RB Summer Period Casting

[Aruna S]

32 minutes ago, zxDaveM said:

 

Well, there are still loads of tickets left - so it is really only us hard core fans who love Ashton (as can be seen by the tickets that have been sold - 'fans' tickets!) that go for these triple bills, sadly.

This has actually worked out well for me! I hadn't planned on going, but when I saw the casting I couldn't resist seeing Cuthbertson-Muntagirov in The Dream. 

[Fairy]

Casting looks great although I'm disappointed Anna-Rose isn't doing The Dream - she'd make a great Titania 

[annamk]

47 minutes ago, zxDaveM said:

 

Well, there are still loads of tickets left - so it is really only us hard core fans who love Ashton (as can be seen by the tickets that have been sold - 'fans' tickets!) that go for these triple bills, sadly.

 

Wow, I just had a look and am quite shocked and saddened by how low sales are, particularly given the top price is two thirds of Swan Lake. I hope sales pick up nearer the time or the RB might find it difficult to justify this kind of programming in the future.

[alison]

18 hours ago, capybara said:

Hayward has the lead in either The Dream or Rhapsody in 7 out of the 10 shows.

 

I make it 5 - at least, based on Dawnstar's spreadsheet?  I know it's complicated trying to switch between the two, but is it really 7?

 

I must admit, some of the casting has been somewhat unexpected from my point of view.  I had been hoping we'd finally get Muntagirov's Oberon (he was supposed to do it in the School's graduation performance, but had been injured, I believe), but had never thought of Cuthbertson for Titania.  Or Richardson for Oberon, for that matter.  Did Osipova do Titania in a previous season?  

[Mary]

Muntagirov and Cuthbertson were beautiful in Two Pigeons- I am delighted with this casting and dleighted I can go....

 

Also pleased to see Calvin Richardson get his chance at Oberon as I can really see him in the role after his recent performances.

 

 

[capybara]

9 minutes ago, alison said:

 

I make it 5 - at least, based on Dawnstar's spreadsheet?  I know it's complicated trying to switch between the two, but is it really 7?

 

I must admit, some of the casting has been somewhat unexpected from my point of view.  I had been hoping we'd finally get Muntagirov's Oberon (he was supposed to do it in the School's graduation performance, but had been injured, I believe), but had never thought of Cuthbertson for Titania.  Or Richardson for Oberon, for that matter.  Did Osipova do Titania in a previous season?  

Apologies - Hayward also has two Ophelias.

[Jamesrhblack]

1 hour ago, Emeralds said:

I think the wig is for the ringlets and to reflect the original Titania's hair colouring. Of course, they could do the ringlets in different hair colours- would have to get permission  from the rights holder, Anthony Dowell.

In Recollections of a Ballerina, Antoinette Sibley writes,

 

”I had a wig but Fred wasn’t happy with that so I dyed my hair green…Yes, the first night I wore my own hair dyed green.”

[Vanartus]

19 minutes ago, alison said:

 Did Osipova do Titania in a previous season?  

Yep - early days at RB with Matthew Golding

[zxDaveM]

27 minutes ago, annamk said:

 I hope sales pick up nearer the time or the RB might find it difficult to justify this kind of programming in the future.

 

my thoughts too 😞

[zxDaveM]

15 minutes ago, Mary said:

Muntagirov and Cuthbertson were beautiful in Two Pigeons- I am delighted with this casting and dleighted I can go....

 

Also pleased to see Calvin Richardson get his chance at Oberon as I can really see him in the role after his recent performances.

 

 

 

M&C - yes they were 🙂

Yas will make sure Calvin's up to scratch, with no doubt 😉

 

[capybara]

1 minute ago, zxDaveM said:

 

M&C - yes they were 🙂

Yas will make sure Calvin's up to scratch, with no doubt 😉

 

M&C?

Yas?

😳

[bridiem]

22 minutes ago, annamk said:

Wow, I just had a look and am quite shocked and saddened by how low sales are, particularly given the top price is two thirds of Swan Lake. I hope sales pick up nearer the time or the RB might find it difficult to justify this kind of programming in the future.

 

Yes, I hope sales will pick up too. But I think that (as discussed elsewhere) marketing does matter in selling programmes. And if the whole thrust of the RB's 'sell' is geared towards the big MacMillans, Swan Lake/Nutcracker, and McGregor, it must make it more difficult selling other types of works/programmes. Labelling older works as 'heritage' is a big no-no as far as I'm concerned. And only programming such works in separate bills is unlikely to help. Audiences need to be educated (and I'm not saying that from a lofty standpoint - I'm still learning; but in my early years of ballet-going I was able to see all sorts of works of different styles/eras/choreographers, often at the RB). Ballet isn't just entertainment and/or tragedy and/or cool gymnastics. It's an incredibly expressive, interesting and flexible art form, and there are many wonderful works from earlier eras that should be shown regularly, and that's what audiences should expect. (Not everything can be sold in the breathless way that so many of the livestreams are sold.)

[zxDaveM]

5 minutes ago, capybara said:

M&C?

Yas?

😳

Muntagirov and Cuthbertson

Yasmine Naghdi

(as per quoting Mary's post...)

[San Perregrino]

Just an observation that June is a month in which to be outside in the evenings to make the most of any summer weather especially for the young audience that the ROH targets. Also there are a lot of other productions competing for peoples’ attendance and money. 
e.g. I’ve got tickets to 4 tennis tournaments in June and, if the weather is clement, these will take precedence over being inside to watch ballet. Going to more than one of each Ashton & Sarasota is my rainy day plan B. 

Edited March 29 by San Perregrino

[bridiem]

8 minutes ago, San Perregrino said:

Just an observation that June is a month in which to be outside in the evenings to make the most of any summer weather especially for the young audience that the ROH targets. Also there are a lot of other productions competing for peoples’ attendance and money. 
e.g. I’ve got tickets to 4 tennis tournaments in June and, if the weather is clement, these will take precedence over being inside to watch ballet. Going to more than one of each Ashton & Sarasota is my rainy day plan B. 

 

I agree that the dates/crowded (and repetitive) programming in those few weeks won't help. 

[TSR101]

I personally do not think there is any justification for the unnecessary duplication caused by running two sets of triples with repeated programming.  Rhapsody was last on in 2022 - there has not been that much ballet at the ROH since it was on (even more madness to put Rhapsody in both programmes).  This should be a Les Rendezvous/The Dream/Short Works programme. 

[Emeralds]

1 hour ago, Jamesrhblack said:

In Recollections of a Ballerina, Antoinette Sibley writes,

 

”I had a wig but Fred wasn’t happy with that so I dyed my hair green…Yes, the first night I wore my own hair dyed green.”

I know women - or anyone- can dye their hair colour, but all the photos I've seen of Sibley show her with fair hair. Not as light blonde as Hamilton and Lamb but still a blonde colour. The press photos of her show her with loose, straight blonde hair. Long loose hair is impractical and often ends up looking a mess amd stuck to one's face when doing fast pirouettes so that might just be for publicity pictures.

 

Green (depending on the shade) can look blonde/pale under stage lights if it's very pale green - unfortunately I wasn't around when the first night took place so don't know how green it looked (matching Oberon's costume??!) Not sure when it was decided to change to ringlets but there is one photo of them both dancing the roles later on with Sibley using a wig with ringlets. 

[Emeralds]

2 hours ago, annamk said:

 

Wow, I just had a look and am quite shocked and saddened by how low sales are, particularly given the top price is two thirds of Swan Lake. I hope sales pick up nearer the time or the RB might find it difficult to justify this kind of programming in the future.

But public booking has only just opened 2 days ago- that's not low sales at all. Even Nutcracker doesn't sell that quickly. If today was 1 June, then one should be worried,  but it's still only March. There are more than 2 months left to go. However, Sarasota Ballet is pretty much sold out. 

[capybara]

1 hour ago, zxDaveM said:

Muntagirov and Cuthbertson

Yasmine Naghdi

(as per quoting Mary's post...)

I know…… 😉 and I find the familiarity endearing but the rot can set in quite quickly once we start to use shorthand.

 

 

[zxDaveM]

Just now, capybara said:

I know…… 😉 and I find the familiarity endearing but the rot can set in quite quickly once we start to use shorthand.

 

 

 

Yes, I usually try to avoid doing it, but as all the info in the post I was quoting (and I was rushing), I allowed myself to cheat just this one time 🙂

[Emeralds]

2 hours ago, alison said:

Did Osipova do Titania in a previous season?  

Yes, with Matthew Golding as Oberon in June 2014. I thought she was very good and really captured the Fairy Queen qualities of Titania (as well as the Ashton style), and wasn't tempted to portray her as a cute Tinkerbell type of fairy or a human sensual queen, both of which I've seen a few ballerinas close to doing. She wasn't in the 2017 run though- that was Takada, Hayward and Morera; she was dancing in Marguerite and Armand instead. 

Edited March 29 by Emeralds

[OnePigeon]

Casting still isn’t on the website yet either so that won’t help ticket sales get off to a flying start.  I don’t think the duplicate programming helps either - most people will only choose one of the triples to attend.  Hopefully they will sell well over time though, or alternatively, maybe we’ll be getting in a miff about some people being emailed with a discount code come May 😉.

[Mary]

Public booking has only just opened and it's Easter weekend.. I don't think we should despair of triple bill sales yet.

 

[myrtle]

3 hours ago, Fairy said:

Casting looks great although I'm disappointed Anna-Rose isn't doing The Dream - she'd make a great Titania 

Anna Rose has the sparkle and spontaneity to really shine as Titania.   On top of her own innate qualities as a dancer, there is the bonus appeal that the wigs would actually look good on her, instead of out-of-place and absurd.

 

The wigs are the #1 reason I prefer Balanchine's version, although Titania and Oberon do not even dance together in it, lol. 

 

[TSR101]

52 minutes ago, OnePigeon said:

Casting still isn’t on the website yet either so that won’t help ticket sales get off to a flying start.  I don’t think the duplicate programming helps either - most people will only choose one of the triples to attend.  Hopefully they will sell well over time though, or alternatively, maybe we’ll be getting in a miff about some people being emailed with a discount code come May 😉.

I assumed that casting wasn't up to give Friends an opportunity to book now with casting known before it was made public (I am rather surprised the puritanical moderators haven't banned us posting the Friends casting given ROH hasn't given permission for its onward publication, like they did with the offer code). 

[Dawnstar]

50 minutes ago, OnePigeon said:

Casting still isn’t on the website yet either so that won’t help ticket sales get off to a flying start.  I don’t think the duplicate programming helps either - most people will only choose one of the triples to attend.  Hopefully they will sell well over time though, or alternatively, maybe we’ll be getting in a miff about some people being emailed with a discount code come May 😉.

 

I wonder why the casting wasn't put up on the website yesterday? Given the Bank Holidays, I suppose it now may not get added until Tuesday. That's hardly going to encourage ticket sales, especially for more "casual" potential attendees who are unlikely to be able to find the information elsewhere. I agree the duplicate programming may not help either. If they want to do 2 triple bills with a substatial overlap then why not do one near the start of the season & one near the end? Like in 2018-19 when Symphony in C was performed in November and June.

 

14 hours ago, myrtle said:

I don't mean to spam the forum, just wanted to say thank you to everyone who kindly helped me find the casting, and also to say wow, Dawnstar, I'm so impressed with your spreadsheet and found it enormously helpful, so thank you for going through the trouble of representing the data in a different way and sharing it.

 

Thanks. I've done it a couple of times before for triple bills as for me it makes it a lot easier to work out the best way of seeing the maximum number of casts in the minimum number of performances.

 

16 hours ago, JNC said:

Similar to the MacMillan there’s no easy way to see each single cast once without any repeats(?).

 

The best option I can work out is 7th, 15th matinee, 19th & 22nd matinee. That covers every cast in every piece (excluding Walk To The Paradise Gardens as there is no casting info for that) apart from Magri in the Five Brahms Waltzes, & doesn't include any repeated casts. (Incidentally the MacMillan triple was originally pretty easy: 27th combined with either 4th or 9th covered both casts for all 3 pieces, but the subsequent cast changes have messed it up a bit.)

[myrtle]

4 hours ago, Emeralds said:

I am 90% certain blonde wig but didn't bring anything to photograph curtain calls that day, so can't be 100% sure. Osipova, Morera and Takada all wore the wig in previous runs too. 

 

(20 minutes later): Found photo by Tristram Kenton on DanceTabs of Hayward & Sambe at ROH- definitely blonde wig. 

 

 

Thank you so much.    I too found the photographic evidence too late after the editing window and didn't feel I should ask the busy mods to remove evidence of my gaffe.   

 

 

4 hours ago, Scheherezade said:

Can we start a petition, please, to ditch the blonde wig. And who decreed that Titania had to be blonde anyway?

 

Edited to add that I have half a recollection of seeing a non-blonde Titania but can't be sure and I don't think it was Hayward. Takada perhaps?

 

Gillian Murphy looks great with her red ringlets on ABT advertising that I've seen in the past. 

 

Dowell can't have been too adamantly opposed to *every* dancer wearing their natural hair, because there was also this:

 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/145668368604?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=145668368604&targetid=1529493983902&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9003534&poi=&campaignid=19851828444&mkgroupid=145880009014&rlsatarget=pla-1529493983902&abcId=9307249&merchantid=752519649&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI94HV0_iZhQM

 

If Takada had worn her natural hair color styled into ringlets on the ROH stream, it would not be so off-putting.

 

I have much more to say but this is not the place.   Suffice it to say that I love Hayward (and O'Sullivan and many other ROH dancers), I love Mendelsohn's music, I think it's great that unlike Balanchine, Ashton used the best music for Oberon and Titania to dance together, but I will only attend one (1) performance of this extravaganza, whereas I attended nearly every performance of Balanchine's Midsummer night's dream.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 29 by myrtle

[Shade]

Yes the Dream has lovely music- one reason that my husband will attend with me. husband chooses to attend for selected performances only, avoiding the challenge of the MacMillan triple bill for example.

But it hate the blonde wigs!

[myrtle]

25 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

I wonder why the casting wasn't put up on the website yesterday? Given the Bank Holidays, I suppose it now may not get added until Tuesday. That's hardly going to encourage ticket sales, especially for more "casual" potential attendees who are unlikely to be able to find the information elsewhere. I agree the duplicate programming may not help either. If they want to do 2 triple bills with a substatial overlap then why not do one near the start of the season & one near the end? Like in 2018-19 when Symphony in C was performed in November and June.

 

 

 

Perhaps this is a special privilege granted to members and friends, not just any random member of the ticket buying public, who will (finally) be informed when the actual website gets updated later?     

 

I do so admire your skills with the spreadsheet and I think you helped many people with your share, including many lurkers who are facing the same dilemma and don't know how best to see their two or three most favorite casts given budgeting and other constraints, for example.    I also admire your very frank and engaging descriptions of shows you've seen.     Thank you for all you kindly contribute to this forum.

 

 

(I am also thankful to all the other members who contribute information, impressions, news and links and all the mods for their hard work, esp. all the people who kindly point me in the right direction, but this is a post about Dawnstar's awe-insipiring spreadsheet wizardry, lol).

[myrtle]

6 minutes ago, Shade said:

Yes the Dream has lovely music- one reason that my husband will attend with me. husband chooses to attend for selected performances only, avoiding the challenge of the MacMillan triple bill for example.

But it hate the blonde wigs!

 

Spouses are truly necessary evils.   There's been a number of ballets that I've been warned I will be seeing alone in the future.   

 

Edited March 29 by myrtle

[Dawnstar]

4 minutes ago, myrtle said:

Perhaps this is a special privilege granted to members and friends, not just any random member of the ticket buying public, who will (finally) be informed when the actual website gets updated later?    

 

Per today's links, the casting has been published on the Gramilano website so it is in the public domain & therefore presumably not supposed to be just for Friends. However more casual potential ticket buyers are probably less likely to know of the existance of specialist dance websites such as Gramilano (I certainly didn't know of it until I joined here & started to see mentions of it) & are therefore less likely to find the casting info on it.

 

Thank you very much.

[Emeralds]

I like Balanchine's A Midsummer Night's Dream and Ashton's The Dream equally!  😊  For me personally, one can never have too much Mendelssohn.   I'm still hoping to catch John Neumeier's version one day! Hamburg Ballet, hint hint, please come and dance  here. (Hope Kevin O'Hare, Alex Beard and Alistair Spalding are all reading this!)  😀 

 

I don't mind whether they have the wig or use their own hair. Perhaps it can be left up to the dancer to choose. If a ballerina has fine straight hair or dry hair, she might prefer a wig rather than having it damaged by being curled and restyled repeatedly for performances.  Takada's wig was blonde- have a look on the ROH YouTube channel clips (or they do post it at least 3 times a year ....someone in the social media team loves seeing Takada as Titania. Must admit they have good taste there!) I saw her in 2017, and yes, it was blonde. She looked great!

Edited March 29 by Emeralds

[Dawnstar]

I think my computer may be trying to tell me that I've spent too much time in this thread in the last 24 hours: when reading the Guardian review of ENB's Carmen just now I realised the ad in the sidebar was for the Ashton triple bills!