Matthew Bourne's New Adventures - Swan Lake - 30th Anniversary Tour

[Jan McNulty]

The Swan Lake tour starts soon (in Plymouth) before heading to the Lowry and Sadler's Wells.

 

This video came in an email from the company:

 

 

[Fonty]

Wonderful.  Best version of Swan Lake in my opinion.  

[alison]

Is there any indication of casting yet?

[San Perregrino]

43 minutes ago, alison said:

Is there any indication of casting yet?

The company and certain roles are on the New Aventures website.

 

https://www.new-adventures.net/swan-lake#company

 

Daily casting is not usually known in advance

 

 

[Emeralds]

@Sophoife- George-Murray Nightingale has joined the company and will be dancing with them at Sadler's Wells!!! I hope he has a fantastic season (or many seasons) with them experiencing different repertoire - he was really good in Jewels when he danced it in London last year. 

[Sophoife]

Thank you @Emeralds for your excitement! Yes, George is touring with the company and thrilled to the back teeth.

[Jan McNulty]

I was at The Lowry on Monday evening to see the "30th Anniversary Tour" of Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake.

 

I loved it and thought it made perfect sense to me when I saw this production at Sadler's Wells on its first run (one of 3 performances that Adam Cooper didn't do, although I was fortunate to see him several times later on the tour).

 

Why has this production always made sense to me ... before I was a ballet-watcher I had a "swan incident" when a barman in a pub told my friend and I to save our crusts as the swans would take them out of our hands.  We came out of the pub and there was at least 30 swans who saw us with the bread and started to run at us.  We dropped the bread and RAN!!!   I always think that swans are very masculine so...

 

I love that Matthew Bourne has a very obvious respect for classical ballet and you can see a number of references to the traditional version in the way he uses the entrances and exits in act 2.  

 

The production has, for me, stood the test of time and looks as fresh as a daisy.  I just loved the performance on Monday evening with Jackson Fisch as The Swan and Stephen Murray as The Prince.  Ashley Shaw was wonderful as the Queen.

 

Stephen Murray gave such a beautifully nuanced performance as The Prince that he very nearly stole the whole show.

 

The final scenes in The Prince's bedroom were so powerful and moving that I completely forgot to breathe!

 

Do go and see it if you can!

 

 

As an off-topic aside, I thought the programme was good value at £7 but the paper stinks.  I actually though Chipdog has left me a present when I came downstairs on Tuesday before I realised it was the programme!

[Sunflower]

Thank you for the excellent review @Jan McNulty

 

I have front row circle seats for when it’s touring near me after Christmas, but I hope to see it in Sadlers wells too. 
 

I loved it when I originally saw it and I have been spending the last few months wondering if I misremembered it or I just won’t find it as good. So thank you for the reassurance that it has stood the test of time! 🦢 

[art_enthusiast]

I've booked for Sadler's Wells. Have been wanting to see this live ever since I saw the Billy Elliot movie a while ago.

[Jan McNulty]

27 minutes ago, art_enthusiast said:

I've booked for Sadler's Wells. Have been wanting to see this live ever since I saw the Billy Elliot movie a while ago.

 

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

[Emeralds]

On 27/11/2024 at 08:57, Jan McNulty said:

I was at The Lowry on Monday evening to see the "30th Anniversary Tour" of Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake.

 

I loved it and thought it made perfect sense to me when I saw this production at Sadler's Wells on its first run (one of 3 performances that Adam Cooper didn't do, although I was fortunate to see him several times later on the tour).

 

Why has this production always made sense to me ... before I was a ballet-watcher I had a "swan incident" when a barman in a pub told my friend and I to save our crusts as the swans would take them out of our hands.  We came out of the pub and there was at least 30 swans who saw us with the bread and started to run at us.  We dropped the bread and RAN!!!   I always think that swans are very masculine so...

 

I love that Matthew Bourne has a very obvious respect for classical ballet and you can see a number of references to the traditional version in the way he uses the entrances and exits in act 2.  

 

The production has, for me, stood the test of time and looks as fresh as a daisy.  I just loved the performance on Monday evening with Jackson Fisch as The Swan and Stephen Murray as The Prince.  Ashley Shaw was wonderful as the Queen.

 

Stephen Murray gave such a beautifully nuanced performance as The Prince that he very nearly stole the whole show.

 

The final scenes in The Prince's bedroom were so powerful and moving that I completely forgot to breathe!

 

Do go and see it if you can!

 

 

As an off-topic aside, I thought the programme was good value at £7 but the paper stinks.  I actually though Chipdog has left me a present when I came downstairs on Tuesday before I realised it was the programme!

Jan, I think I remember you saying their Sleeping Beauty souvenir programme also had a pungent smell! Wonder what on earth they're using on or in the paper to make them smell so bad! 

[art_enthusiast]

Anyone know where I can find the cast sheet for tonight at Sadler’s Wells?

[MJW]

A thrilling and very emotionally charged Swan Lane this afternoon. I will have to make sure I see this again before the current run ends.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/DDfXqeuIYt_/

[art_enthusiast]

Tonight’s performance was very good. A very interesting interpretation! This is my first viewing, so a lot to take in!

 

Could anyone possibly give me a synopsis of the Act 2 plot? I didn’t get the opportunity to pick up any programmes or cast sheets.

[alison]

Experience suggests that the programme won't help in terms of plot.

 

I don't think New Adventures do cast sheets - there's usually a board in the foyer with details of who's doing what role.

[FionaM]

12 hours ago, art_enthusiast said:

Tonight’s performance was very good. A very interesting interpretation! This is my first viewing, so a lot to take in!

 

Could anyone possibly give me a synopsis of the Act 2 plot? I didn’t get the opportunity to pick up any programmes or cast sheets.

 

From memory my version of the synopsis for Act 2:

 

The Prince is confused by the Stranger who looks like the Swan.  The Stranger is having a jolly time messing with the Prince, the Princesses and the Queen.  The Ball ends with a shooting after which the Prince is imprisoned by the royal palace psychiatric team.  His internal world of the Swan and swans overwhelms him.  

[art_enthusiast]

So the swans are all imaginary then?

I guess it's up to our interpretation!

[Jan McNulty]

16 minutes ago, art_enthusiast said:

So the swans are all imaginary then?

I guess it's up to our interpretation!

 

Which could also be said of a traditional Swan Lake.

 

IIRC Scottish Ballet had a production (by Peter Darrell?) where the white acts were opium induced dreams.

 

[Tango Dancer]

2 hours ago, art_enthusiast said:

So the swans are all imaginary then?

I guess it's up to our interpretation!

 

I've always thought they were imaginary but I may be misremembering. 

 

 

[Sophoife]

1 hour ago, Jan McNulty said:

IIRC Scottish Ballet had a production (by Peter Darrell?) where the white acts were opium induced dreams.

 

Not to forget Graeme Murphy's Swan Lake in which both the white and the black swan corps were the fevered imaginings of an Odette confined to a mental asylum.

[FionaM]

6 hours ago, art_enthusiast said:

So the swans are all imaginary then?

I guess it's up to our interpretation!

they are very real to the Prince, and to the old lady feeding them. 😉🤷🏼‍♀️

[alison]

On 12/12/2024 at 22:47, art_enthusiast said:

Could anyone possibly give me a synopsis of the Act 2 plot? I didn’t get the opportunity to pick up any programmes or cast sheets.

 

Well, this is what the old Adventures in Motion Pictures website had back late last century - I can't guarantee things haven't changed since then, but I guess the gist is much the same:

 

"A group of tabloid photographers and assorted Royal watchers are gathered, outside the Royal Palace, to watch the arrival of various European Princesses and their escorts. Inside, the Queen and Prince welcome the guests and lead the first dance.

 

The Prince seems happy and relaxed until he notices that the Private Secretary has invited the Girlfriend.

 

The Queen is obviously displeased and suggests that the Prince dances with the other Princesses to take his mind off her.

 

During the Royal Ball a gatecrasher enters... the Stranger.

 

He is confident, aggressive and attractive and is instantly the focus of everyone's attention - especially the Queen's.

 

The Prince is completely shocked at how much the Stranger reminds him of the Swan and hides among the guests in order to follow him.

 

The Stranger dances with the Princesses, sweeping them off their feet and then turns his attention to the Queen. He swirls her round the ballroom and the Queen is helpless to resist his charms.

 

The Prince begins to imagine himself dancing with the Stranger but his dream soon turns into a nightmare. As the Stranger copies the Swan's movements the duet turns into a struggle which leaves the Prince looking foolish and the guests at the Court laughing at him.

 

At this, the Prince is driven almost to madness and forces himself between the Stranger and the Queen, drawing a gun and aiming at the Queen.  

 

The Private Secretary draws his gun to defend the Queen; the Girlfriend runs forward to reason with the Prince'; Shots are fired and the Girlfriend falls; The Prince is dragged away.

 

 

The Prince is alone in his huge bed. He is having a nightmare. He starts out of his sleep as the door opens.

 

The Queen enters and tries to comfort the Prince but cannot bring herself to show any real concern.

 

She calls for a Doctor and when he arrives the Prince sees him as the Private Secretary and his nurses as copies of the Queen.

 

The examination becomes a torture and the Prince is left shocked and drugged on his bed.

 

In his mind the swans begin to invade the room and as he wakes they vanish.

 

He feels as if he is losing his mind completely when the Swan emerges from the empty bed.

 

At first the Prince is nervous because he remembers the Swan/Stranger turning against him, but the Swan is once more beautiful and tender and invites him on to the bed, an island of safety.

 

The other swans re-enter. They are now aggressive and vicious, swooping the Prince off the bed and turning on their leader.

 

As much as the Prince could not live in their world, the Swan cannot exist in the human world and the flock destroy him.

 

The Prince is broken, his sanity has deserted him and he collapses on the empty bed.

 

As he dies the swans disappear. The Queen enters to find her son dead and grieves over his body, the first time she has shown any love for him at all.  

 

High above them in the window we see the Swan cradling the Young Prince in his arms - re-united forever."

 

I probably still have the PAGES AND PAGES of printout somewhere, too ...

 

 

[MJW]

Rather a delayed post: I went last Thursday afternoon for a second time and saw Harrison Dowzell as the Swan/Stranger and Leonardo McCorkindale as the Prince so a change from the cast I saw previously (remembered to take a photo of the cast list this time!). Both they and the rest of the cast were excellent.

 

Again a beautiful incredibly moving (and at times funny) performance. Rather tearful at the end and rather embarrassingly again on the tube on the way home.

 

I have managed to get hold of a ticket for the Saturday matinee as I really wanted to try and see it for a final time before it goes on nationwide tour.  

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/DE5kuXqtY2s/

Edited Tuesday at 21:15 by MJW

[Chira]

On 13/12/2024 at 14:28, art_enthusiast said:

So the swans are all imaginary then?

I guess it's up to our interpretation!

 🤯 

Never considered this before

Will now never be able not to