ENB Nutcracker Nov 2023 - Jan 2024: Southampton, London

[Dawnstar]

I see that for once ENB had only a partial cast change today. Most of their other cast changes seem to have swapped all 4 leads. In the case of the Nephew, if I remember correctly Saruhashi was originally due to do this performance, then it was swapped to Jakonis when they had a load of Nephew cast changes just before the run started, and now it's back to Saruhashi again! (It was in fact changed on their website to Saruhashi some days ago.)

 

 

[maryrosesatonapin]

I'm a member of the 'spent Christmas in bed with a virus' club, but felt better enough today to go to the Coli.  I had decided to see NO Nutcrackers this season but then as Christmas approached, I began to feel sad at the thought so my partner booked today's matinee (as it is my birthday and the matinee would give us time to go out for a proper birthday dinner afterwards.) As we booked late our seats were higher than usual - front row of the upper circle - but had an excellent view and I thought were good value at £62.75 each.

 

I generally think highly of ENB but the last time I saw one of their nutcrackers was about 25 years ago, when it was the liquorice allsorts version, and I was sooo disappointed as I was taking my nephew and niece to their first ballet and had hoped for something more - well, beautiful and traditional.  It was downright garish.

My second attempt at an ENB Nutcracker was only slightly more enjoyable. I liked the opening 'bedroom' scene (though why does the maid or nanny stand on the bed!? How unhygienic.) I liked the skating.  I loved the orchestra. I liked the behaviour of the audience members around me, old and young - no eating or drinking that I could see, and the many small children were very well behaved and clearly enthralled.  I liked the spookiness of the mouse threatening to come through the bedroom curtains - this drew a gasp from a very young girl nearby.  I liked the initial (exterior) scenery although most of the scenery budget seems to have gone on that! I liked Ken Saruhashi's elegant and athletic dancing.

What I didn't like: the story seemed muddled around the nephew and the Mouse King - couldn't work out what was going on until the Mouse King was suddenly dead in a kind of rural landscape.  Mystifying.  The Christmas tree was two-dimensional and dull. Looking from above, I found the first act rather lacking in formations - it all looked a bit haphazard, but not as bad as what followed. The dances in the second half seemed untraditional - for example, why was there only one mirliton?  And as others have said, the stage seemed gloomy and rather empty.  Francesca Velicu as Clara/Sugar Plum was alright but IMO lacked crispness and sparkle at times, until the very end of the famous duet when she did let go and show some brilliance.

So, next year I will book earlier for a different Nutcracker or go without!  Lesson learned.

 

Edited January 3 by maryrosesatonapin

[Emeralds]

1 hour ago, CCL said:

Thanks for your kind message Emeralds! Fortunately a friend of my younger daughter (they are all young adults) was able to use my ticket. I’ve more or less recovered now and am raring to see Giselle on Friday 12th - fortunately not from the balcony!

I completely understand forum members’ reservations regarding the ENB Nut. There are bits that I really like but the bareness of the stage in Act 2 is something I really don’t like. I can’t persuade my daughters to try a different production though - it’s ‘what we do’ at Christmas and that’s that!

I saw the Dutch National Ballet version online during the pandemic thanks to the company and a Dutch tv channel's generosity - it is essentially the same production by Wayne Eagling when he was their Artistic Director although with different designs- the sets are very ornate and intricate (clearly much trickier than ENB's to tour; I don't think it's ever toured) and the costumes are different, but the difference in sets make a huge difference to the way that version looks. I agree the stage looks too bare in Act 2 of the ENB version.

 

When the RB version first premiered it looked OK on video but when I first saw it, it had changed to a version with a child Clara and child Fritz (Christina Arestis was one of their child Claras) and I'm afraid I found the whole production stilted, not much dancing in it at all and dull (a lot of the choreography and some designs were different), and although it was still better than many Nutcrackers worldwide, RB had far more interesting ballets to watch than Nutcracker (like what members here feel about ENB's Nutcracker in relation to ENB's other classics) so I swerved RB's Nutcracker for over a decade.

 

It wasn't until the most recent changes by Sir Peter Wright in 2016 that I felt the RB version able to surge ahead in terms of quality. But ENB's version, even with the bare Act 2 stage and some  confusing bits - although the Nutcracker's switches with the Nephew has now been changed to just once- has some advantages that the RB version doesn’t have so we still watch both every Christmas, to get the best of both worlds.  😀 

Edited January 3 by Emeralds

[Emeralds]

Happy Birthday, @maryrosesatonapin!

🎂 🎁 💐

 

(To answer your question about the Mirliton section, I junderstand that initially Eagling wanted the divertissements in Clara's dream to involve her family, so originally her parents were in the Russian/Cossack, brother in Arabian, sister in Mirliton looking  like a butterfly. He's now taken the brother out of the divertissements, the parents don't appear in Cossack this season, but Louise remains. Perhaps he'll keep altering bits of it to improve it, like Sir Peter has done with his Nutcracker at RB for 39 years.)

Edited January 3 by Emeralds

[Dawnstar]

28 minutes ago, maryrosesatonapin said:

(though why does the maid or nanny stand on the bed!? How unhygienic.)

 

I'm glad to see I'm not the only person who is bothered by things like this on stage!

 

10 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

When the RB version first premiered it looked OK on video but when I first saw it, it had changed to a version with a child Clara and child Fritz (Christina Arestis was one of their child Claras)

 

I had no idea the RB production did this in the past? Do you know the approximate years?

[Emeralds]

23 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

I'm glad to see I'm not the only person who is bothered by things like this on stage!

 

 

I had no idea the RB production did this in the past? Do you know the approximate years?

I think it changed in around 1990 to child Clara and child Fritz. When it premiered in 1984, it had an adult Clara and adult Fritz ie their characters are adolescents/children danced by adults in the company (soloists Julie Rose and Simon Rice danced the roles at the premiere and on the video release). In December 2000 it finally changed to the version we have of Clara being an adult lead role danced by a principal, soloist or corps artist, and joining in the dances in Act 2, with a child Fritz. Alina Cojocaru danced Clara in the first run of that version (and is recorded on DVD with Ivan Putrov as her Hans-Peter) along with soloists and corps members alternating the role; that was also the first time the Nutcracker was given the name Hans-Peter and a backstory followed by the meeting of him and Clara again outside the house, and the reunion with Drosselmeyer.

 

PS Dawnstar, and @maryrosesatonapin I've even followed where the mouse goes 😄 (into the jug on the nightstand!) and always check that the maid brings the jug out to dispose of the mouse and clean the jug! I too cringed at the jumping onto the bed (understandable given her fright) but I do know lots of people who don't have a problem with doing this in their indoor slippers/shoes (presumably the maid's shoes are only for indoors) at home!

Edited January 3 by Emeralds

[Dawnstar]

17 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

I think it changed in around 1990 to child Clara and child Fritz. When it premiered in 1984, it had an adult Clara and adult Fritz ie danced by adults in the company (soloists Julie Rose and Simon Rice danced the roles at the premiere and on the video release). In December 2000 it finally changed to the version we have of Clara being a lead role danced by a principal, soloist or corps artist, and joining in the dances in Act 2, with a child Fritz. Alina Cojocaru danced Clara in the first rum (and is on the DVD with Ivan Putrov as her Hans-Peter) along with soloists and corps members alternating the role; that was also the first time the Nutcracker was given the name Hans-Peter and a backstory, and the meeting of him and Clara again outside the house, and the reunion with Drosselmeyer.

 

Thanks. I knew the production had had alterations made around 2000 (presumably coinciding with the first time it was done after the 2 year closure & major rebuild) but didn't know exactly what had been done. I did notice from looking at casts on the ROH performance database that some characters changed in Act II at that time (Rose Fairy added, 3 Princesses removed, 1 less in the Mirliton & Russian dances). If the original version didn't have the Drosselmeyer & his nephew scenes at the start & end then may I ask what occupied their place in the music? The cast lists from the 80s & 90s say "Act II scene 3 Street outside the Stahlbaums' house" and "Act II scene 4 Apotheosis" which I had assumed described the last few minutes as they are now but evidently didn't.

 

ETA Looking at the cast lists from the 90s, I'm now even more confused. There's only 1 Clara credited so was she a child throughout? If so then how did the partnering with the Nutcracker work? That character must have been an adult given one of the dancers is Philip Mosley & while I don't know exactly how old he is now he's old enough that he must have been an adult in the 90s.

 

I've only seen ENB's Nutcracker once, last season, so I didn't get as far as observing the detailed movements of mice!

Edited January 3 by Dawnstar
Added 2nd paragraph.

[myrtle]

Thank you, everyone, for your insights.   I have never had the privilege of seeing and if given a chance would probably gladly go to ENB's nutcracker.   If anything the ENB costumes make the mice here a bit too feral for me.     I'm used to nutcracker mice that are dressed in a very dapper way, even if clutching cheese and gesturing threateningly.

 

Oh, and I'm still curious to know if there are wigs in the ENB nutcracker?   

Edited January 3 by myrtle
clarity

[Emeralds]

2 hours ago, myrtle said:

Sorry for my cluelessness, but could members who find it easy to give ENB nutcracker a swerve drop some hints as to why it lacks appeal to you?   I think I saw something about too few snowflakes in the snow scene for the vast stage, but are there other detractions as well?     

 

Also, are there wigs like in the ROH nutcracker?   

 

Thank you in advance for the education. 

I think you'll like the Snowflakes scene if you watched it, @myrtle- they wear gorgeous classical tutus that make them look like ethereal Snowflakes. I don't think there are too few- the Snowflakes cover a lot of distance on the stage to look like they "fly" in a snowstorm and would probably collide if there were more. I like their snow scene choreography more than the RB one although some might object to the Mouse King running in at the end and spoiling the fairytale quality of it, although this is intentional. In the ENB version Drosselmeyer wears a wig and two of the Cossack dancers have wigs, but that's it I think. The RB production has more wigs. 

[Emeralds]

7 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

Thanks. I knew the production had had alterations made around 2000 (presumably coinciding with the first time it was done after the 2 year closure & major rebuild) but didn't know exactly what had been done. I did notice from looking at casts on the ROH performance database that some characters changed in Act II at that time (Rose Fairy added, 3 Princesses removed, 1 less in the Mirliton & Russian dances). If the original version didn't have the Drosselmeyer & his nephew scenes at the start & end then may I ask what occupied their place in the music? The cast lists from the 80s & 90s say "Act II scene 3 Street outside the Stahlbaums' house" and "Act II scene 4 Apotheosis" which I had assumed described the last few minutes as they are now but evidently didn't.

 

I've only seen ENB's Nutcracker once, last season, so I didn't get as far as observing the detailed movements of mice!

In the 1984 version the three princesses were the Rose Fairy equivalent (job share!) in the Waltz of the Flowers- and had more complex and interesting choreography which I liked. But it's probably a bit confusing to have three princesses as well as a Sugar Plum Fairy! In the 1980s  Peter Wright's new classics productions for RB had big casts eg the Peasant pas de deux in Giselle (1985) became a pas de six. 

[Emeralds]

20 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

Thanks. I knew the production had had alterations made around 2000 (presumably coinciding with the first time it was done after the 2 year closure & major rebuild) but didn't know exactly what had been done. I did notice from looking at casts on the ROH performance database that some characters changed in Act II at that time (Rose Fairy added, 3 Princesses removed, 1 less in the Mirliton & Russian dances). If the original version didn't have the Drosselmeyer & his nephew scenes at the start & end then may I ask what occupied their place in the music? The cast lists from the 80s & 90s say "Act II scene 3 Street outside the Stahlbaums' house" and "Act II scene 4 Apotheosis" which I had assumed described the last few minutes as they are now but evidently didn't.

To be honest I just remembered it as Clara waking up from her dream and that's it, although I could be wrong- there wasn't much dancing so I blanked out the memory! I do remember thinking the Hans-Peter transformation and reunion looking new to me in Jan 2001 when I first saw it. The 1984 version is the one Francesca Hayward described as inspiring her to dance after watching the video. If anyone still has the video and it still works, do let us know! The  version with children (1990) never got filmed for  commercial release or broadcast in its entirety, as far as I know (unless a foreign TV station negotiated something that isn't aired in the UK!) 

Edited January 3 by Emeralds

[Emeralds]

1 hour ago, Dawnstar said:

 

ETA Looking at the cast lists from the 90s, I'm now even more confused. There's only 1 Clara credited so was she a child throughout? If so then how did the partnering with the Nutcracker work? That character must have been an adult given one of the dancers is Philip Mosley & while I don't know exactly how old he is now he's old enough that he must have been an adult in the 90s.

 

Yes, only 1 Clara throughout and she's a child (danced by a Royal Ballet School student) in the whole ballet. You can see why I didn't return after the first season- it was a tad boring. Lovely music but a very long wait the entire evening for Waltz of the Flowers and Sugar Plum grand pas de deux. It still sold out, as Nutcrackers tend to.

 

New York City Ballet also has a child Clara (called Marie), child Fritz and even a child Nutcracker in Balanchine's production! (Clara's bed does a lot of the "dancing" in the transformation scene, sliding about!) There's a lot of mime and walking around. Funnily enough I found this quite interesting to watch live and saw it twice in New York, ages ago, as well as the recent TV recordings. 

[Scheherezade]

13 hours ago, Jan McNulty said:

I've only seen the ENB production twice but from recollection the first few minutes outside the house with the skaters are fabulous and then it is downhill all the way.  I found the rest of Act 1 very hard to follow as the Nutcracker and the Nephew kept interchanging and I lost the plot.  I thought the choreography for some of the national dances in Act 2 was mundane.

This totally sums up my reaction to the ENB production. I love the beginning and agree with your reaction to the national dances but it’s the constant swapping around of the Nutcracker and the nephew that wipes it off my ‘see again’ list. How does anyone make sense of it?

[LinMM]

I think that constant swapping around completely ruins what is usually a lovely pas de deux 

For me it ruins that gorgeous music so difficult to forgive!!! 

[Silke H]

10 hours ago, Emeralds said:

New York City Ballet also has a child Clara (called Marie), child Fritz and even a child Nutcracker in Balanchine's production! (Clara's bed does a lot of the "dancing" in the transformation scene, sliding about!) There's a lot of mime and walking around. Funnily enough I found this quite interesting to watch live and saw it twice in New York, ages ago, as well as the recent TV recordings. 

Ha!  How tastes differ.  The child Marie and dancing bed are exactly my pet peeves about the Balanchine version.  And in the second act it's Mother Ginger "birthing" children that I don't like.

[Sim]

I grew up with the NYCB Balanchine Nut, where Marie just sits and watches throughout Act 2.  So when I first saw SPW's version for BRB, with Clara getting involved in all the Act 2 dances (it was the video with Sandra Madgwick and Irek Mukhamedov) I really disliked it at first.  But then it all started making sense:  if you are going to have an adult Clara, it would be a total waste to just have her sitting around watching the action in Act 2.  In his versions for both BRB and the RB, it gives the ballerina the chance to dance.  

[San Perregrino]

It’s always interesting how one’s personal filters affect perceptions of a production.

Observed in isolation ENB’s version has much to commend it and this is borne out by the repeat audiences that it has attracted for a decade. That said, the cumbersome clunky ‘Tonka’ toy (!spoiler alert!) remote control Nutcracker fills me with dread, could Clara really fall in love with such a thing? And, the first few national dances are not enough to fill the vast Coliseum stage and induce a feeling in me of having been short-changed. When danced to a high quality they are acceptable but at a recent show, the Chinese was all over the place and, i felt like I was watching four girls on a hen night dancing around their handbags rather than watching the Arabian. It is high time for a new production and that may well be forthcoming under Aaron S Watkins.

The current RB production is the standard by which most regular ballet goers judge other productions and that is a very high bar indeed.

With its refreshing scaled-down Northern Ballet’s version is eminently watchable.

Before Christmas, watching the newly refurbished BRB Nutcracker, (FYI, a trip that is worth making from London),  I heard it commented that the second act seemed to have been set in a suburban cemetery with its fake columns and oversized plastic flowers and symbols reminiscent of a child’s grave. 
Admittedly the production is bright, brash and colourful and decidedly ‘nouveau riche’ in its presentation compared to the ‘old money’ understated presentation of the RB version. Even so, I thought the comparison to a suburban cemetery rather harsh.

Having seen both productions several times I accept them for what they are. Both productions regularly receive rapturous receptions. I came away thinking that the genius of Sir Peter Wright is that he knew not only the strengths of the dancers he worked with but he could also read his audiences in both London and Birmingham and created productions to please and entertain, literally for generations, in both cities.

[bridiem]

Tweet from ENB: 'Principal casting update for this evening’s performance: Francesca Velicu replaces Shiori Kase as Clara; Ken Saruhashi replaces Erik Woolhouse as Nephew; Noam Durand replaces Victor Prigent as Nutcracker; and James Streeter replaces Henry Dowden as Drosselmeyer.'

[Dawnstar]

Crikey, that means that cast are due to dance 3rd matinee, 4th, 5th & 7th matinee. They'll be knackered! (Unless ENB are doing one of the wholesale cast exchanges they did earlier in the run & the cast end up not doing one of their other forthcoming performances.)

[Emeralds]

8 hours ago, Silke H said:

Ha!  How tastes differ.  The child Marie and dancing bed are exactly my pet peeves about the Balanchine version.  And in the second act it's Mother Ginger "birthing" children that I don't like.

SilkeH, I was a bit puzzled to read that you disagreed with me when we mostly concur, then I realised that the word "version" had gone missing for some reason! It should say "I found this version quite interesting"!

 

This production is interesting because it has not one but three showstopper ballerina solos- Dewdrop, Marzipan (lead) and Sugar Plum Fairy. I don't know if you have seen the 1990 RB production (vastly different to today's version by RB) but the reason why the pace dragged was that all the interesting dancing was squeezed in last. Balanchine placed the Sugar Plum Fairy solo (with the celesta in the score) at the start of Act 2 so that the virtuosity is spread out evenly and not crammed at the end. There's also a showstopper solo for a man besides the Sugar Plum Cavalier- the Russian dance is called Candy Cane in this production and that's a spectacular solo with a hoop that requires a lot of speed and dexterity. In Britain the children's dances in the classics eg Tom Thumb in Sleeping Beauty and Mother Ginger in Nutcracker are invariably cut from British productions but in Imperial Russian ballet tradition - brought to the US here- children's dances were common. I think the children in NYCB's version were hiding under her skirt though- don't think anyone in the audience when I watched it thought they looked birthed. Apollo's birth, on the other hand, does look like a birth! 

 

I suppose I watched it twice because great stars like Kyra Nichols, Margaret Tracey, Wendy Whelan, Damien Woetzel, Peter Boal et al were in the casts. If you think of the first half as a curtain raiser with great music to settle in your seat and the second act as the main event like a spectacular gala with brilliant star performances, it works! Where the 1990 RB version differed was in the pacing and pacing makes all the difference.  However when I saw the NYCB version I'd just seen the BRB production at its premiere season a few years before and regarded BRB's as the most balanced version, even if they fielded fewer principal dancers than NYCB did at each show. I've seen two recordings of it but am still waiting for a chance to watch BRB's Nutcracker live in person again when schedules allow.

Edited January 4 by Emeralds

[Emeralds]

8 hours ago, LinMM said:

I think that constant swapping around completely ruins what is usually a lovely pas de deux 

For me it ruins that gorgeous music so difficult to forgive!!! 

LinMM, the swapping seems to have been reduced to just once this season (or maybe it was last season also?) There's definitely much less swapping than there originally was! Eagling is obviously still tweaking it like Peter Wright frequently did with his RB version since 1984. Sorry that you had to miss out this year, but hope everything will go well next year for you and you can see it next year to compare. I wish Dutch National Ballet would put their version (very similar to ENB's) on DVD - not only is Maia Makhateli brilliant in the livestream recording but I missed their Mirliton and Arabian dances and am curious to see how they look in Amsterdam cf ENB's.

[Silke H]

5 hours ago, Emeralds said:

SilkeH, I was a bit puzzled to read that you disagreed with me when we mostly concur, then I realised that the word "version" had gone missing for some reason! It should say "I found this version quite interesting"!

 

This production is interesting because it has not one but three showstopper ballerina solos- Dewdrop, Marzipan (lead) and Sugar Plum Fairy. I don't know if you have seen the 1990 RB production (vastly different to today's version by RB) but the reason why the pace dragged was that all the interesting dancing was squeezed in last. Balanchine placed the Sugar Plum Fairy solo (with the celesta in the score) at the start of Act 2 so that the virtuosity is spread out evenly and not crammed at the end. There's also a showstopper solo for a man besides the Sugar Plum Cavalier- the Russian dance is called Candy Cane in this production and that's a spectacular solo with a hoop that requires a lot of speed and dexterity. In Britain the children's dances in the classics eg Tom Thumb in Sleeping Beauty and Mother Ginger in Nutcracker are invariably cut from British productions but in Imperial Russian ballet tradition - brought to the US here- children's dances were common. I think the children in NYCB's version were hiding under her skirt though- don't think anyone in the audience when I watched it thought they looked birthed. Apollo's birth, on the other hand, does look like a birth! 

 

I suppose I watched it twice because great stars like Kyra Nichols, Margaret Tracey, Wendy Whelan, Damien Woetzel, Peter Boal et al were in the casts. If you think of the first half as a curtain raiser with great music to settle in your seat and the second act as the main event like a spectacular gala with brilliant star performances, it works! Where the 1990 RB version differed was in the pacing and pacing makes all the difference.  However when I saw the NYCB version I'd just seen the BRB production at its premiere season a few years before and regarded BRB's as the most balanced version, even if they fielded fewer principal dancers than NYCB did at each show. I've seen two recordings of it but am still waiting for a chance to watch BRB's Nutcracker live in person again when schedules allow.

I have see NYC Ballet in the Balanchine Nutcracker multiple times when I lived in NYC and I really only go for Dewdrop, Sugarplum, Snowflakes and Candy Cane but was very selective with the casts for those too.

It's just not my thing to have a child Marie that in fact watched the 2nd act from a little candy throne in the back and that irate bed feels to me more like out of a ghost/horror movie and goes on for too long for my liking.

The "birthing" of Mother Ginger's children was in parentheses on purpose as I know it's not meant to be as such but I just find it weird to have the children coming out from Drag-Queen-like Mother Ginger's massive skirt.

The superior thing about Balanchine's Nutcracker is that it is only 2 hours (including interval).  Haha 

 

I also don't like Ratmansky's Nutcracker that he created for ABT.  I find that storyline of Clara/Sugarplum crossover (or not?) also quite weird, nor do I like Ratmansky's choreography.  Just my opinion.

[alison]

7 hours ago, bridiem said:

Tweet from ENB: 'Principal casting update for this evening’s performance: Francesca Velicu replaces Shiori Kase as Clara; Ken Saruhashi replaces Erik Woolhouse as Nephew; Noam Durand replaces Victor Prigent as Nutcracker; and James Streeter replaces Henry Dowden as Drosselmeyer.'

 

I do hope they're not going to be doing this with the Giselle casting

[LinMM]

Well I will end up having to miss my two Giselle bookings ( one ticket might be advertised here soon just waiting for a friend’s decision) but I made both with particular dancers in mind. I know nothing is guaranteed with ballet performances as anything can happen between booking date and performance date especially when months before but would hope dancers would only be changed if absolutely necessary and I’m sure this is usually the case. 

[Emeralds]

4 hours ago, LinMM said:

Well I will end up having to miss my two Giselle bookings ( one ticket might be advertised here soon just waiting for a friend’s decision) but I made both with particular dancers in mind. I know nothing is guaranteed with ballet performances as anything can happen between booking date and performance date especially when months before but would hope dancers would only be changed if absolutely necessary and I’m sure this is usually the case. 

Is it possible for you to go on another date/s, @LinMM? You must be gutted, having had to miss Laurretta Summerscales as well. I know the theatre currently still has a range of ticket choices on dates that are not the first few shows and previously they've allowed exchanges to a later date if you return in advance. Would be such a shame if you can't see this production since it was a long gap before it was revived. I wasn't aware there has been a change of cast for Giselle? 

[Emeralds]

5 hours ago, LinMM said:

Well I will end up having to miss my two Giselle bookings ( one ticket might be advertised here soon just waiting for a friend’s decision) but I made both with particular dancers in mind. I know nothing is guaranteed with ballet performances as anything can happen between booking date and performance date especially when months before but would hope dancers would only be changed if absolutely necessary and I’m sure this is usually the case. 

Has there been a change of cast for Giselle already, LinMM? Or did you mean that if the cast in the leads were changed you wouldn't go? If you booked for the first half of the run you should be able to exchange tickets to a later date with an exchange fee if it's early enough. 

[LinMM]

My post was in response to Alison’s and Bridiem’s posts about the frequent changes to ENB Nutcracker casts. 

As far as I know there have been no cast changes announced for Giselle …..as yet. 

 

I’ve not yet not gone to see a performance because of a change of cast. 
When I book it’s often to see “preferred” dancers or “new to role”dancers but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t go if there were different dancers then cast on the day
I could foresee a scenario where if a dancer I was particularly not keen on in a particular role (rare for me to be honest) was to replace  my booked “preferred” dancer and then that same dancer replaced another of my “preferred” dancers in the same run I might consider not going! 
 

Im not going on this occasion as am recovering from an operation on my wrist and it will be just too soon to be out and about up in London in the next two weeks. 
I have a taker for the 11th and may be looking for someone to take the 19th performance. 
 

Edited January 5 by LinMM

[Emeralds]

2 hours ago, LinMM said:

My post was in response to Alison’s and Bridiem’s posts about the frequent changes to ENB Nutcracker casts. 

As far as I know there have been no cast changes announced for Giselle …..as yet. 

 

I’ve not yet not gone to see a performance because of a change of cast. 
When I book it’s often to see “preferred” dancers or “new to role”dancers but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t go if there were different dancers then cast on the day
I could foresee a scenario where if a dancer I was particularly not keen on in a particular role (rare for me to be honest) was to replace  my booked “preferred” dancer and then that same dancer replaced another of my “preferred” dancers in the same run I might consider not going! 
 

Im not going on this occasion as am recovering from an operation on my wrist and it will be just too soon to be out and about up in London in the next two weeks. 
I have a taker for the 11th and may be looking for someone to take the 19th performance. 
 

Ah, this was the wrist operation I remember you saying you were waiting for! Glad you received a slot and it's been done! So that's why you can't attend! Wishing you a speedy and full recovery, LinMM. and that you'll be back enjoying performances soon. (Sorry I can't help with the ticket - I can't do weeknights for these 2 weeks. Fingers crossed you get someone!) 🍀 🍀 🍀 

[bridiem]

ENB Tweet: 'In this evening’s performance, Ken Saruhashi replaces Edvinas Jakonis as Nephew, and James Streeter replaces Giorgio Garrett as Drosselmeyer.'

[LinMM]

Thankyou Emeralds hope I didn’t come across too brusquely matter of fact in my last post ….of course I am absolutely gutted to be missing this trying not to think about it. 
But at the moment I’ve got this massively cumbersome ( but massively supportive) spongy slingy thing on over the bandage until my follow up appointment next week so can’t even wear a coat properly at the moment!! 
I was hoping I might make the 19th but  I can tell it’s too soon yet for all the travel etc involved!! 
Also I think they are predicting snow between 12th and 19th lol!!! But let’s hope not

I shall look forward to Manon both ones I’m going to in second half of February. 

 

[myrtle]

14 hours ago, LinMM said:

Thankyou Emeralds hope I didn’t come across too brusquely matter of fact in my last post ….of course I am absolutely gutted to be missing this trying not to think about it. 
But at the moment I’ve got this massively cumbersome ( but massively supportive) spongy slingy thing on over the bandage until my follow up appointment next week so can’t even wear a coat properly at the moment!! 
I was hoping I might make the 19th but  I can tell it’s too soon yet for all the travel etc involved!! 
Also I think they are predicting snow between 12th and 19th lol!!! But let’s hope not

I shall look forward to Manon both ones I’m going to in second half of February. 

 

 

Maybe it's a bit off topic, but may I ask if you might also want to be extra careful after your injury because the snow clearing (shoveling of the sidewalks) isn't as vigorously and promptly practiced in London Covent Garden, compared to more Arctic and snowbound regions?   Is the area around Coliseum safe or fairly easy to walk in inclement weather, such as during the Giselle run?    

 

I remember traveling to the Southern US and during the surprise snow storm the sidewalks were entirely black ice, block after block.  The streets weren't plowed at all, because that municipality gets snow every 35 years or so and it made no economic sense to maintain a snow clearing crew.     

 

All the best wishes for your recovery and fingers crossed that ENB may bring back the Skeaping Giselle you hope to see sooner rather than later.   

 

Back on topic, may I ask if the Nutcracker cast changes this year seem more frequent than say last year or the year before?       

 

I'm relieved to hear that in recent times there has been fewer swaps of the Nephew in ENB nutcracker, hopefully making the story easier to follow.   Thanks for everyone's insights on that discussion, especially.   

 

I think I'd like to see the ENB Nutcracker some day, because the tutu the dancers wear would probably give the snow scene a very different feel.  In several other productions the snowflakes wear long romantic tutus that make my friend refer to the dancing snowflakes as frolicking wilis.   At least this non-balletomane friend deigns to sit through ballet with me, so I can't complain, lol.

[LinMM]

😂😂I love the “frolicking wilis”

Somehow I can now see a possible comedy sketch with the Wilis suddenly defying Myrthe and doing their own thing while Giselle and Albrecht try to get the “drama” back on track! 

 

 

[Emeralds]

15 hours ago, LinMM said:

Thankyou Emeralds hope I didn’t come across too brusquely

Not at all, don't worry. 🙂

 

And I do feel your pain, as the saying goes (I hope you don’t actually have literal pain after the operation!) that it's practicalities like not being able to fit a coat over protective bandaging and a shawl/cape not being warm enough in this wintry weather.

 

Always the awful irony that a cheery ballet like Nutcracker takes place in winter when the weather and darkness outside often make travelling to and from the theatre anything but "Christmassy"! (Referring to those of us who come from a long way away).