website on Thursday, and seen that the only seats available were way out of my price range, it never occurred to me to try again the next day.  

Edited to add this was quite late on Thursday evening, after catching up with this forum and seeing that ticket sales were slow.  

Edited by Fonty
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Dawnstar

Dawnstar

Posted
Posted

I'd checked the website every day for about a week in case anything I could afford came up at the side of the stalls circle. As it didn't, I waited for Friday rush rather than looking earlier on Friday morning. So I am now kicking myself that I could have potentially got a much better seat for a quarter of what I paid for a rush ticket.

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Dawnstar

Dawnstar

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, Rob S said:

https://www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/43/don-quixote-by-carlos-acosta/cast-list/56215
 

Marco Masciari as Sancho Panza today!! 😆

 

Is it Dias's Mercedes debut? And thinking about it is it Whitehead's debut in the title role? I'm very pleased about Dixon & Hay. As they were on last night I didn't expect to see them today.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
San Perregrino

San Perregrino

Posted
Posted
31 minutes ago, Rob S said:

https://www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/43/don-quixote-by-carlos-acosta/cast-list/56215
 

Marco Masciari as Sancho Panza today!! 😆


Leo Dixon making his scheduled ‘debut’ (rather than covering for Valentino Zucchetti) as Espada with Leticia Dias as Mercedes.

Joonhyuk Joon and Isabelle Lubach as gypsy couple. 
Along with Fumi Kaneko & William Bracewell it’s shaping up to be an afternoon to treasure 

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Scheherezade

Scheherezade

Posted
Posted
27 minutes ago, Fairy said:

 

I was one of the people who managed to get a cheap ticket to Don Q yesterday. I didn't receive an email or anything but just happened to check the website at around 9am yesterday and when clicking on a seat, there was an option to select a £12.50 ticket. I presumed it was some sort of website glitch that would time out when I went to put my card details in but it worked and I got the ticket! 


I repeatedly checked out the website for yesterday’s performance from early yesterday (although not as early as 9.00 am as I didn’t think that anything would be shown until after 10.00 at the earliest) and it didn’t occur to me to check stalls seats on the basis that I wouldn’t have been able to afford them even with a 50% reduction. Wouldn’t it have helped to send out a generic email to all Friends, subscribers and anyone else who had already booked in advance of this virtual giveaway? And well done, Fairy; could we have a sprinkling of your fairy dust on the forum as a whole?

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Sophoife

Sophoife

Posted
Posted

Looking at your gorgeous photos @Rob Sam I going blind or has Miss O'Sullivan gone back to her original dark hair??

 

It suits her SO much better!

 

Lucky all those who got to see not one, but two Basilios - and two such Basilios!

 

Best of luck to Mr McRae - he's not yet posted anything on his Instagram. I was watching the Bailey's Christmas Nutcracker ad "making of" from 2014 yesterday (it came up in my YouTube feed) and my goodness his body is a completely different shape these days!!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Dawnstar

Dawnstar

Posted
Posted

I knew this production was busy but had forgotten quite how much happens at the sides, as the last time I saw it was BRB when I could afford to sit centrally. Now sitting at the side I keep on having to remind myself I should be looking at the dancing in the middle & not just the acting at the side, which is nearer to me!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Rob S

Rob S

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Sophoife said:

Best of luck to Mr McRae - he's not yet posted anything on his Instagram. I was watching the Bailey's Christmas Nutcracker ad "making of" from 2014 yesterday (it came up in my YouTube feed) and my goodness his body is a completely different shape these days!!


He has now, it included:

 

SORRY 

Unfortunately last night I had an accident on stage & fell.... The performance stopped and I was immediately treated backstage..... I am being cared for by the Royal Ballet Medical Team and we are awaiting scan results to determine what happened.... It does not involve my Achilles!

 

 

  • Like 7
  • Thanks 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Suffolkgal

Suffolkgal

Posted
Posted

Yes some lovely performances this afternoon and much evident joy on stage which is always so infectious. Not my favourite ballet though I may be a bit jaded but some of it - mime and so on and the y viva espana sections - left me feeling a bit like I always do 20 minutes into nutcracker when it’s the “old” people dancing. However this is not to distract from the passion and talent on stage! Vadim M signing copies of his book this afternoon as mentioned elsewhere but as always no jollies like that or stage dooring as trains calling! I hope the run continues injury free for everyone in our lovely company and that those injured swiftly recover ...

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Linnzi5

Linnzi5

Posted
Posted

I have lots of thoughts on today's matinee. Sorry! 😳

 

I loved it. Will and Fumi were wonderful - they just, well, I suppose, fit together so well? There is something special there that I cannot explain or articulate what exactly it is that appeals to me so much. 

 

What an amazing debut for Will.  I don't profess to be a technical expert but I couldn't see any slips or uncertainty - I'm sure some here, who have a firm grasp of technique, can correct me if I'm wrong.  I thought he did brilliantly with what he did.

 

I loved his Basilio, he had such character. He was cheeky yet loveable, elegant and so funny! The way Will finishes his phrases and those arms! Wow! He really made Basilio adorable and a real person for me. The chemistry between Will and Fumi is, IMO, unparalleled (not that I don't love some other pairings who have special chemistries, because I do).

 

I loved the comedic scenes (the one on the table with the leg sticking out made me laugh so much!) but I particularly loved the Act III PDD - I honestly thought Will and Fumi looked so in love and I haven't seen that before in this particular PDD, they really were at their best there, I felt. I think it was the little glances and smiles that were really so sweet and natural that I loved so much.

 

Fumi was excellent - she shows such joy when she dances and I thought she looked so lovely today. Some of her dancing was breathtaking, IMO.

 

Marco Masciari was just brilliant, as was James Hay - they just got the comedic balance right, neither were over the top and they just made me chuckle - they were both outstanding, I thought. Thomas Whitehead's Don Q was loveable - he seemed a sweet, but rather confused man (bless him) and I really warmed to him, which I think is quite difficult to achieve, as I usually think he's a bit - superfluous, or maybe it's just because he's the titular yet minor character? Chris Saunders' Lorenzo was also excellent and I thought he did a brilliant job. Leo Dixon's Espada was excellent, though he doesn't quite match Hirano for me, but perhaps comparisons aren't fair here (I'm seeing Hirano on Monday, so I will be interested to see how I feel after that performance - he's sort of the 'gold standard' for me).

 

I had to look up who was dancing Mercedes - clearly need to get my eyesight checked as it was Leticia Dias! I thought she was very competent but I am looking forward to seeing Mayara Magri on Monday in this role. Everyone else was very good but I did, on occasion, find the antics in the background a little distracting. The dream sequence was lovely, though I felt some dancers were, perhaps, challenged a little technically. 

 

The orchestra was brilliant and the tempi, in some sections, was fast and thrilling and at other times slow and emotively phrased and performed. I noticed the Concert Master today was Magnus Johnston. I approve,  as I thought he was excellent (this is one area I do have some technical knowledge!) 

 

So, all in all, a wonderful afternoon. I guess the caveat has to be that I am totally biased as I adore all William Bracewell does and I particularly love him with Fumi, who is also one of my top female dancers. 

 

I'm looking forward to Monday (I know, technically, I will be blown away!) but also look forward to seeing Fumi and Will again in November.

 

It was lovely to meet up with such wonderful forum members again (you know who you are) - the discussion in the intervals are just so absorbing! It was also lovely to chat to Silke H - we had such a wonderful conversation, so thank you, Silke  :) 

 

Right. Shutting up now.

 

I hope those attending this evening's performance have a wonderful time. I am envious as I adore Yasmine Naghdi, particularly :) 

  • Like 16
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Linnzi5

Linnzi5

Posted
Posted

I meant to add to my review that William Bracewell's Basilio isn't flashy - he's not about the tricks.  His Basilio is more human and rounded as a person - a cheeky young man who's got bags of personality and who isn't brash.  In today's Dance Links, there is a link to a Times interview with William and it really explains about his Basilio. Thanks to Ian for the link and the share token! :) 

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites
JennyTaylor

JennyTaylor

Posted
Posted

I'm late to the party as it was my first Don Q today but I did do the double, and had a marvellous time. 2 * fantastic performances. 

 

Also lovely to meet a lovely Ballet-Coer in the queue for Vadim's book signing and again outside the Stage Door, where I'm afraid I unashamedly waited for Will Bracewell. 

 

If you are reading this, at least you know who I am now! 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...