MARK KAPPEL

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NEWSNOTES DANCE BLOG

NEWSNOTES DANCE BLOG

MARK KAPPEL

EDITOR

252 WEST 76TH STREET

SUITE 6E

NEW YORK NY 10023

TELEPHONE: 212-724-3889

E-MAIL: MARKKAPL1@aol.com

WEB SITE:

http://www.markkappeldance.com/

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MISSION STATEMENT

FROM THE EDITOR

Recognizing the need to promote the personal accomplishments of creative artists and to inform dance audiences, dance professionals, dance supporters, and the general public about news in the dance world, I have established the NewsNotes Dance Blog. It is my goal to collaborate with the dance community in this effort. Please direct announcements and press releases for inclusion and coverage to Editor/NewsNotes Dance Blog at MARKKAPL1@aol.com

NEWS IN THE DANCE WORLD

4-22-20 - The San Francisco Ballet has announced that Wona Park and Max Cauthorn have been promoted from soloist to principal dancers, and Ellen Rose Hummel, Diego Cruz, Lucas Erni, and Myles Thatcher have been promoted to soloist. Nikisha Fogo will be joining the San Francisco Ballet as a principal dancer.

4-15-20 - Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre has announced the appointment of Susan Jaffe as the company's new artistic director.

3-26-20 - The Boston Ballet has announced that Tigran Mkrtchyan has been promoted to principal dancer, and Chisako Oga has been promoted to the rank of soloist.

3-3-20 - The Australian Ballet has announced the appointment of David Hallberg as the company's new artistic director.

8-5-19 - Luke Schaufuss will be joining the Sarasota Ballet as a principal dancer.

7-5-19 - American Ballet Theatre has announced the promotions of Aran Bell and Joo Won Ahn to the rank of soloist.

6-25-19 - Linnar Looris has been appointed the new artistic director of the Estonian National Ballet.

6-17-19 - The National Ballet of Canada has announced that Brendan Saye has been promoted to principal dancer, and Ben Rudisin and Donald Thom have been promoted to first soloist.

6-9-19 - Sergio Trujllo was given the Tony Award for Best Choreography for Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations.

6-7-19 - The Royal Ballet has announced that Marcelino Sambe has been promoted to the rank of principal dancer.

5-8-19 - Ballet Memphis has named Steven McMahon to be the company's new artistic director beginning with the 2019-20 season.

5-6-19 - The San Francisco Ballet has announced that Esteban Hernandez, WanTing Zhao and Benjamin Freemantle have been promoted to the rank of principal dancer, and Madison Keesler and Cavan Conley have been promoted to soloists.

4-17-19 - Miami City Ballet has announced that Carlos Quenedit will be rejoining the company as a principal dancer, Kathryn Morgan joins the company as a soloist, Alexander Peters has been promoted to principal dancer, and Emily Bromberg, Shimon Ito, and Chase Swatosh have been promoted to principal soloists.

2-28-19 - The New York City Ballet has announced the appointments of Jonathan Stafford as artistic director, Wendy Whelan as associate artistic director, and Justin Peck as artistic advisor.

1-15-19 - Carlos Acosta has been appointed the new artistic director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet.

DIARY

Pacific Northwest Ballet Dances Swan Lake

May 24, 2020

By Mark Kappel

Although more and more American ballet companies are getting on board in regard to presenting livestream performances, few of them are presenting full-length ballets. The companies, for the most part, are choosing to represent themselves with contemporary ballet dance pieces – and double bills of that same genre of dance.

For its most recent livestream presentation Pacific Northwest Ballet is putting on view its production of Swan Lake, credited to Kent Stowell, with the Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov choreography included in this production, staged by Francia Russell, which had its premiere in 2003.

Notable for its evocative scenery designs by Ming Cho Lee, there is an interpretation that is revealed in this production of Swan Lake which is that Siegfried is not the brooding and tragic prince presented in most productions of Swan Lake. In this production Siegfried dances an optimistic solo in the middle of what is Act I and although Siegfried’s mother threatens him with the ultimatum that he must marry a Princess to be chosen from Princesses at a ball, Siegfried seems to be taking this obligation in stride. This Siegfried is not Hamlet on the Lake, is reverential, and less passionate.

In meeting Odette in the first Lakeside Scene, Siegfried is surprised but doesn’t seem to show urgency, and although he easily betrays Odette in being duped by Odile (Baron Von Rothbart’s daughter disguised as Odette) once again there is not the feeling of tragedy and loss when he returns to the lake in the hope of Odette forgiving him. This production ends with Odette once again falling under the spell of Baron Von Rothbart (played with a minimum of menace by William Yin-Lee) and remaining a swan, while Siegfried grieves for the emptiness he will face in his life – but more like Albrecht in Giselle rather than Siegfried in Swan Lake.

Stowell provides some new choreography in his production of Swan Lake and one odd change is transforming the Russian Dance into a “Persian Dance” – performed instead of the Polish Mazurka in the Ballroom Scene, and there is also the intrusive Jester – danced with all of the virtuosity that the role requires by Kyle Davis. Also notable is the well-danced traditional Act I Pas de Trois danced by Leta Biasucci, Angelica Generosa, and Benjamin Griffiths.

Seth Orza is an elegant Prince Siegfried, and as mentioned also reverential, and an excellent partner. Noelani Pantastico, as Odette/Odile, doesn’t always differentiate those two very different characters in her dancing and acting while dancing the dual roles with technical aplomb.

Pacific Northwest Ballet’s production of Swan Lake is simple and straightforward – and academic -- which might be better served with more narrative detail as only the outlines seem to be there but not with as much substance as I would have preferred.

Perm Opera Ballet Presents A Program Of Works By British Choreographers

May 23, 2020

By Mark Kappel

The Perm Opera Ballet has engaged many Western European choreographers to work with its dancers. For its latest presentation the Perm Opera Ballet is performing a triple bill of dance works choreographed by British choreographers which had its livestream premiere on May 23, 2020.

Opening this program is Frederick Ashton’s Les Patineurs, which was given its world premiere in 1937 by the Vic Wells Ballet, and its Perm Ballet premiere in 2014.

Choreographed to music composed by Giacomo Meyerbeer, with iconic designs by William Chappell, Ashton depicts a Victorian skating party in Les Patineurs – stylish and including virtuosity as well.

The style came from Ekaterina Poleshchuk and Oleg Kulikov in the White Pas de Deux, with the virtuosity supplied by Kirill Makurin in the Pas de Trois joined by Lyaisan Gisatullina and Ekaterina Pyatysheva.

Although the dancers did not perfectly capture Ashton’s style or the sharp execution required by Ashton’s choreography, the Perm Opera Ballet dancers danced Les Patineurs with the appropriate spirit.

The middle dance piece was Douglas Lee’s When Snow Was Falling, his second creation for the Perm Ballet which was given its premiere in 2015. British-born Douglas Lee had been a principal dancer of the Stuttgart Ballet and is now pursuing an independent career as a choreographer.

For When Snow Was Falling, Lee uses music by Bernard Herrmann (his film scores for Fahrenheit 451 and Twilight Zone) which creates a mysterious and grim soundscape for Lee’s equally grim choreography. Lee’s choreographic vocabulary in this piece is that of contemporary ballet – with the ladies in pointe shoes – with modern dance choreography as a ghostly presence – with random movement as the signature. Moody and circumspect, this ensemble work channels a hint of William Forsythe and Jiri Kylian, and brings out the Perm Opera Ballet dancers’ talent for dancing such choreography.

When Snow Was Falling was danced in earnest by the cast of Lyaisan Gisatullina Larissa Moskalenko, Anna Pushvintseva-Poistogova, Alexander Taranov, Roman Tarkhanov, Ivan Tkachenko, and Taras Tovstguk.

Kenneth MacMillan’s Winter Dreams, given its world premiere by the Royal Ballet in 1991, closed this triple bill program. Having had its Perm Ballet premiere in 2014, in this ballet MacMillan presents vignettes in which the characters in Anton Chekhov’s The Three Sisters are defined and drawn. It was not MacMillan’s purpose to literally tell the story in The Three Sisters but to make allusions to this familiar tragic comedy.

MacMillan chose to create this nostalgic work to Tchaikovsky piano music and traditional Russian music played by musicians on the stage.

The solos are choreographed as inner dialogues and the pas de deux are intended to reveal emotions and conflict. In spite of MacMillan’s inspired efforts, the characters are not consistently fleshed out. However, the Perm Opera Ballet dancers sort out the relationships in Winter Dreams by instinct.

Albina Rangulova (Olga), Polina Buldakova (Masha), and Anna Terentieva (Irina) bring the three sisters to life in the ballet’s naturalistic choreography and also emphasize the ballet’s few comic moments.

What is common in all of these ballets is that snow falls at some point – a clever way to link these ballets together in this program of dance.

Streaming Musicals Presents Marry Harry

May 22, 2020

By Mark Kappel

Having had its off-Broadway premiere by the York Theatre Company in 2017, Streaming Musicals presented – as a livestream – the film adaptation of the chamber musical, Marry Harry on May 22, 2020.

Marry Harry is a romantic musical comedy about two late bloomers who meet by chance in the East Village. They fall in love in less than 24 hours – get engaged – and in the course of springing this all on their single parents, it all becomes fuzzy and uncertain. In the end there is the feeling that the boy and girl will get together but that is also uncertain.

With a clever book by Jennifer R. Manocherian, and a score by Dan Martin and Michael Biello that hits all of the emotional buttons, Marry Harry tells its story in an empathetic and low-key manner – with characters all of us can identify with.

Structurally Marry Harry focuses on the relationship of Sherri (played by Diane Phelan) and Little Harry (played by David Spadora) who seem trapped in the plans laid out for them by their single parents, Francine (played by Veanne Cox) who is Sherri’s mother, and Big Harry (played by Paul Salvatoriello) who is Little Harry’s father. Both have their own businesses – Big Harry is the owner of a family restaurant where Little Harry is a cook – but has ambitions to be a chef.

Both Sherri and Little Harry have had relationships and ambitions that are packed in their emotional baggage. However, it seems they were destined for each other. There is also a chorus of Voices (Jesse Manocherian, Tony Melson, and Kim Steele) who comment on the action and offer advice to all of the characters who are drawn with clarity by these wonderful actors.

Under the adept direction of Bill Castellino, the nuances in Marry Harry are made evident and one has the opportunity to enjoy the ride.

Perm Opera Ballet Entertains With Don Quixote

May 20, 2020

By Mark Kappel

The Perm Opera Ballet of Perm, Russia, has been actively involved in making available livestreams of performances of the company’s extensive repertoire.

Presented on May 20, 2020 was a livestream of the company’s current production of Don Quixote, which premiered in 2004, and was staged by Yuliana Malkhasyants based on the Alexander Gorsky production of Don Quixote, plus additional choreography by Anatoly Simachev and Naum Azarin-Messerer.

Although Don Quixote is the name of the ballet, the story in the ballet version is his happening upon a small village in the midst of his quest to find his own true love, Dulcinea.

The plot focuses on the romantic pairing of Kitri, the daughter of an Innkeeper, and Basilio, one of the locals, and how their romance is interfered with by Kitri’s father who prefers a match with a local aristocrat, Gamache, but the Don meddles and defends Kitri’s match with Basilio, and ends with the marriage of Kitri and Basilio with the Don’s blessing and Kitri’s father’s blessing. And this ballet is a comedy yet structured as many Marius Petipa ballets are with exposition in the first act, a vision scene in the second act, and a wedding celebration in the third act. But as the plot of this ballet is rather thin, it is up to the dancers to outline the characters and dazzle in dancing the virtuoso choreography that showcases them.

In this performance the pairing of Polina Buldakova as Kitri and Kirill Makurin as Basilio serve up the dazzle and the laughs, and still have more to give in terms of the virtuosity required in the Third Act Grand Pas de Deux. However, there are also notable performances from Egor Shitikov as Espada the Matador, Anna Pushvintseva-Poistogova as the Street Dancer, Ekaterina Poleshchuk as Mercedes, Tomone Kagawa as Queen of the Dryads, and Ekaterina Pyatysheva as Cupid.

To bring off the comedic elements in Don Quixote you have to have capable character dancers as well, and in this performance they were Alexander Sokolov in the title role, Evgeny Gromov as Sancho Panza, Ivan Vinichenko as the hapless and abandoned suitor, Gamache, and Sergei Kreker as the over protective father, Lorenzo, the Innkeeper.

If you haven’t seen the Perm Opera Ballet before these livestreams will certainly give you an introduction to a ballet company that is not well known on the international ballet scene.

Dutch National Ballet Tribute to Hans van Manen – Part Two

May 16, 2020

By Mark Kappel

In continuing its livestream series on May 16, 2020, the Dutch National Ballet presented the second of its livestreams paying tribute to Hans van Manen, one of the company’s most influential artistic leaders and choreographers.

This program opens with Sarcasm, choreographed to music by Prokofiev which received its premiere in 1981. In Sarcasm van Manen depicts the conflicts of a warring couple – the male participant of the couple is a bit vain and a show-off, and the female counterpart in the relationship watches her male counterpart rant – and ultimately gets her say with a bit of taunting – and in the end some mutual understanding.

van Manen’s choreography expertly captures human body language effectively and here it is danced with the necessary earnestness by Anna Tsyganakova and Constantine Allen.

Following Sarcasm is Two Gold Variations, which had its premiere in 1999, and is choreographed to Jacob ter Veldhuis’ Goldrush Concerto. Just as in Sarcasm, in Two Gold Variations, van Manen examines the conflicts between men and women in groups and also in isolation. It is a woman who opens the piece and it is also a woman who closes the piece – in between the female/male couples arrive to participate in the large ensemble dance one at a time participating in energetic and emerging group dances which imply conflict and resolution.

The cast of Igone de Jongh, Jozef Varga, Young Gyu Choi, Pascalle Paerel, James Stout, Erica Horwood, Semyon Velichko, Milena Sidorova, Edo Wijhen, Wendeline Wijkstra, Roman Artyushkin, Tess Sturmann, Mathew Pawlicki-Sinclair, and Floor Eimers portray those conflicts and meet the technical demands of van Manen’s choreography.

This program ends with a short documentary on the rehearsals, and the making of van Manen’s Without Words – as well as short excerpts from the ballet itself – but most important it is watching van Manen in a laboratory interacting with the dancers and creating choreography for his own work.

The Dutch National Ballet succeeds for a second time in providing a showcase for an influential choreographer.

Stuttgart Ballet Dances Another John Cranko Signature Work

May 14, 2020

By Mark Kappel

John Cranko did not choreograph very many plotless ballets but one that was significant was his ballet, Initials R.B.M.E. This ballet was a tribute to some of his favorite dancers who were in Stuttgart when he was forming and fashioning the future of the Stuttgart Ballet. On May 14, 2020 this ballet was presented in a livestream of a recent performance by the Stuttgart Ballet.

The initials in Initials R.B.M.E. represent Richard Cragun, Birgit Keil, Marcia Haydee, and Egon Madsen whose talents inspired Cranko when he was creating his best-known narrative ballets. This plotless ballet was choreographed to Brahms’ passionate Piano Concerto No. 2. With the personal tributes to these dancers as his concept, and Brahms’ music what resulted was Cranko’s calming and comforting choreography which showed off the dancers he honored and is still proving an equally pleasing showcase for current Stuttgart Ballet dancers.

Notable in Cranko’s choreography for Initials R.B.M.E. are the fluid and intriguing patterns for the corps de ballet – yet classical and academic at the same time – punctuated by groups moving in and off the stage to support the principal dancers in each movement.

The group of Stuttgart Ballet dancers who led each movement of this ballet added their own interpretation to this tribute ballet. Adhonay Soares de Silva provided the flash in the R movement, Elisa Badenes led the B movement, Alicia Amatriain led the M Movement, and more of an onlooker than anything else, Moacir de Oliveira led the E Movement. All of these dancers appeared in all of these movements, and the ballet looked as fresh as it was when it was seen in New York for the first time in 1973.

Astana Opera Ballet – Coppelia

May 14, 2020

By Mark Kappel

The Astana Opera Ballet of Kazakhstan is currently directed by former Mariinsky Ballet principal dancer Altynai Asylmuratova. In what seems to be an effort to inform the world about the company and the repertoire that is being danced, there are several livestreams of the company’s performances that have been made available for free viewing.

The one of interest to me was the company’s performance of Roland Petit’s Coppelia, here staged by Luigi Bonino. Petit staged his production of Coppelia for the Ballet National de Marseille when he was director of the company – and that company performed Coppelia in New York in 1980.

Petit has embraced the story in the ballet but has made some revisions by re-planting the story in a small military outpost in France with lots of soldiers and the local village girls flirting with them and enjoying their company. This version of the ballet still focuses on the up and down relationship of Swanhilda and Franz with Franz becoming infatuated with the toymaker’s doll, Coppelia.

However, in this version Dr. Coppelius has been styled into a sophisticated man about town with his own infatuation for Coppelia. In fact, he sets up a dinner for himself and Coppelia – and ultimately dances with her in the style of a golden age Hollywood musical – with Dr. Coppelius being transformed into a Fred Astaire. All ends happily but this version of Coppelia is very French and that atmosphere is accentuated by the costume and scenery designs by Ezio Frigerio.

The roles of Swanhilda and Franz include more tongue in cheek humor than in traditional versions, and Petit’s choreography lends itself to more displays of virtuoso dancing.

Shugyla Adepkhan makes for a charming Swanhilda giving a wonderfully comedic performance, and Arman Urazov as Franz showcases his attempt to be a man of the word while also being a member of a community in a small French village. Both Adepkhan and Urazov are up to the virtuoso dancing that Petit requires.

Rustem Seitbekov’s Dr. Coppelius is suave and debonair rather the older characterizations of Dr. Coppelius seen in other versions of this ballet. He is a wonderful character dancer, expertly captures the style of Hollywood musical dancer, and makes the character of Dr. Coppelius sympathetic and also a bit tragic. In fact, Petit’s ends the ballet with Dr. Coppelius left alone with the scattered parts of his doll, Coppelia.

Petit’s Coppelia is, if nothing else, a brilliant example of how the elements of theatrics and entertainment can be combined to please an audience and also make them feel that experiencing it also means they are being exposed to a an equally vivid art form.

Also, the Astana Opera Ballet is a ballet company worth a look see!

Mariinsky Ballet: Raymonda

May 11, 2020

By Mark Kappel

During these weeks when livestreams of dance, music and theater performances have been presented in abundance, the Mariinsky Ballet has been livestreaming selective performances from its own archives.

One of them is the company’s production of Raymonda, which was livestreamed on May 11, 2020, a full-length ballet that is not in the repertoires of a large number of ballet companies.

Raymonda’s story takes place in Hungary during the Crusades. The Princess Raymonda is preparing for her wedding to Jean de Brienne. However, Abderakhman, a visitor from the Middle East, arrives at court and expresses his infatuation with Raymonda. Raymonda is somewhat flattered and also frightened at the same time – and because of that inner conflict she eagerly awaits the return of Jean de Brienne. At court Jean de Brienne confronts Abderakhman about his advances towards Raymonda and as her defender his action succeeds in banishing Abderakhman from the court – and a wedding celebration follows.

The Mariinsky ballet’s current production of Raymonda was staged by Konstantin Sergeyev in 1948, streamlining the story that is presented in this ballet. It is the choreography of Marius Petipa which is flavored with Hungarian folk dance and also flavors Alexander Glazunov’s music which was splendidly conducted by Valery Gergiev for this performance. Raymonda is a ballet in which the grand manner is a key ingredient in how the variations and ensemble dances are presented and performed.

Overall Raymonda is a joyous ballet and also presents many technical challenges – particularly for the dancer dancing the title role.

In this performance it was Viktoria Tereshkina taking on the title role and met all of the ballet’s challenges. There were not any technical hurdles she couldn’t manage. The same could be applied to Xander Parish dancing and playing the romantic hero, Jean de Brienne, and equally Konstantin Zverev as Abderakhman with menace and a bit of charm.

However, the Mariinsky Ballet’s production of Raymonda seems anachronistic, stuck in the Soviet era. That would also describe Simon Virsaladze’s costume and scenery designs.

But it is the dancing and the music that are the important ingredients in Raymonda, and in those respects, the Mariinsky Ballet’s production of Raymonda succeeds.

Dutch National Ballet Dances Swan Lake

May 10, 2020

By Mark Kappel

For the next two weeks the Dutch National Ballet is making available a livestream of the company’s current production of Swan Lake. This production was staged by former Dutch National Ballet artistic director, Rudi van Dantzig, with the assistance of Toer van Schayk who choreographed the Spanish, Neapolitan and Hungarian Dances in Act III, and also designed the costumes and scenery. van Dantzig’s Swan Lake was given its premiere in 1988, and was recently danced by the Hungarian National Ballet in New York.

Although the blueprint of this production of Swan Lake leans in the traditional direction, there are some revisions that van Dantzig has made not only in the choreography but also in the plot. Instead of Benno, Siegfried’s companion is renamed Alexander, and it appears throughout the production that the relationship between Siegfried and Alexander is more than friendship which adds to the drama when Siegfried is forced into making a decision about a bride he must marry. Also, it is Alexander who walks downstage holding Siegfried’s body after Siegfried has been drowned in the lake by Von Rothbart culminating in the dramatic conclusion of this version of Swan Lake.

Besides Toer van Schayk’s choreographic contributions, van Dantzig also included a Pas de Six (superbly danced by Vera Tsyganova, Jared Wright Jingjing Mao, Martin ten Kortenaar, Floor Eimers, and Timothy van Poucke) which is featured towards the beginning of Act III, and Odile appears in a short dance supported by a bevy of male dancers just before the beginning of the Black Swan Pas de Deux. Both Odette and Odile appear in the conflict between von Rothbart and Siegfried in Act IV as well – and that double image certainly emphasizes the psychological aspects of this ballet.

It is von Rothbart – cleverly and menacingly played by James Stout -- who propels the drama in this production of Swan Lake in both of the lakeside scenes, and at the end of the ballet, it is von Rothbart who commands the lake to overflow thereby killing Siegfried, and itis Alexander who grieves over Siegfried’s dead body.

Swan Lake often takes flight through the performances of the dancers in the principal roles. In presentation Maia Makhateli is a poetic Odette and a calculating Odile, quite deliberately delineating these characters in the choreography as handed down from Marius Petipa, and also through her acting skills. Daniel Camargo is both striking and empathetic in the role of Siegfried, and excellent partner. And the Dutch National Ballet’s corps de ballet adds a great deal portraying the swans, and also in the Act III national dances.

All of these elements add up to a performance of Swan Lake that communicates emotionally with an audience.

Broadway, Balanchine and Beyond – A Memoir – Bettijane Sills

By Mark Kappel

Bettijane Sills is perhaps best known as a soloist with the New York City Ballet during what might be described as the company’s golden age. However, she also worked on off-Broadway and Broadway theatre stages, and after her dancing career had ended in 1972, she turned to teaching.

In Broadway, Balanchine and Beyond – A Memoir – published by the University of Florida Press – and written with Elizabeth McPherson – Sills is quite frank in describing her experiences in both her professional and private lives – particularly in pondering her experiences working in the rarified world of the New York City Ballet.

Described are Sills’ experiences working as a child actor in New York City, working with the New York City Ballet with George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and Lincoln Kirstein at the helm guiding the company during her dancing career, and her personal life and yet another career as a teacher.

In her memoir Sills reflects on her great admiration for Balanchine in particular even though her professional experiences and her personal experiences with him had their contradictions.

Balanchine was Sills’ artistic father and also an influence on her personal life, complaining and expressing his concerns about her weight and not being a supporter of a dancer’s right to make private life choices that would be normal. And she didn’t have that “normal life” until after she left the New York City Ballet, got married and had a child.

Sills’ father was a musician, and her mother was stage struck and encouraged Sills to pursue a career in the theatre from a young age. All the while she also remembered her parents’ bickering and her mother’s high expectations for her. However, she pursued her education – both academic and in the arts – and caught the attention of the New York City Ballet’s artistic management which resulted in her being given a contract with the company.

Sills provides detailed descriptions of the styles and class content given by her many ballet teachers – including George Balanchine – and also provided a detailed account of her participation in the New York City Ballet’s first tour of the Soviet Union – the reaction of the audiences to the company and to Balanchine’s ballets – and also the travel and accommodations arrangements and problems.

However far more interesting were her descriptions of the ballets in which she created roles – particularly the differences in working with George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins as choreographers – and also how she coped with Balanchine’s indifference to her, and how he arbitrarily favored her at one moment and didn’t at another.

Sills described her problem with weight and binge-eating, and it appears that her being in Balanchine’s favor depended upon whether she was the perfect body type that Balanchine wanted for the New York City Ballet. Balanchine showed his disfavor to her by taking away roles or not using her in new roles depending upon his attitude concerning her weight problems.

Sills realized Balanchine’s obsession with youthful dancers – and that total allegiance to him was necessary – and then his arbitrary prejudice that for female dancers marriage and babies were not to be part of their lives. Although Sills described Balanchine’s control over the New York City Ballet as being a benign dictatorship there were moments when Balanchine was not benign.

After her career in dancing with the New York City Ballet, Sills turned to teaching and developed a philosophy of teaching – which is to provide a dancer with the basic foundations of training in all styles of dance – and ballet training is not meant to be safe and comfortable.

If nothing else Sills’ memoir is frank and revealing, and for any dancer, with the goal of being a professional in mind, would learn a great deal from Sills’ thoughts and fears.

English National Ballet Performs Rudolf Nureyev’s Romeo and Juliet

May 6, 2020

By Mark Kappel

The English National Ballet (then known as London Festival Ballet) commissioned a new production of Romeo and Juliet from Rudolf Nureyev which was premiered in 1977, and subsequently was performed in New York by London Festival Ballet in 1978 and La Scala Ballet in 1981. And on May 6th 2020 this production was livestreamed for a worldwide audience.

Primarily created as a vehicle for himself, yet Nureyev’s version focuses mostly on Juliet and her internal struggles dealing with her family loyalties, and her infatuation with Romeo. No doubt because Nureyev often danced 8 performances a week in the productions of the ballets he staged or created, they went from the extreme of enlarging the male principal roles in the ballets or reducing them. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is often a bystander watching the action rather than being involved in the intensity of the story being told.

It had been said that Nureyev sought out a Russian translated version of Shakespeare’s play before adapting a scenario for his production. The purpose of which was go to back to the text of the play for inspiration and adapting the libretto. Certainly, there are influences from Russian ballet productions of Romeo and Juliet and those productions he danced in the West. Nureyev saw Verona as a place suffering from the plague which is symbolized by the cart of dead bodies that appear at the beginning of the ballet.

Also, Nureyev adds his own further commentary on living in Verona when the street robbers throw the dice indicating that life is a gamble and is at the mercy of fate. And Nureyev seemed to portray the warring families as a conflict between political and social classes.

In telling his version of Romeo and Juliet, Nureyev presents the story in a cinematic fashion which focuses are some of the plots more intensely than others.

Nureyev’s Romeo is a bit amorous, and out for a good time – while Juliet is much a child. Although she imagines the ghosts in her past helping her to decide what she must do, it is her innocent idea of love that influences her decisions.

This production of Romeo and Juliet is clear in its story intentions but is not a treasure trove of choreography. The choreography tends to be awkward and choppy, and it was a time when Nureyev seemed to be influenced by the modern dance choreographers whose work he was dancing in himself at the time – including Martha Graham in particular whose influence very much there in the choreography for the Act I Cushion Dance – and also a bit of Jose Limon’s The Moor’s Pavane in the dance of Juliet, Paris, and the Capulets in Juliet’s bedroom. Also, the choreography does not enhance the narrative detail in this version of this well-known ballet.

However, Nureyev does make a definitive statement when he ends his Romeo and Juliet with the families reconciling in their grief.

As in any performance of Romeo and Juliet, the principal dancers carry the day. In that sense Alina Cojocaru as Juliet and Isaac Hernandez as Romeo held their own emotionally and drawing their characters in a production that didn’t always showcase these dancers at their best. Also notable was the performance of Cesar Corrales as Mercutio who brought his comic talents to the role but also added a little menace to the character.

This was an opportunity to see a performance by a company that hasn’t performed in New York in decades and one looks forward to more livestream performances by the English National Ballet.

National Ballet of Japan Dances Manon

May 6, 2020

By Mark Kappel

More livestreaming opportunities continue to present themselves but a unique performance was offered by the National Ballet of Japan dancing Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon.

MacMillan’s Manon was premiered by the Royal Ballet in 1974. Based on Prevost’s novel, MacMillan choreographed his ballet to music by Massenet.

The story is that of a young woman, Manon, who is exploited by her brother, while also experiencing a somewhat innocent love for a young student, Des Grieux. It is the story of Manon and Des Grieux making their way through the corruption and exploitation of French society – and the attempts of Manon and Des Grieux to break the cycle – that leads to tragedy.

From the moment that Manon meets Des Grieux it becomes an affair of the heart with sparks culminating in their Bedroom Scene Pas de Deux – one of several of MacMillan’s spectacular pas de deux in this ballet. However, Monsieur GM persuades Manon join him for a life of wealth and luxury which she readily agrees to – and her relationship with Des Grieux becomes an afterthought.

However, Manon and Des Grieux meet again in a Paris salon and their attraction takes over their decision-making. After Des Grieux is accused of cheating at cards, he and Manon run off together but our tracked down by Monsieur GM who kills Manon’s brother and arrests Manon.

Thereafter Manon is sent off to exile and prison in Louisiana. Des Grieux follows Manon to Louisiana and after he kills Manon’s jailer, they escape to the Louisiana swamps where Manon meets her tragic death.

In Manon MacMillan sets the appropriate tone in his choreography for every dramatic moment and here the dancers of the National Ballet of Japan lend interpretations of their own.

Yui Yonezawa provides an impulsive interpretation of the title role as she evolves from a young innocent to a sophisticated manipulator which an audience can still empathize with. Vadim Muntagirov a guest artist from the Royal Ballet, is the perfect anti-hero who shows his genuine love for Manon and follows Manon as she walks the path towards her tragic end.

Yoshito Konishita, playing Lescaut (Manon’s brother), was particularly effective in his drunken solo in Act II and in his pas de deux with his Mistress (played and danced by Yuri Kimura with a little deception as well as conceit).

All of these dancers portrayed these characters in a forthright and engaging manner which complimented their accomplished dancing.

Dutch National Ballet Dances The Work of Hans van Manen

May 2, 2020

By Mark Kappel

The Dutch National Ballet continues its livestream series with the first part of its tribute to one of its most influential artistic directors and choreographers, Hans van Manen. van Manen made inroads in creating a neo—classical style of his own and although his works are not performed as often as in the past, the Dutch National Ballet is preserving his legacy.

On May 2, 2020, the Dutch National Ballet presented three works of van Manen’s which reflected a survey of his work.

The opening piece was his Trois Gnossiennes choreographed to music by Satie which featured a lone couple (Igone de Jongh and Jakob Feyferlik) with the assistance of three piano movers who move a piano – with a pianist – in different parts of the stage, changing the space in which the dancing takes place. van Manen’s choreography is simple, musical and understated which is a van Manen signature, and subtly danced here by de Jongh and Feyferlik.

In contrast was Solo, an energetic and energized piece for three male dancers who execute van Manen’s virtuoso choreography – danced to music by Bach. Juanjo Arques, Sefton Clarke, and Felipe Diaz, were up to the virtuoso requirements in van Manen’s piece providing an excellent showcase for them.

Ending this short program of dance was van Manen’s Adagio Kammerklavier one of van Manen’s signature and classic pieces choreographed to Beethoven’s music of the same name. For three couples (Anna Ol, Artur Shesterikov, Anna Tsygankova, Daniel Camargo, Igone de Jongh, and Jozef Varga), this is a display of classic adagio dancing and beautifully danced by this cast. Adagio Hammerklavier is a chestnut as it dates back to 1973 but the piece stands up very well over time.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to see van Manen’s choreography before and you wish to become familiar with his older pieces and recent ones, the Dutch National Ballet is providing an excellent showcase to view these master works.

Stuttgart Ballet Dances Onegin

May 1, 2020

By Mark Kappel

Arguably the work that put John Cranko on the map as a choreographer was his unique ballet adaptation of Alexander Pushkin’s narrative poem, Eugene Onegin. Cranko created his first version in 1967 -- and then revised that version in 1969 – and since reached heights of popularity all over the world. What might seem to be a passionate melodrama is an involving piece of dance theatre.

Cranko’s ballets are rarely transmitted to a worldwide audience and it was very encouraging that on May 1, 2020 the Stuttgart Ballet’s current production of Onegin was presented on livestream.

Onegin, the ballet, focuses on Eugene Onegin, an aristocratic and diffident friend of young Lensky, who is a poet, and is affianced to Olga of the Larina Family. Onegin and Lensky visit the Larina Estate, and Onegin makes the acquaintance of Tatiana, Olga’s older sister. Tatiana becomes fascinated by this sophisticated gentleman, and sends him a letter with her thoughts of affection which are received by Onegin with disdain. Onegin initiates a flirtation with Olga which ultimately leads to a duel in which Onegin kills his friend Lensky.

Many years letter Onegin is invited to a party at the home of Prince Gremin, who has since, married Tatiana, and it is there that Onegin realizes what he lost. He tries to persuade her of the honesty and transformation of his affections but is rejected by Tatiana.

Cranko’s tell this story with his particular style of using organic choreography – and a few tricks of theatre craft -- and with an orchestrated score made up of music composed by Tchaikovsky which is seamlessly woven together to the point that it seems like this music was especially composed for Cranko’s ballet.

In Onegin Cranko created two dramatic pas de deux danced by Tatiana and Onegin – one coming from her imagination in the Letter Scene at the end of Act I -- and the other is reality in which Tatiana rejects Onegin. They are both emotionally stirring.

In this performance, which goes a few years back, the title role is danced and portrayed with understated arrogance by Friedemann Vogel. Elisa Badenes is charming as Olga – and is appropriately overwhelmed that her harmless flirting with Onegin could cause such a tragedy as Lensky’s death. David Moore is a boyish Lensky and Jason Reilly is distinguished as Prince Gremin.

Alicia Amatriain, dancing the role of Tatiana, owns the dramatic arc in Onegin as she transforms herself from an uncertain young woman to a confident spouse of a Prince and asserts herself boldly in rejecting Onegin’s advances.

Adding much to this performance in a supporting role was Marcia Haydee as the Nurse.

The emphasis in presenting an effective performance of Cranko’s Onegin is that it has to be beautifully danced – which it was in this performance – but also that the dancers have to fully portray complicated characters – which it also was in this performance.

This was a wonderful opportunity to see the Stuttgart Ballet dance this Cranko classic as the company hasn’t toured in the United States for decades.

What Do We Need To Talk About?

Public Theater

April 29, 2020

By Mark Kappel

During the past ten years, the Public Theater has presented Richard Nelson’s reflections on the Apple Family, a liberal American family living in Rhinebeck, New York. The Apples seem to be the people we turn to to conemplate the important matters of the day when a crisis or disaster comes up.

The Apple Family had not appeared on a stage since 2014, and no doubt Richard Nelson, as play wright and director, thought that the Apples were needed again in another time of crisis to explain and express the emotions generated by the current state of affairs – not only in the United States but also around the world – trying to cope with the corona virus.

In reuniting with the Apple Family in What Do We Need To Talk About?, we not only catch up with the members of the Apple Family but also, they are seen connecting in conversations on Zoom, the current conduit of choice for families and friends to communicate with each other during this pandemic crisis.

Members of the family include teachers, and an aide to Governor Cuomo, and they talk about their fears, loneliness and loss through their own stories about themselves, family members, and the world at large. And in What Do We Need To Talk About? Nelson presents an intimate conversation in an intimate manner as we ease drop on the Apples as they converse on our computer screens while isolated in our homes.

The cast of Jon De Vries, Stephen Kunken, Sally Murphy, Maryann Plunkett, Laila Robins, and Jay O. Sanders, bring the Apples to life as they describe what it is like to accomplish and cope with some of the typical tasks in our lives in this new and confused atmosphere filled with extra stress and protocols -- and try to bring us to some conclusions about what we are experiencing.

In a paraphrased sentence quoted from this play, “The world seems to be ending just when we are arriving.” Although this is referenced to describe the younger generation facing the world at this time of a pandemic, it applies to all of us, and Richard Nelson expresses our fears, our concerns, and leaves us all to resolve them in a compelling manner.

Dutch National Ballet Dances Coppelia

April 25, 2020

By Mark Kappel

Continuing its series of live stream presentations, on April 25, 2020 the Dutch National Ballet provided a worldwide opportunity to see Ted Brandsen’s production of Coppelia which the Dutch National Ballet had premiered in 2016.

Brandsen’s Coppelia is not a traditional version although the libretto follows the broad outlines of this 19th century classic’s story. Sieb Posthuma and Francois-Noel Cherpin have created designs that have placed this story in a cartoonish atmosphere in the 20th century with the location of the story moving from toymaker Dr. Coppelius’ workshop to a cosmetic surgeon’s clinic where Dr. Coppelius transforms women – through improving their body parts – into new women and making them more appealing to men. This all in a town dominated by a sports school and a juice bar for suitable social networking. In fact, the Coppelia doll has been transformed into a blonde bombshell that is operated with a remote control.

The story of Coppelia actually focuses on the relationship between Swanhilda and Franz (here costumed with a t-shirt with the letter “F” on it), and how Franz’s infatuation with Dr. Coppelius’ doll, Coppelia, gets in the way of his relationship with Swanhilda. However, when Swanhilda and her friends make their way into the “salon” they find that the object of Franz’s affection is a doll, Swanhilda decides upon the unkind prank of switching herself into the guise of Coppelia the doll, comes alive, and creates havoc for Dr. Coppelius. However, in the salon Swanhilda and Franz come upon the many other dolls in the salon, and also reveal Dr. Coppelius’ “treatments”.

Although Swanhilda and Franz escape Dr. Coppelius and his assistant, Anna Marx, Dr. Coppelius intrudes upon the wedding celebrations of Swanhilda and Franz hoping that he could again convince Franz to marry his Coppelia doll.

In Brandsen’s version of Coppelia it is the getting there that is intriguing using simple contemporary ballet choreography and a bit of modern dance, assorted interesting characters among the people in the village with striking visual images – and a needed antidote to the worries of the world in this comedy and send-up.

Great credit must be given to Daniel Camargo as Franz and Igone DeJongh as Franz and Swanhilda for their sympathetic portrayals of their characters as well as Vito Mazzeo as Dr. Coppelius, and Vera Tsyganova as Anna Marx, who play their over-the-top characters without being too over-the-top.

Many other choreographers have approached this classic giving it a more comptemporary interpretation – among them Heinz Spoerli, Roland Petit, and Maguy Marin – and if nothing else Brandsen’s approach is somewhat unique and highly theatrical.

La Scala Ballet Dances Le Corsaire

April 21, 2020

By Mark Kappel

The La Scala Ballet’s most recent livestream presentation is that of Anna Marie Holmes’ staging of Le Corsaire, a production that was originally staged for the Boston Ballet in 1997 and is in the active repertoire of American Ballet Theatre among other ballet companies the world over. La Scala’s production dates back to 2018 when this particular livestream was filmed.

Le Corsaire is one of the 19th century classics that has had a long road to being accepted as part of the standard ballet repertoire and being produced by ballet companies in Western Europe and also in North America. It is a bit of a hodge podge with a score by multiple composers (Adolphe Adam, Cesare Pugni, Leo Delibes, Riccardo Drigo, and Peter von Oldenburg) and is based on a poem written by Lord Byron about pirates who capture a princess, who is subsequently kidnapped by other pirates -- and another band of pirates rescue the princess.

Included in the ballet is a shipwreck, swordfights, and set choreographic pieces that are less familiar than those in other 19th century full-length ballets, and also requires elaborate scenery and a large company of dancers.
Le Corsaire had its La Scala premiere in 1826 and it is only recently that Le Corsaire has returned to the company’s repertoire. This production’s overall staging is somewhat traditional and based on a production staged and choreographed by Konstantin Sergeyev. There is a great deal of virtuoso dancing, and stagers of Le Corsaire exercise the prerogative of including the traditional Le Corsaire Pas de Deux (danced only by Medora and Ali) or the Pas de Trois (danced by Medora, Ali, and Conrad).

Le Corsaire tells the story of happenstance when Medora and Gulnare are sold to be part of the Pasha’s entourage but the leader of a pirate band, Conrad, falls in love with Medora and takes her to his own pirate lair. This is where Lankendem is persuaded by Birbanto to betray Conrad, and is involved in a plot to kidnap Medora. Conrad follows in pursuit to the Pasha’s palace and executes a plan to free Medora and they escape on a ship. Throughout the ballet there is lots of dancing and presents a challenge for all of the principal dancers to dance their way through their roles and act through them as well.

Holmes chose to include the original version of the Pas de Trois in Act II of Le Corsaire which makes this well-known piece of choreography the showstopper that it is but also much more effective in conveying the story that is told in this ballet.

There were no guest artists in the principal roles in this livestream presentation which included Nicoletta Manni as Medora, Timofez Andrijashenko as Conrad, Martina Arduino as Gulnare, Marco Agostino as Lankendem, Antonino Sutera as Birbanto, and Mattia Semperboni as Ali. All of the dancers were equal to the requirements of their roles which included both dramatic and comic acting.

Luisa Spinatelli designed complicated costumes and scenery for La Scala Ballet’s production of Le Corsaire.

La Scala with all of its resources included in this production of Le Corsaire results in a unique production of this ballet – and presenting an opportunity to see this rarity in the 19th century classical repertoire.

La Scala Dances Rudolf Nureyev’s The Sleeping Beauty

April 18, 2020

By Mark Kappel

As more and more ballet companies wish to have a connection with their audiences – and expanding their audiences at the same time – the ballet companies have been rising to the occasion in these difficult times to make available livestreams of past performances without any fee.

La Scala is now making available a livestream of their June 26, 2019 performance of Rudolf Nureyev’s The Sleeping Beauty. This was significant as Nureyev staged his first version of The Sleeping Beauty for La Scala in 1966, and the production has been danced by La Scala on an intermittent basis. This version is a revival that took place in 1994 which was staged by Florence Clerc and has new designs by Franca Squarciapino.

As in all of his productions of the 19th century classic Nureyev had a particular view of the narrative content, and including sequences in them that he knew from his experience dancing in these ballets with the Mariinsky Ballet, the Royal Ballet, and others. What is notable in this production of The Sleeping Beauty is that narrative elements are effectively conveyed through mime sequences even though some of the characters are not as finely drawn as they should be.

The Lilac Fairy is played as character part, Carabosse is played by a female dancer – in this performance effectively portrayed by Beatrice Carbone – but all of the familiar elements of the story and well-known choreographic sequences are included. And this particular production of The Sleeping Beauty is grand in many dimensions in terms of designs, and the number of dancers.

The principal dancers dancing the roles of Aurora and the Prince were superbly effective from a technical point of view, presenting the proper style that is required for the choreography, and also acted well. There is a story to be presented even though it is only a fairy tale.

Polina Semionova danced the role of Aurora in praiseworthy technical style and the effectiveness of expressing the wonderment that a 16-year-old might experience at all that was happening around her. Semionova was ably supported by her Prince, Timofey Andrijashenko. Also, a highlight was the Bluebird Pas de Deux danced by Vittoria Valerio as Princess Florine and Claudio Coviello as the Bluebird.

At times Nureyev’s musicality can be inconsistent and erratic but this production was conceived, designed, staged, and danced in the grand manner defining how The Sleeping Beauty should be danced and presented.

Stuttgart Ballet Dances John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet

April 17, 2020

By Mark Kappel

The Stuttgart Ballet has been making available performances of its repertoire in livestreams during the corona virus crisis, and recently presented a livestream of a recent performance of John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet.
Cranko originally created a first version of his Romeo and Juliet for La Scala in 1958 and then created a new revised version for the Stuttgart Ballet in 1962.

What distinguishes Cranko’s version of Romeo and Juliet from others is the organic choreography he included, the earthiness of Italy in the characterizations of the major players in the story, and telling the story in a concise manner. The ballet is trimmed to its essentials and the story is told at a fast pace while also including the important plot points. Besides the economic language of the choreography, Cranko’s infused his version of Romeo and Juliet with theatricality, and is also enhanced by Jurgen Rose’s stunning and authentic costumes and scenery.

The Stuttgart Ballet’s dancers bring a great deal to the performances of narrative ballets in general and in this livestream of Romeo and Juliet, that is emphasized by Elisa Badenes and David Moore who beautifully dance and portray the doomed and tragic young lovers with Robert Robinson bringing the villainous Tybalt some humanity -- and there is the witty quirky interpretation of Mercutio by Marti Fernandez Paixa.

In this particular livestream of Romeo and Juliet there is the luxury casting of Marcia Haydee as Juliet’s Nurse, Reid Anderson as Lord Capulet, and Egon Madsen as Friar Laurence.

In the past the National Ballet of Canada, the Joffrey Ballet, the Boston Ballet, Miami City Ballet, the Washington Ballet, and the Pennsylvania have been the North American ballet companies which have given Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet a special place in their repertoire. But otherwise is rarely performed in this part of the world. Therefore, this livestream is a wonderful opportunity to see Cranko’s vision of Shakespeare’s tragic tale.

Stuttgart Ballet Dances Mayerling

April 11, 2020

By Mark Kappel

Continuing its series of live streams, on April 11th, 2020 the Stuttgart Ballet presented Kenneth MacMillan’s intriguing full-length ballet, Mayerling, which had its company premiere on May 18, 2019. Created for the Royal Ballet in 1978, Mayerling has not been danced by all that many other ballet companies because of its requirements for a large company of dancers – and the subject matter is a bit obscure.

Mayerling concerns itself with the real-life double suicide of Crown Prince Rudolf of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and his mistress, Baroness Mary Vestera. This real-life political drama is heightened by the many women in Rudolf’s life, the kind of meaty and dramatic story that the Stuttgart Ballet has been known best to perform.

Mayerling’s score is an orchestration of music composed by Franz Liszt – orchestrated by John Lanchbery – and for this production there are new designs by Jurgen Rose.

What distinguishes Mayerling as a ballet is the fact that the focal role in the ballet is that of a male character – a role that combines drama, emotional swings, and dancing that reflects the stature of the leading character, Crown Prince Rudolf.

Mac Millan was at his best in these full-length dramatic ballets – particularly in choreographing the emotionally driven pas de deux – which culminates in this ballet with the double-suicide at Rudolf’s Viennese hunting lodge, Mayerling - but in its progression from the very beginning of the ballet. Also, Mayerling requires a large company of dancers as more often not there is pageantry and processions.

At this performance the role of the moody and despondent Crown Prince Rudolf was played and danced by Friedeman Vogel and the partner in the suicide pact, Mary Vestera, was played and danced by Elisa Badenes. These two dancers had enormous chemistry – and was apparent in all of the Stuttgart Ballet’s dancers in this ballet, the dancers had an affinity for MacMillan’s meaningful choreography.

This ballet also has many other exciting female characters including Empress Elizabeth (danced by Miriam Kacerova), Countess Larisch (dance by Alicia Amatriain), Crown Princess Stephanie (danced by Diana Ionescu), and Mitzi Caspar (danced by Anna Osadcenko). This performance was also highlighted by the cameo appearances of Marcia Haydee in the character role of Archduchess Sophie, and Egon Madsen in the role of Emperor Franz Joseph I. This was all a luxury of casting.

As the Stuttgart Ballet hasn’t performed in New York in years, this live stream presentation of Mayerling was an opportunity to see company’s dancers and the current repertoire that the Stuttgart Ballet has acquired in recent years.

Pride and Prejudice

April 10, 2020

By Mark Kappel

During this difficult time period when theatres and other performing arts venues are closed and not available to audiences, there have been arts organizations in the United States and Europe that have used the technology at hand to live stream performances and make them freely available to worldwide audiences.

From December 4, 2019 through January 4, 2020 Theatre Works Silicon Valley in Palo Alto, California presented a new musical version of one of Jane Austen’s classic novels, Pride and Prejudice, and with the cooperation of Streaming Musicals presented this musical based on Austen’s comic novel in a virtual premiere on the evening of April 10, 2020 through live stream technology.

On hand for this virtual premiere were co-hosts, Julie James, Laura Osnes, and Beth Leavel adding to this special event which also included interviewing cast members and members of the creative team for this musical.

This great novel has been adapted into films, television adaptations, stage adaptations, and ballets in the recent past. This version has been authored by Paul Gordon who has provided the music, the lyrics, and the book adaptation for this musical version of Pride and Prejudice – Gordon having already adapted other classic novels including Emma, Daddy Long Legs, and Jane Eyre to the musical stage. Also, an important member of the creative team is director Robert Kelly who guided this production to the stage.

As typical of the subject matter of many Austen novels, you are taken back to the Georgian period in England where women were admired but were not necessarily respected for their intelligence and competence by their male counterparts – and must depend upon husbands to support them in life. Also, the women are often wronged by men, and the classes – both economic and aristocratic – are at war with each other.

In Pride and Prejudice Austen has woven a tapestry of plot twists and has developed characters one can identify with and become close to. The focal point of the story is the up and down again relationship of Elizabeth Bennet, who comes from a family of modest means, and Mr. Darcy, a romantic figure of the British aristocracy – and both have an arc in the story where they evolve in understanding each other despite of pride and prejudice often getting in the way.

Gordon has focused on the important events in telling the story of the eccentric but forthright Bennet family with Elizabeth Bennet acting as the narrator of her own story. One follows her rocky road in finding a marriage partner which is infused with Austen’s wit and how these estimable characters break through social conventions.

There are many notable and outstanding performances by the cast members of Pride and Prejudice including the earnest performance of Mary Mattison as Elizabeth Bennet, Justin Mortelliti as Mr. Darcy, Lucinda Hitchcock Cone as Lady Catherine, Taylor Crousore as Mr. Wickham, Brian Herndon as the bumbling Mr. Colins and Travis Leland as Mr. Bingley.

What can’t be emphasized more is that this was an opportunity to see the premiere of a new musical performed and presented by a respected American regional theatre, and kudos to Streaming Musicals for making this presentation happen.

Teatro Colon Dances Swan Lake

April 9, 2020

By Mark Kappel

An intriguing livestream opportunity came up with the April 5th, 2020 performance by the Teatro Colon Buenos Aires of Mario Galizzi’s production of Swan Lake. The Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires has an enviable history and currently this ballet company is directed by former American Ballet Theatre ballerina, Paloma Herrera.

This production of Swan Lake is based on the Marius Petipa/Lev Ivanov production but Galizzi has also inserted several theatrical conventions that are incorporated into most Russian productions of Swan Lake – and those conventions come from Vladimir Bourmeister’s landmark production of Swan Lake staged for the Stanislavsky Theatre Ballet.

Similar to Soviet productions of Swan Lake, Galizzi has also included the intrusive character of the Jester (danced by Emanuel Abruzzo) who provides comic relief, but also in this production, provides details of the narrative. Throughout this production the narrative is emphasized. Contained in this production of Swan Lake is the clever inclusion of a mysterious and elusive vision of Odile who appears and disappears from behind Von Rothbart’s cape during the Act III national dances – visually depicting Siegfried’s confusion between his ideal love, Odette, and his seducer, Odile, who has been disguised to look like Odette, and who succeeds in securing Siegfried’s vow of love. Also, in this production Odette and Siegfried end their lives being drowned in the lake, and are joined in the afterlife.

Besides Abruzzo, who successfully pulls off the pyrotechnics assigned to his character, Dalmiro Astesiano, brings to life the mysterious and cunning Von Rothbart, which is as much of a dancing part as a character part in this production.

Nadia Muzyca as Odette/Odile and Juan Pablo Ledo as Siegfried follow a sophisticated and understated path in portraying and dancing their characters. These dancers did not provide a flashy performance of these roles, but more subdued, which fit the general atmosphere and purpose of Galizzi’s production of Swan Lake.

This livestream presentation of the Teatro Colon’s production of Swan Lake provided an opportunity to see a ballet company that tours rarely, and I hope will provide free international access to its future livestream presentations.

Stuttgart Ballet Dances The Sleeping Beauty

March 25, 2020

By Mark Kappel

In an effort to make livestream feeds of performances available to worldwide audiences, the Stuttgart Ballet is offering a performance of Marcia Haydee’s The Sleeping Beauty which was given its world premiere in 1987, and presented at this performance in a revised version which was premiered in 2019.

The Stuttgart Ballet had danced a production of The Sleeping Beauty staged by Rosella Hightower – which was performed in New York – and then later this new production staged by Marcia Haydee after Marius Petipa which was performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. Although Haydee’s production borrowed elements and staging from Hightower’s version, Haydee colored her version of The Sleeping Beauty in darkness and mystery – although her 2019 revision does return to a more traditional approach to this well-known 19th century classic.

The Sleeping Beauty tells the tale of Aurora who becomes the victim of the evil fairy, Carabosse, when Carabosse is not invited to Aurora’s christening. Carabosse vows to kill her on her 16th birthday she pricks her finger on a spindle – but the Lilac Fairy saves the day by reassuring all that Aurora will sleep for 100 hundred years and not be killed. She would be awakened by a Prince – and it is the Lilac Fairy who searches out that Prince when the time is right. The story is a classic one about good triumphing over evil.

In the course of telling the story, there are magnificent moments of classical ballet choreography including the set pieces of the Rose Adagio in Act I, the Vision Scene in Act II, and the Wedding Celebration in Act III.

Haydee’s production is notable for its amplifying the role of Carabosse who seems to be omnipresent throughout the ballet, and is portrayed in a more sinister fashion than in traditional productions of The Sleeping Beauty. Taking on this role in this performance was Jason Reilly who was appropriately sinister and frightening.

The third act divertissements include Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs, Ali Baba and the Jewel Fairies, the White Cats, Puss n’ Boots and Little Red Riding Hood, and the Bluebird and Princess Florine, the culminating Grand Pas de Deux danced by Aurora and her Prince, and everything about this production is enhanced by the sumptuous designs by Jurgen Rose.

But it was in the actual performance of this ballet that the Stuttgart Ballet puts its best foot forward with the elegant Elisa Badenes as Aurora, and Friedemann Vogel as the Prince, and the floating on air performances of Agnes Su and Adhonay Soares da Silva in the Bluebird Pas de Deux.

This livestream performance – available on the Stuttgart Ballet’s web site – is an opportunity to see a ballet and a performance that would only be seen if you visited Stuttgart.

Bavarian State Opera Ballet Dances Jewels

March 22, 2020

By Mark Kappel

During this time period when the world is sheltering in place, arts organizations all over the world are making available free livestreams and video-on-demand performances. Among them was the Bavarian State Opera Ballet in Munich, Germany, which presented a livestream performance of George Balanchine’s Jewels on March 22, 2020.

The Bavarian State Opera Ballet has performed only once in New York – back in 1993 – and is now directed by Igor Zelensky, who had spent a portion of his dancing career with the New York City Ballet.

This particular performance of Jewels was that of the performance on April 11, 2019 and featured international guest artists.

When the New York City Ballet presented the world premiere of George Balanchine’s Jewels in 1967 it was considered – and still is considered – a major artistic achievement. Balanchine created a ballet in the neo-classic style that was a full-length abstract ballet only themed by the costume and scenery designs dominated by three tones of precious jewels. Balanchine was inspired by seeing such precious jewels in the window of Van Cleef & Arpels here in New York, and was also inspired by the ballet styles prominent in the early and late 19th centuries in Europe and his own brand of neo-classicism upon pursuing his choreographic career in the United States. An added enhancement in the creation of Jewels was how Balanchine was inspired by the music he chose for the ballet – creating a unique full-length ballet – without narrative or a story.

The first act of Jewels is Emeralds, which is inspired by the Romantic ballet of the early 19th century, and is choreographed to music composed by Gabriel Faure. As a reflection of Balanchine’s homage to this time period, in the choreography there are allusions to Giselle and La Sylphide.

Emeralds is led by two principal couples (in this performance danced by Prisca Zeisel with Emilio Pavan, and Jeanette Kakareka with Henry Grey) with a Pas de Trois, here danced by Antonia Mcauley, Vera Segova, and Dmitri Vyskubenko. As what is often named, the Walking Pas de Deux, Kakareka glides over the stage supported by her partner in the style of La Sylphide. After the culminating finale, all of the principal and soloist dancers offer a reverence to the period style.

Rubies follows choreographed to jazzy music composed by Igor Stravinsky – with choreography having an American edge and humor. The cast was led by New York City Ballet principal dancer, Ashley Bouder, with Osiel Gouneo as her partner – with Prisca Zeisel as the solo girl. Bouder and Gouneo had a wonderful playful banter between them and also a great deal of flair.

Ending Jewels is Diamonds, an homage to the Imperial Ballet in Russia at the end of the 19th century and danced to movements of Tchaikovsky’s Winter Dreams symphony. With allusions to The Sleeping Beauty, Raymonda and Swan Lake, the choreography evokes the grandeur of the period and also reflects a similar tone that Balanchine also created in other of his neo-classic works including Theme and Variations and Symphony in C.

Reflecting the necessary grandeur were the principal couple of Alina Somova and Vladimir Shklyarov.

For most ballet companies the Balanchine repertoire is an acquired taste and may not always be mastered. However, it is a worthy experiment in seeing how each company puts it personal stamp on this ballet and the interpretation of this ballet.

This production of Jewels was staged by Ben Huys, Patricia Neary, and Elyse Borne, and represented the final version of Jewels that Balanchine had re-staged for the New York City Ballet. For good reasons Jewels has become a staple of the repertoires of international ballet companies.

Scottish Ballet Returns to the Joyce Theater

Joyce Theater

March 10, 2020

By Mark Kappel

It took quite a few years for the Scottish Ballet to makes its New York debut and for that debut the company performed at the Joyce Theater in 2017. This return engagement at the Joyce Theater is from March 10-15, 2020, and unlike the repertoire for the company’s last New York engagement the repertoire is purely contemporary and modern.

The Scottish Ballet is presenting a double bill of cutting edge works collectively entitled, This Is My Body – which is the subtitle for one of the pieces performed as part of this program.

Opening this double bill was Sibilo, choreographed by Sophie Laplane, a member of the Scottish Ballet, who was appointed the company’s resident choreographer early this year. Created for 8 dancers, Sibilo is a comic and whimsical work choreographed to music composed by electronic DJ Alex Menzies.

The choreography is carefully plotted up to and including the twitching by the male dancers, and the intricacies of taking off and putting on the male dancers’ jackets, and the tandem movements by dancers in duets. Two of those duets started out with the couples peeling off from a group of dancers and were developed – but developed only briefly.

Laplane’s choreography is intricate, and replicated often in different segments of the piece. Overall Sibilo is an enjoyable showcase for choreographic craft which provided a needed balance on this double bill.

In contrast was the United States premiere of Angelin Preljocaj’s MC14/22 (Ceci Est Mon Corps) choreographed to a sound design by Tedd Zahmal. Inspired by Chapter 14 Verse 22 from The Gospel of St. Mark – The Last Supper -- when Christ breaks bread with his disciples and reveals his fate.

This piece for 12 male dancers depicts Christ’s story with the ritualization of washing bodies, showing affection, and meting out cruelty. The emotions are expressed in ensemble movements which are repeated but often lack the power and theatrical punch they might have had if the choreography had been more focused and pointed – and the cruelty presented seemed to be more emphasized than the inspirational moments.

The setting for Preljocaj’s biblical interpretation was a stage initially filled with steel and glass tables, and the male dancers were costumed in black skirts which seems to be the typical attire for male dancers in modern pieces in recent decades. Preljocaj’s choreographic vocabulary was executed at a slow pace and also strategized – all provocative.

As an audience member I felt I was intruding in rather than observing Preljocaj’s piece.

In this double bill there weren’t any pointe shoes in sight, and the pieces that were danced needed more focus and perhaps some editing. But notably both pieces were wonderfully danced by the members of the Scottish Ballet.

This was definitely a different aspect of its artistic personality that the Scottish Ballet is presenting in its current New York visit which is worth the effort to see and experience.

Ballet Vlaanderen Makes Joyce Theater Debut

Joyce Theater

March 3, 2020

By Mark Kappel

Better known in this part of the world as the Royal Ballet of Flanders, Ballet Vlaanderen is making its Joyce Theater debut from March 3-7, 2020.

Founded in 1969, and celebrating its 50th anniversary, Ballet Vlaanderen had represented itself as a classical ballet company performing versions of the classics as well as the works of European contemporary ballet choreographers.

However in the intervening years the company’s repertoire has been transformed and with the company now currently directed by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, who took over the directorship in 2015, the company’s repertoire is now closer to the modern dance idiom than ballet. It was with this new artistic vision in mind that the company is representing itself during this New York engagement.

There were three dance pieces presented on this program opening with Akram Khan’s Kaash with choreography described as a merger of contemporary and Kathak dance. This piece with a libretto of sorts by Anish Kapoor represents a vision of Shiva which is also supported by the musical compositions by Nitin Shawhney.

Kaash is a Hindi word for “if” which conjures many possibilities. This ensemble work was open to question as the curtain went up while the audience was being seated with a lone male dancer on the stage with his back to the audience. The lights go down, and then up again, and Khan moves forward with his choreographic thoughts as he has created a ritualistic, energetic and exuberant series of ensemble dances with patterns that are simple and some that are complicated. But every dancer is integral in this work which moves at a fast pace. However this energetic dance comes to an abrupt halt within the final minutes – as the focus is primarily on one male dancer who dances in one spot on the stage – and then the piece ends. It seemed as though Khan miscalculated the ending.

The cast of Claudio Cangialosi, Brent Daneels, Daniel Domenech, Matt Foley, Lara Fransen, Claudia Gil Cabus, Zoe Hollinshead, Mikio Kato, Philipe Lens, Ruka Nakagawa, Nancy Osbaldeston, Astrid Tinel, Shane Urton, and Nicola Wills danced Kaash with the appropriate energy and filled the stage with that energy.

Cherkaoui was represented with a reinterpretation of a well-known work as titled, Faun, inspired by Vaslav Njinsky’s Afternoon of a Faun as a pas de deux. Choreographed to Claude Debussy’s familiar music, Nitin Sawhney is also a collaborator in channeling Debussy’s music. Here Cherkaoui has represented the themes in Afternoon of a Faun as a modern-day couple finds each other in a forest landscape, and in their attraction are constantly moving to the audio scape that is the foundation for this new interpretation of Afternoon of a Faun. On the stage was virtuoso dancing by cast members Philipe Lens and Nicola Wills which had much to be admired.

Concluding Ballet Vlaanderen’s program was Ten Duets on a Theme of Rescue, a creation of Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite. Pite’s piece is a series of ten duets – divided among five dancers – Matt Foley, Lara Fransen, Philipe Lens, Teun Van Roosmalen, and Nicola Wills.

The duets were danced in a somber, dim, and dangerous atmosphere with both menace and despondency hovering over the dancers. Pite defines the mood and atmosphere in her choreography but her ideas did not seem to be developed to their final conclusions.

All of the works on Ballet Vlaanderen’s program would have had more impact if their beginnings, middles, and endings were more defined. However the dancers danced these works with earnest commitment and one is intrigued by Ballet Vlaanderen’s renewed artistic vision.

Bolshoi Ballet Dances Swan Lake

Symphony Space

February 27, 2020

By Mark Kappel

As part of Symphony Space’s series of ballet cinema screenings this season, the Bolshoi Ballet was represented with its production of Swan Lake on February 27, 2020.

The Bolshoi Ballet’s production of Swan Lake is a unique production of a 19th century classic from the Soviet era. Yuri Grigorovitch, choreographer and former artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet, staged this production in 1969 and revised this production in 2001. It has been danced by the Bolshoi Ballet for all of these years and has found a permanent place in the company’s repertoire.

This is not a traditional production of Swan Lake in that Grigorovitch has carefully made changes – moving music from one act of the ballet to another, The Evil Genius (as Von Rothbart is named in this production) has a major dancing role in the production as well as the added character of the Fool (as the Jester is named in this production), and the ballet has an ambiguous ending. The production is also danced in two parts, is streamlined – there is no scenic design representation of a lake -- and even with the narrative presented in a way that is not detailed, oddly it is easy to follow the plot even with its revisions.

Swan Lake is the story of the enchanted Swan Queen, Odette, who only appears in human form at night and is under the spell of The Evil Genius. Upon meeting Prince Siegfried near a lake, Odette is encouraged that Siegfried’s vow to love that the spell might be broken. However The Evil Genius disguises his daughter, Odile, to look like Odette and during the celebration where Siegfried is to choose a bride, Siegfried is fooled by Odile, and in thinking she is Odette, he swears his love to her, dooming Odette to a life as a swan. Unlike other Soviet era productions of Swan Lake that have happy endings, this revision ends with The Evil Genius taking control of Odette and Siegfried is left on stage to ponder his future.

This production is also conspicuous for its reduction of mime to tell the story, abstraction and impressionistic scenery in which a lake is not defined, the Evil Genius seems to be negative alter ego of Siegfried, the national dances are led by a princess who dances the choreography in pointe shoes, and Grigorovitch has also rechoreographed the variations in the Black Swan Pas de Deux and the entire fourth act of the ballet.

But this is a living and breathing production of Swan Lake. Besides Tchaikovsky’s enduring score, there is a great deal of dazzling and virtuoso dancing provided by the Bolshoi Ballet dancers. This is a ballet that the Bolshoi Ballet’s dancers to appear at their best.

In this performance the roles of Odette/Odile are danced by Olga Smirnova, poetic and solemn as Odette and sizzling as Odile, and the role of Prince Siegfried is danced by Jacopo Tissi, elegant as the Prince and an excellent partner, with Egor Gerashchenko as The Evil Genius, who held his own in his characterization and in his virtuoso dancing.

In this production Siegfried dances the Act I Pas de Trois and, in this performance, Tissi was complimented well by Daria Khokhlova and Elizaveta Kruteleva in dancing this virtuoso set piece. Also notable was Alexei Putinlsev as The Fool.

As always in so many of these Bolshoi Ballet cinema screenings conductor Pavel Sorokin brought out the best in Tchaikovsky’s symphonic ballet score.

City Center Encores Presents Mack and Mabel

City Center

February 22, 2020

By Mark Kappel

The City Center Encores first presentation of the new season is Jerry Herman’s Mack and Mabel, a gem of a musical, which hasn’t been seen on a New York stage since its original Broadway production in 1974. The City Center Encores is presenting performances of Mack and Mabel from February 19-23, 2020.

With a brilliant score by Jerry Herman and what has been described as a problematic book by Michael Stewart, the story presented in Mack and Mabel is that of the unhappy and tragic relationship between moviemaker Mack Sennett and one of Sennett’s protégées, Mabel Normand.

Presented in this musical are the glory days of the beginnings of the silent movie industry at Keystone Studios – the home for many silent film stars and the ensemble of the Keystone Cops -- which is also the backdrop for the burgeoning relationship between Mack Sennett and one of his stars Mabel Normand, which was not destined for a happy ending.

Pictured in Mack and Mabel is the workaholic and narcissistic Mack Sennett, who as a Svengali, transforms Mabel Normand – a waitress from Flatbush – into one of the great comedic stars of the golden age of silent movies. Their relationship, to begin with, is not perfection, and is worsened when Normand and Sennett drift apart as the kind of films they wished to make diverged.

Mabel is attracted to rival director, William Desmond Taylor, who provides her with opportunities to show off her dramatic talent but at the same time she willingly descends into a life controlled by alcohol and drugs. Unfortunately a life that Sennett might have had a hand in as pills enabled Normand to fulfill Sennett’s demands on her in making movies at a ridiculous and rapid pace.

Eventually Normand’s life spiraled downward at a point in her relationship with Sennett and she died of tuberculosis in 1930.

This is a bittersweet love story which is reflected in Herman’s score and Stewart’s book.

Without an overture to set the tone Mack and Mabel opens in the abandoned Keystone Studios where, Sennett, hard on his luck ponders the memories from his illustrious career and his relationship with Mabel Normand in flashbacks.

Starting from 1938 and looking back, Sennett remembers when Keystone Studios was founded, its move to Hollywood, his great successes, and how eventful his meeting with Normand had been and his regrets about how the relationship fell apart. In the closing moments of Mack and Mabel Sennett’s regrets are overpowering as he watches excerpts from Normand’s silent films – and Mack and Mabel doesn’t have a happy ending.

Although Mack and Mabel was not a hit in New York, it was in London with its original London production premiering in 1995 which featured a revised book. Mack and Mabel has been viewed as a musical with promise, a wonderful score, but has never seemed to evolve into a musical that might be worthy of a fully-staged revival. This City Center Encores presentation of Mark and Mabel has proved the doubters wrong.

In 2018 City Center Encores teased us with two highlights from Mack and Mabel as part of its Hey Look Me Over revue with performances of two songs from Mack and Mabel, “Look What Happened to Mabel” and “Movies Were Movies”.

And in those performances, and in this full concert version, the roles of Mack Sennett and Mabel Norman are being played by Douglas Sills and Alexandra Socha who give sympathetic and vocally powerful characterizations of these tragic lovers. These are “star” performances.

Just as notable were the performances of Lili Cooper as Lottie Ames, Ben Fankhauser as Frank, and Michael Berresse as William Desmond Taylor.

Other highlights from Mack and Mabel’s score – besides the aforementioned “Look What Happened To Mabel” and “Movies Were Movies” – include “I Won’t Send Roses”, “Tap Your Troubles Away”, and “Time Heals Everything”.

Director/choreographer Josh Rhodes unfolds the story of Mack and Mabel at a quick pace with appropriate dance numbers that also contribute to the narrative. Michael Stewart’s book, with revisions by Francine Pascal, is flawed in some places but does have many wonderful moments.

Jerry Herman’s music transports one – especially in the entr’acte before the second act – and a fitting tribute is when the orchestra plays that entr’acte and three portraits of Herman appear who seemed to be watching over the City Center Encores’ presentation of Mack and Mabel.

With Rob Berman as musical director helping to make this musical sing as well, I think that Jerry Herman would be happy and feel that City Center Encores did right by him in presenting Mack and Mabel with such care and joy.

Bob Avian – A Dancing Man

By Mark Kappel

Choreographer Bob Avian, who collaborated with Broadway legend Michael Bennett on his many successes on Broadway – and Avian achieving success on his own, tells his story in Dancing Man – A Broadway Choreographer’s Journey, with his writing partner Tom Santopietro, published by the University Press of Mississippi.

Although not his first job on Broadway, as he was a dancer first, Avian begins his book with his experience assisting Michael Bennett as an associate choreographer on the musical, Coco with music by Andre Previn, book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and starring Katherine Hepburn, who as it turned out couldn’t sing note nor dance a step. Coco was meant to be a musical recreation of the life of celebrated fashion designer Coco Chanel, and Coco proved to be a distressing, perplexing, frustrating trial by fire. And what was learned was that you do the job the best as you can – hope for the best – but show up and learn from the people you are working with.

Avian’s interest in dance began early in his life, then off to college in Boston where he also studied at the Boston Ballet School.

Avian traces his life in the theatre as he worked in summer stock, a dancer in Broadway musicals on tour. then on to dance captain positions and as assistant stage manner while working with Broadway luminaries – learning from them – preparing him for his experiences working with Michael Bennett in Henry Sweet Henry, and in many other musicals including the mega hit, A Chorus Line.

Quoting from Dancing Man, Avian’s perspective on his life in show business, and words to live by – “My philosophy about my career was simply to go through any door that opened up. If there’s an opportunity lying in front of you, take it. Don’t be scared of change. You never know where it will lead.”

That philosophy took Avian through his experiences working as a choreographer for television variety shows industrial shows, musicals that were break throughs in his career including finding some financial security after working on the Broadway musical, Promises, Promises.

Avian worked on many of the landmark and ground breaking musicals in the last few decades, including Company, Seesaw, Follies, A Chorus Line, Dreamgirls, and Ballroom. On these projects he worked with Michael Bennett – and also was an astute observer of the experiences that Bennett had when he expanded his career to direct plays.

However Avian has had many successes on his own including the London production of Follies, Miss Saigon, Sunset Boulevard, Martin Guerre, Putting It Together with both Julie Andrews and Carol Burnett, and he also had the opportunity to re-visit past successes including revivals of A Chorus Line and Miss Saigon.

There are also wonderful stories about his work with the luminaries of Broadway, the sometimes frustrating and rewarding daily routines of working behind the scenes, and also the landmark musicals that he was involved with or worked on. All are fascinating look backs on his work, and also the craziness that he has come to terms with.Avian is incredibly frank in regard to his memories, his ups and downs, and the people he worked with, and he doesn’t have too many regrets which makes Dancing Man an interesting and entertaining read.

In spite of the unpredictable life that one has to face working in the Broadway world, Avian’s book is a reflection that he took life as it came, learned what he could and was able to apply what he learned in his future work which extended his career and also allowed him to be a major collaborator and creator on some of the most important musicals of Broadway’s golden age – and it is worth the time to read about his journey.

The Great White Way – Race and the Broadway Musical – Second Edition

By Mark Kappel

One of the great American art forms, the Broadway musical has been examined and analyzed as unique as it is in the book, The Great White Way – Race and the Broadway Musical, by Warren Hoffman and published by Rutgers University Press. In his book Hoffman examines the Broadway musical from the point of view of how American racial attitudes have been and are reflected in the plots, and its characters.

In his preface to this musical, Hoffman states that with more and more juke box musicals, and musicals based on popular movies, being produced on Broadway that we find ourselves facing backwards rather than facing forward which doesn’t leave much opportunity for change and less opportunity for creators of color to tell their new stories aimed at a new generation of theatergoers.

Hoffman believes that race identity is skewed along with the evolvement of so many social norms. American musicals are seen as a powerful and influential art form because musicals are a method of change in the society at large – while at the same time that musicals which reflect and teach progressive change have not been commercial successes.

Another aspect of the influence of musicals is that musicals are now part of America’s musical landscape. Even though New York City is the American theatrical hub musicals reach many more people on tour than in New York City – as well as in movie musicals and film versions of well-known Broadway musicals.

Musicals that deal with racial issues and the lives of outsiders are mentioned in this book and they include South Pacific, Flower Drum Song, West Side Story, Show Boat, and A Chorus Line. They are analyzed from different perspectives emphasizing the fact that musicals are creatures of their time or in some instances trapped by their time when it comes to depicting characters. Nostalgia or denial provoke Hoffman’s opinions in this book.

There have been other musicals that have reflected ethnic cultures including The Wiz and Raisin – which are examined in this book – and also what had been a trend of all-black casts in well- known musicals such as Hello, Dolly!, Guys & Dolls, and The Pajama Game – and what their effect might have been at the time – and non-traditional casting in general.

Efforts to respond to racial and ethnic stereotypes in Broadway musicals have resulted in revised versions of musicals including Flower Drum Song, Annie Get Your Gun, and a recent revival of Oklahoma among them as well as revising musicals to speak to a new generation.

There have been musicals produced on Broadway that have had subject matter that reflect diversity but it is Hoffman’s analysis that Broadway has yet to fully embrace diversity or taking risks. It seems that the non-profit theatre companies are more likely to take such risks.

Hoffman’s analysis is worth pondering.

Andrew Lloyd Webber Unmasked

Paper Mill Playhouse

February 15, 2020

By Mark Kappel

From January 30 -March 1, 2020 the Paper Mill Playhouse in Milburn, New Jersey, is presenting the world premiere of Unmasked: The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber.

In this retrospective “concert for the theatre” Lloyd Webber has collaborated with Richard Curtis, best known as a screenwriter – particularly for his screen play for Love, Actually -- in creating a self-tribute, focusing on songs from his well-known musicals. The piece has also been guided by director/choreographer Joann M. Hunter.

The “Unmasked” in the title is the name of Lloyd Webber’s memoir of the same name, and in this presentation Lloyd Webber provides straight forward and honest comments, and anecdotes about his songs from his musicals -- comments that are presented in video interludes often with self-deprecating humor and fascinating facts about his music and others. Lloyd Webber has made the selection of which songs are to be sung, in their contexts and out of their contexts, although many of these songs come from his internationally successful musicals and can speak for themselves.

Along with Stephen Sondheim, Lloyd Webber is the master of the sung-through musical and his many contributions to musical theatre are included in this theatrical presentation – representing his wide range as a composer.

The format of this concert for the theatre is very similar to the format of the Roundabout Theatre Company’s tribute to Stephen Sondheim, Sondheim on Sondheim, with the video clips providing interesting and revealing thoughts about Lloyd Webber’s music, his prospective about his musical theatre pieces, and how they fit into the self-exploration of his work.

The songs are performed in the form of medleys – some of which are themed by the musicals they come from – some groups of songs that are themed using the songs’ lyrics. In most instances the songs are performed complete – some in dramatic context – and there were a few less well-known songs also included.

An appealing and talented group of singer/actors perform unique interpretations of Lloyd Webber’s music and among the highlights are Mamie Parris’ interpretations of “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” (from Evita) and “Memory” (from Cats), Rema Webb’s interpretations of “With One Look” and “As If We Never Said Goodbye” (from Sunset Boulevard) and Sunset’s title song sung by Jeremy Landon-Hays, Pie Jesus from Requiem as sung by Alex Finke, Mauricio Martinez in his dramatic and well-sung performance of “Gethsemane” from Jesus Christ Superstar, and the excerpts from The Phantom of the Opera sung by Alyssa Giannite and Branson Norris Murphy.

Also included is music from Joseph And His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Aspects of Love, the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies, and the melodious, “Amigos Para Siempre (Friends for Life)” which was composed for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. Notably clever is the presentation of one of the themes in Lloyd Webber’s Variations being played by cellist, Marta Bagratuni, who is manipulated by two dancers – a very clever dance element.

There is also a new song as the Act Two opener,” Here We Are on Broadway”, in which many of Lloyd Webber’s iconic characters are seen in their iconic costumes. And in the finale a second new song “The Song You Don’t Know” – a satiric song about the hope of yet another block buster hit by Lloyd Webber closing the show, and curtain calls are taken to “Stick It To The Man” from Lloyd Webber’s most recent Broadway hit, The School of Rock.

As it would be in any tribute or survey of a composer’s work is not only what was included but also what wasn’t included. Not every moment is well linked to each other or fits well in this presentation but it is performed by a very talented cast. Even if you are not a Lloyd Webber aficionado, Unmasked is an informative and entertaining “concert for the theatre”. You may make some musical discoveries and you may also appreciate that much more the contributions that Lloyd Webber has made to musical theatre as we know it.

Grand Horizons

Second Stage Company – Helen Hayes Theatre

February 5, 2020

By Mark Kappel

The Second Stage Company is currently presenting a new play by Bess Wohl, Grand Horizons, which had its premiere at the Williamstown Theatre Festival last year. And the laughter will continue at The Second Stage Company only until March 1, 2020.

Grand Horizons is a clever and well-performed comedy bringing some hilarity to this Broadway season.

Grand Horizons is the story of Bill (played by James Cromwell) and Nancy (Jane Alexander) who have had what seems to be a 50-year ideal marriage. But soon after moving to a retirement community, Grand Horizons, Nancy announces that she wants out of the marriage.

Yet that perfect marriage is reflected in the first scene of the play where breakfast is cooked and served in a choreographed ritualized manner, and you might imagine that something is wrong rather than being right.

As the play develops one should have seen all of the warning signs that this marriage might have been in trouble – including regrets, affairs, and the lack of communication which the family members hadn’t noticed as they absorbed themselves in their careers, and in themselves, and they only saw the perfect parents, and responsible citizens.

Events are put into full drive as this shocking news turns the family upside down with this couple’s two grown sons Brian (played by Michael Urie) and Ben (played by Ben McKenzie) seemingly the most confused and bemused as the details are revealed. And the comedy is how these two sons cope with the obvious as well as the scenes in which Ben’s pregnant wife Jess (played by Ashley Park) who attempts to intervene in this family meltdown -- and the surprises provided by a few other eccentric outsiders, Brian’s new friend Tommy (played by Maulik Pancholy) and Bill’s latest fling, Carla (played by Priscilla Lopez).

Among the revelations are that Bill and Nancy have their own aspirations – Bill wanting to become a stand-up comedian, and Nancy who wants to have some freedom and space.

And what a surprise that a senior couple sharing 50 years of marriage would want to seek out re-discovery, independence, and want to start a new chapter in their lives. That is the premise for this intelligent and funny comedy.

Grand Horizons is not a rollicking comedy or even a door-slamming farce – but has enough humor in it to call it a comedy played masterfully by an excellent cast who make every role important and well-drawn. There are bits of The Golden Girls and Seinfeld that are antecedents but Grand Horizons is particularly effective in stressing the humanity in this family which is in crisis – real or imagined.

Under the excellent split-second direction by Leigh Silverman, Jane Alexander and James Cromwell as the senior citizen couple, as their two sons, Michael Urie and Ben McKenzie, along with Maulik Pancholy, Ashley Park, and Priscilla Lopez, they interact and play in this playground or romper room as everyone tries to cope with this incredible surprise – and delivering the merriment that the text of the play requires.

Plays such as Grand Horizons used to grace the stages of Broadway theatres on a regular basis in past decades – Neil Simon was one of the masters in writing such plays – but they have been long absent and sometimes everything old becomes new again. Although Grand Horizons may be a bit of nostalgia in terms of style and substance, such plays offer wonderful entertainment, an opportunity to laugh and to laugh at ourselves.

Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake

City Center

January 31, 2020

By Mark Kappel

For the third time Matthew Bourne’s ground-breaking production of Swan Lake is being performed at in New York – this time at the City Center from January 30-February 9, 2020.

Bourne’s production was premiered in London in 1995 and opened a Broadway engagement in 1998. This engagement by New Adventures is a return engagement to the City Center where Swan Lake had been performed in 2010. Seen on January 31, 2020, Bourne’s vision remains clear, highly theatrical – and thought provoking.

Bourne patterned his adaptation of Swan Lake’s plot with an overlay of the original ballet and the then current scandals within Great Britain’s Royal Family.

In this production of Swan Lake, the Prince (danced by James Lovell) is here seen as a timid man dominated by his controlling mother, the Queen (played by Nicole Kabera). The Prince has dreams about a male swan and pressures on him by his mother results in his contemplating suicide.

However before taking action the Prince comes upon the human of the male swan he has dreamed about who is escorted by an all-male corps de ballet of menacing swans, and the Prince comes back to life. The Swan (played by Matthew Ball – a guest artist from the Royal Ballet) dominates the Prince in a similar way as his mother.

This is where the story begins and all is played against the landscape of popular culture in Great Britain. Although he has a girlfriend (played by Katrina Lyndon) the Prince is attracted to the Swan perhaps trying to free himself from both his mother and royal obligations.

Far more surprises reveal themselves in the second part of this new vision of Swan Lake, when the male swan appears in a different role as The Stranger who arrives at the ball and attempts to seduce every woman in the ballroom – including the Queen. However just as in traditional productions of Swan Lake, there are princesses who are seeking The Prince’s hand in marriage from Hungary, Spain, Italy, and France, Romania, Germany, and Monaco.

The Prince feels betrayed by The Stranger’s behavior and falls into madness – and the ending will remain a mystery for the tragedy to be revealed when you have seen this unique production of Swan Lake for yourself.

The domination of the male swans is the focal point of this production of Swan Lake, and this unconventional approach is what makes Bourne’s re-interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet a unique dance and theatrical experience.

Beyond the novel configurations of the male swans in ensemble dances exhibiting them as exotic birds, there is also a wonderful parody of a classical ballet which just as comic as the reactions of the royal ballet to it. Bourne uses Tchaikovsky’s score as a film score and choreographs appropriately to it to integrate the dramatic moments of choreography and Tchaikovsky’s music. There is also a great deal of humanity and satire in this version of Swan Lake as well.

Bourne’s concept is enhanced by Lez Brotherston’s unique and appropriate costumes and scenery – and the performance of Bourne’s Swan Lake is also enhanced by the company’s dancers in diverse roles.

Matthew Ball is an elegant Swan, and sinister as The Stranger, and Andrew Monaghan successfully portrays the timid Prince – and Nicole Kabera is suitably manipulating as the Queen. Katrina Lyndon as the Prince’s Girlfriend often steals the show as an amusing party girl and is used to emphasize the fact that she is not a potential royal.

Now twenty-five years after its premiere, Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake still has resonance and universality.

Bolshoi Ballet’s New Production of Giselle

Symphony Space

January 28, 2020

By Mark Kappel

Symphony Space is not only a host for theatre cinema screenings but also for cinema screenings of the Bolshoi Ballet. One of the most awaited new productions that has been premiered by the Bolshoi Ballet during the 2019-20 season is Alexei Ratmansky’s new production of Giselle which was screened at Symphony Space on January 28, 2020.

Giselle was premiered by the Paris Opera Ballet in 1841 with choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. Through the course of the 19th century Giselle was ultimately choreographed in a version by Marius Petipa for the Mariinsky Ballet in Russia which serves as the model for present day productions of Giselle.

Ratmansky has revived many of the well-known 19th century classics. He has made an effort to research past productions of these classics which is revealed in his restagings.

The question was how traditional this production of Giselle might be and what details, that have been lost over the years, would be included in this new production of Giselle. The answers to those questions were revealed when Ratmansky’s production of Giselle was premiered by the Bolshoi Ballet on November 21, 2019, and this cinema screening made it possible for people the world over to see Ratmansky’s new interpretation of Giselle.

Giselle’s libretto was adapted by Theophile Gautier and Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-George inspired by stories by Heinrich Heine and Victor Hugo. Giselle is the story of love and redemption but also a reflection of its times when women were placed on pedestals and were desired by all, but most often, were wronged by men. Giselle is about the abandonment of a young peasant girl by an aristocrat who is also engaged to a noble lady. The story is told through the eyes of the Romantic era which includes ghosts and spirits.

Giselle is a young peasant girl who is being romanced by a peasant boy, who is actually an aristocrat, Albrecht, who is affianced to the noble lady, Bathilde. Albrecht’s ruse is discovered by Giselle’s admirer, Hans, and that revelation pushes Giselle into madness and she dies heartbroken.

It is in the second act that Giselle is revealed as a spirit joining a community of spirits of abandoned brides, the Wilis, who wreak revenge on men in a forest in the dark of night. Upon Albrecht paying his respects at Giselle’s grave, Giselle’s spirit is revealed and she protects Albrecht from the avenging Wilis by encouraging him to dance until he is rescued by the sunrise.

One of the notable of revisions that Ratmansky has made is that the mime has been restored and was consistently acted by all of the principal dancers down to the members of the corps de ballet.

Ratmansky’s Act I was quite traditional. The significant changes came in the Act II’s forest scene. Ratmansky tried to create some theatrical effects that didn’t succeed all that well. One of them was having the Queen of the Wilis ride a scooter type vehicle to give the allusion that she was flying, and opening the act with a group of rustics – similar to the rustics in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream – who do not contribute much to the narrative except they seem to be drinking a lot and are near Giselle’s grave. When Hans arrives on the scene he explains why he is visiting Giselle’s forest grave and also encourages them to leave the forest as they might be victims of the Wilis.

Ratmansky has also restored the fugue – which he has choreographed. The Wilis dance an ensemble dance attempting to persuade Giselle to thwart her efforts to save Albrecht from being one of their victims.

Giselle’s spirit appears and disappears using the theatrical devices of trap doors which is clever stagecraft. However Ratmansky’s ending is an enigma. Albrecht breaks down crying in front of Giselle’s spirit which seems to be dissenting into a mound of earth very far from her grave – and it seems that Bathilde and her entourage intrude on Albrecht’s coming to terms with his grief and Giselle’s forgiveness – and the final tableau only infers that Albrecht keeps his promise to marry Bathilde but not explaining why.

Although Robert Perdziola’s designs were meant to be reverent to those by Alexandre Benois, they are impressionistic in perspective.

For the dancers dancing the principal roles in Giselle, the challenge is portraying these complex characters and also executing stylized choreography from the 19th century. These roles were meant to be interpreted which makes it interesting to see many different dancers to put their stamps on these roles, and in this production they are also imposed upon to fill in the narrative gaps.

Olga Smirnova in the title role is a sympathetic and compelling Giselle – dancing fluidly and stylishly and always in character. Artemy Belyakov as Albrecht is just as compelling as Smirnova’s Giselle. There was great chemistry between them.

Dancing the role of Hans (Hilarion in other productions) can be a thankless role but Denis Savin makes Hans human and one is convinced of his love of Giselle, and Angelina Vlashinets made a commanding and steely Queen of the Wilis.

Particularly the corps de ballet in the second act of this ballet is a character unto itself, and this is where the Bolshoi Ballet especially shone.

This performance of Alexei Ratmansky’s new production of Giselle as danced by the Bolshoi Ballet presents a different prospect of this classic ballet, and if anything else well worth viewing in order to see the Bolshoi Ballet dance so magnificently.

Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation

Theater at Saint Peter’s

January 25, 2020

By Mark Kappel

From January 17 through February 16, 2020 the York Theatre Company is hosting a limited engagement of Gerard Alessandrini’s Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation.

Alessandrini has cleverly been lampooning and harpooning the best of Broadway in his hilarious and pointed revues for several decades, and Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation takes aim at recent Broadway offerings as well as individual Broadway stars.

Setting the tone for Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation we see an out-of-town family deciding which Broadway musical to see – of concern is having a 13-year-old in tow and being aware that many of the current Broadway offerings may not be age appropriate for him as highlighted in “God, I Wanna See It 2019”.

For this edition of Forbidden Broadway Hadestown (featuring Immanuel Houston as an elegant Andre de Shields), Moulin Rouge, Dear Evan Hansen, Frozen, Tootsie, Beetle juice, The Prom, the Irish drama, The Ferryman, and Harry Potter are among the theatrical presentations that are targeted by Alessandrini.

Two of the more pointed parodies are the recent revival of Oklahoma! which is rechristened as “Woke-lahoma!”, and Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, re-christened in a parody of “Brush Up Your Shakespeare” from Kiss Me Kate transformed as “Brush Up Your Yiddish” in which there is the prediction that many classic musicals will be revived and performed with translations in languages other than English.

Alessandrini’s darts are accurate and pointed, but done so with affection -- and although it helps to be familiar with the musicals being satirized, it is not a requirement in order to enjoy Alessandrini’s barbs.

Alessandrini has collaborated with choreographer Gerry McIntyre and the wonderful cast of Immanuel Houston, Aline Mayagoitia, Chris-Collins-Pisano, and Joshua Turchin – with Fred Barton on piano.

Understudy Katheryne Penny took over the role she was covering as well as a few songs usually assigned to another cast member in the age old show business tradition that the show must go on. She was particularly notable as Renee Zellweger portraying Judy Garland.

13-year-old Joshua Turchin laments that he is an “Evan Has-Been” lamenting the future of the young recruits playing the title role in Dear Evan Hansen, and shows his talent for comedy in a parody from the musical, Tootsie. Immanuel Houston portrays Andre de Shields in a parody of Hadestown – and as Jennifer Holiday in Dream Girls. Aline Mayagoitia lampoons Bernadette Peters, and Chris Collins-Pisano has his comic moments portraying Bob Fosse, Harold Prince, Lin Manuel Miranda, and as Alex Brightman in Beetlejuice.

All I can do is hope that Alessandrini continues his tradition of writing and directing future versions of Forbidden Broadway, and also guiding the wonderful cast members who also keep up the Forbidden Broadway tradition.

For now whether you are a musical theatre fan or not, one should take the opportunity to see the latest edition of Forbidden Broadway.

Royal Ballet – The Sleeping Beauty

January 24, 2020

By Mark Kappel

Continuing its series of cinema screenings, the Royal Ballet will be presenting to American audiences one of the most beloved ballets of the 19th century classics – The Sleeping Beauty.

The Sleeping Beauty has been a signature work for the Royal Ballet having danced many different versions over the years – but all inspired by a production staged for the company by Nikolai Sergeyev – with traditions passed on from generation to generation.

The Royal Ballet’s current production of The Sleeping Beauty, which premiered in 2006 to honor the Royal Ballet’s founder, Ninette de Valois, is a collaborative effort supervised by former Royal Ballet artistic director Monica Mason, and Christopher Newton, with contributions by Frederick Ashton, Anthony Dowell and Christopher Wheeldon, This version of The Sleeping Beauty was inspired by the landmark Oliver Messel production that was performed by the Royal Ballet shortly after World War II. It was performed as part of an American tour which was a “hit” and established the Royal Ballet as a major international company. For this production of The Sleeping Beauty the original Messel designs were replicated under the supervision of Peter Farmer.

The Sleeping Beauty is based on Charles Perrault’s version of this popular fairy tale and in allegorical fashion the story represents the triumph of good over evil.

The Prologue of The Sleeping Beauty celebrates the christening of Princess Aurora and this celebration is marred by the arrival of the unhappy Carabosse who was not invited to this important event in the life of this fairy tale kingdom. Considered a major insult Carabosse casts a spell over Aurora that she may prick her finger on a spindle and die on her 16th birthday. Although Carabosse arrives in disguise at that birthday celebration to fulfill her plot, the Lilac Fairy’s power provides that Aurora will sleep for a hundred years and does not die. Aurora is to be awakened by a handsome prince – Prince Florimund. The Lilac Fairy conjures a vision of Aurora, and Prince Florimund follows the Lilac Fairy where Aurora is sleeping and awakens her. The ballet ends with a sumptuous and joyous wedding celebration in which many well known fairy tale characters participate.

This ballet is notable as it was Tchaikovsky’s second ballet score and his first in which he collaborated with the master choreographer, Marius Petipa. For both The Sleeping Beauty is considered their own masterpiece. Although the ballet tells the story of The Sleeping Beauty it is also a homage to Petipa’s benefactors – the Czar and the Russian aristocracy. The ballet is also noted for its ballet blanc vision scene in the second act and the many superb variations, pas de deux, and set pieces which provide major challenges for the principal dancers.

The Sleeping Beauty that is being screened had a surprise cast change in that Lauren Cuthbertson who was to have danced Aurora was injured and Fumi Kaneko took over the performance partnered by Federico Bonelli, with Gina Storm-Jensen dancing the role of the Lilac Fairy.

Both Kaneko and Bonelli danced with elegance and poise – and also with charm -- and exhibiting their ballet technique. Kaneko handled the technical challenges in the Rose Adagio with ease, and Bonelli was an excellent partner.

As The Sleeping Beauty is a company piece one had the opportunity to see many other notable performances such as Yuhui Choe as the Fairy of the Golden Vine (also known as the “Finger Variation”), Yasmine Naghdi and Matthew Ball in the Bluebird Pas de Deux exhibiting their great virtuosity, James Hay, Mayara Magri and Anna Rose O’Sullivan as Florestan and his Sisters, and Kristen McNally portraying the scary and compelling Carabosse.

This cinema screening of The Sleeping Beauty is a wonderful opportunity to see the Royal Ballet in its element dancing its signature ballet with an excellent cast, with sumptuous costumes and scenery – and there is also the wonderful score by Tchaikovsky.

As with all past and future Royal Ballet cinema screenings, more information about them can be obtained at rohcinematickets.com.

NT Live/Old Vic: All My Sons

Symphony Space

January 21, 2020

By Mark Kappel

Symphony Space played host for another NT Live and London’s Old Vic collaboration – in a cinema screening of a revival of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons – on January 21, 2020 – a play that wrestles with problems that are current and universal – and a production that premiered in London in 2019.

The tale that Miller’s tells in All My Sons is based on a true story of a plot involving a defense contractor conspiring with army inspection officers in approving defective aircraft engines for military use. The investigation during the Harry Truman presidency resulted in three Air Force officers being convicted of neglect of duty.

All My Sons takes place after World War II focusing on the complex intrigues of a family living in the Midwest. Joe Keller, the patriarch of the Keller family, is exonerated after he knowingly shipped defective aircraft engine parts to the military during World War II causing the deaths of military pilots. Keller placed the blame on his partner, Steve Deever, who is serving time in prison.

In defending his innocence in what is a crime of war profiteering, Joe rationalized that he did what he did for the financial survival of his family.

This production of All My Sons opens with newsreels of life and lifestyles in the United States in the 1940’s .Taking place in the Keller’s backyard, Joe and Kate Keller seem to have a life that most people would consider to be a success – the American Dream – with a more than modest home, a thriving business, and having had two sons. However their elder son, Larry, was lost in action during World War II.

During this idyllic afternoon Joe Keller’s past secrets catch with him, and open up wounds from the past unraveling the lives of the Kellers, and the Deevers.

Kate Keller is convinced that her elder son, Larry, was still alive but comes to grips with reality when her younger son, Chris (played by Colin Morgan) reveals his intentions to marry Larry’s fiancée Ann Deever (played by Jenna Coleman) who has her own secrets to reveal as she has kept to herself Larry’s fate for three years – and this marriage plan reveals to Kate Keller what has actually happened to her son.

It is Ann’s brother George (played by Oliver Johnstone) who reveals the past’s secrets after a visit with his father in prison – bringing along baggage that further fuels the conflicts between the Keller Family and the Deever Family, and the collateral damage that comes along with it including the proposed marriage of Chris and Ann.

In one afternoon the Kellers’ American Dream crashes and collides with their hopes and rationalization, and turns upside down the lives of all of the members of those feuding families – a metaphor for the comprises that have been made and the ambiguities of achieving the American Dream.

To his credit director Jeremy Herrin has brought out the relevancy of All My Sons to our times, warts and all, in a transparent and clear manner.

Playing Joe and Kate Keller are American actors Bill Pullman and Sally Field adding an earthy naturalness to this production – and both give absorbing and involving performances as they cope with the revelations and secrets that are contained in Miller’s intriguing play.

However the entire cast presents their characters in an honest manner and communicate their hopes, their fears, and disappointments that are revealed through the play.

Miller grappled with the same themes in one of his masterpieces, Death of a Salesman, and there are also allusions to Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Into Night.

Miller’s All My Sons tugs at the heartstrings, provokes an audience, and questions the American ideals of decency and mutual respect – and also reveals how these questions can divide a nation.

One cannot ignore that the themes in Miller’s All My Sons are universal and ever present. And this production of All My Sons heightens and clarifies these themes.

The Shanghai Ballet Offers A Second Cast in Swan Lake

David Koch Theater

January 18, 2020

By Mark Kappel

The Shanghai Ballet offered a second cast in its series of performances of Derek Deane’s production of Swan Lake at the David Koch Theater on January 18, 2020.

Deane’s production offers the opportunity for a variety of interpretations of the principal roles in Swan Lake to be seen and be successful – and seen even a more positive manner because of the high level performances of the company’s dancers in featured and corps de ballet roles from the Cygnets in Act II to the national dances in Act III – all danced with polish, clarity, and spirit.

Observing individual and different interpretations of classic roles one can discover more details in a particular production of Swan Lake, and in this performance of Swan Lake, that is what resulted.

Dancing Odette/Odile was former San Francisco Ballet principal dancer, Maria Kochetkova, and Dawid Trzensimiech danced the role of Siegfried, a Polish born dancer who danced with the Royal Ballet and joined the Romanian National Ballet in 2014 – and is currently a First Soloist of the Polish National Ballet.

Kochetkova’s Odette/Odile has been seen in New York when she danced these roles with American Ballet Theatre. And in this production, as in American Ballet Theatre’s production, her Swan Queen remains aloof – particularly her performance of Odile is stately, cold, and evil. At this performance more narrative details were reveals as she responded to the interpretation of Siegfried as danced by the polished and elegant Trzensimiech. Trzensimiech’s Siegfried was empathetic, royal, and elegant, and both Kochetkova and Trzensimiech exhibited a clean exactitude in their dancing.

Also in this second performance of this production of Swan Lake it is obvious that the company’s corps de ballet is a character unto itself particularly emotionally involving in Act 4 as they appear in the mist and are solemnly joyful when Rothbart’s spell is broken.

As the Shanghai Ballet has many productions of the 19th century classics in its repertoire, I hope that the company will be returning to New York very soon and will dance one of the classics during such an engagement.

The Shanghai Ballet Dances Swan Lake

David Koch Theater

January 17, 2020

By Mark Kappel

The Shanghai Ballet, making its debut at the David Koch Theater from January 17-19, 2020, is the third major Chinese ballet company to be performing in New York in less than six months’ time.

The Shanghai Ballet, now under the direction of Derek Deane, danced a production of a full-length 19th century classic, Swan Lake, which was given its company premiere by the Shanghai Ballet in 2015. Although audience favorites visiting ballet companies do not consistently program the 19th century classics for their New York engagements. In the last few years, we have seen more visiting ballet companies include Swan Lake in their New York engagements which is a true test of a ballet company’s standard and is a showcase for all of the dancers in the company.

There have been several different productions of Swan Lake that have been performed in New York recently including those of the Hungarian National Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet, and the Mariinsky Ballet – as well as our local resident ballet companies, American Ballet Theatre, and the New York City Ballet.

Derek Deane’s production of Swan Lake had been premiered by the English National Ballet in 1997, with designs by British designer Peter Farmer. This production has its British roots and is welcome considering the many productions of Swan Lake that have been performed in New York have had Soviet revisions or ornamentation, and it is refreshing to see the ballet in its traditional form without any extra decoration or a happy ending. Tchaikovsky’s ballet is, after all, a tragedy.

The story of Swan Lake focuses on Odette who has been transformed into a swan by Rothbart, an evil magician. Siegfried, after being commanded to seek a bride by his mother, finds his way into a forest near a lake, where Odette appears in human form. Odette and Siegfried fall in love at first sight. At a ball where Siegfried must select a bride, there is a surprise visitor, Rothbart with his daughter Odile disguised as Odette – who subsequently fools Siegfried , and Siegfried breaks his undying vow of love to Odette. Siegfried seeks out Odette at the lakeside and as it would not be possible for Odette to break Rothbart’s spell, Odette and Siegfried decide to leap into the lake – and drowning together – and they are joined in eternal love. In so doing Rothbart’s spell is broken and his power is destroyed.

Overall Deane’s production of Swan Lake is a traditional one which also has a clear narrative and recent revisions including Siegfried’s solo at the end of Act I, while also including the charming comic dance of Siegfried’s tutor and a young peasant girl, and the traditional White Acts, and the national dances, and Black Swan Pas de Deux in the Ballroom Act.

Where Deane’s production differs from others is that it has a magically staged prologue during which Odette is transformed from human form to a swan by Rothbart, and in this particular production the Shanghai Ballet is performing Swan Lake with 48 swans in its corps de ballet. As described it is a “grand production” which is reverential and traditional. But also filled with interesting dramatic details including the mime passages which push forward the narrative.

For the performance on January 17,, 2020 the roles of Odette/Odile and Siegfried were danced by Shanghai Ballet principal dancers, Qi Beingxue and Wu Husheng. Their Act II Pas de Deux was poetic and eloquent, and their Black Swan Pas de Deux was a wonderful display of virtuoso dancing. Beingxue meet the challenges of dancing the dual role Odette/Odile, and notably Wu Husheng was a sympathetic prince and a strong partner. Beyond their excellent dancing, as actors, they also conveyed the story superbly, in what was an involving performance.

As a company the Shanghai Ballet represented itself well in all of the soloist and corps de ballet roles in this production of Swan Lake dancing to animated musical tempi, and in the moment, successfully communicating the story in Swan Lake. This was a performance of Swan Lake that this classic ballet should have.

Royal Ballet’s Coppelia

Symphony Space

By Mark Kappel

The Royal Ballet’s holiday season has featured the ballet, Coppelia, rather than the annual performances of The Nutcracker. Coppelia is an equally appealing ballet and is seldom performed. Also the ballet is part of the Royal Ballet’s rich heritage. Fortunately the Royal Ballet’s production of Coppelia will now be seen in cinema screenings in the United States in the coming month and further information can be obtained at rohcinematickets.com.

Coppelia premiered at the Paris Opera Ballet in 1870, choreographed by Arthur St. Leon with a commissioned score composed by Leo Delibes. The story is culled from one of the many stories written by E.T.A. Hoffman – and the story is a reflection of the time when prototypes of robots were the focus attention at exhibitions in Paris – and then there was Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

Coppelia was performed in Paris against the backdrop of the Franco-Prussian War and because even male dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet were conscripted for the French Army, the role of Franz was first danced by female dancer.

As with many of the 19th century classics, Coppelia was rechoreographed by Marius Petipa in his own version and presented at the Mariinsky Ballet in 1884 – but seemed to be a ballet that went out of fashion rather quickly and it is only in the last decade or so that Russian ballet companies are revisiting this entertaining classic ballet.

The Royal Ballet production has its roots in a production staged in 1954 by the Royal Ballet’s founder, Ninette de Valois, based on the Petipa version that was staged by Nicolai Sergeyev although the credit for this production also notes contributions by Lev Ivanov and Enrico Cecchetti among the choreographers. In Coppelia there is a perfect meshing of the music, and the choreography as the story is told in the dancing and also with mime. And also this production of Coppelia is dressed up with Osbert Lancaster's colorful designs.

The story of Coppelia is relatively simple, Swanhilda and Franz seem to be destined for marriage but Swanhilda questions Franz’s affections when Swanhilda sees him flirting with a girl on a balcony that is part of the house of an eccentric toymaker, Dr. Coppelius. Franz takes up his infatuation with this mysterious girl climbing a ladder up to the balcony. Swanhilda and her friends decide to take Franz to task for his flirtation and also play a trick on Dr. Coppelius after Swanhilda finds out that the girl sitting on the balcony is actually a mechanical toy. Swanhilda takes on the dress and movement of the mechanical doll, and fools Dr. Coppelius into believing that his beloved creation has been transformed into a human being.

Ultimately all is forgiven and all ends happily. But the fun is getting to that point. Delibes’ score is danceable and tuneful, and Coppelia lives up to its roots as a comic ballet.

The Royal Ballet presented some of its top dancers in the principal roles, Marianela Nunez dancing role of Swanhilda with spirit and suitable bossiness, Vadim Muntagirov is superb as a confused and love sick Franz, and Gary Avis is sympathetic as the doddering and wronged Dr. Coppelius, in a ballet that not only requires sparkling dancing but also comic timing and melancholy when appropriate. Also notable was Claire Calvert dancing the featured role of Aurora in the joyous wedding celebration in Act III of Coppelia.

The Royal Ballet, as a company, is seen at its best in this glorious production of Coppelia.

NT Live: Old Vic’s Present Laughter

Symphony Space

January 14, 2020

By Mark Kappel

NT Live’s cinema screenings include performances not only produced by the National Theatre but also performances produced by many other prestigious London institutional theatre companies.

On January 14, 2020 NT Live and Symphony Space hosted London’s Old Vic production of Noel Coward’s Present Laughter.

Present Laughter is often referred to as Noel Coward’s autobiographical play and is filled with self-deprecating humor, light comedy, and flare that were Coward’s signatures.

Present Laughter also showcases a panoply of odd characters – with each character unique in its own way.

In the Old Vic’s production of Present Laughter, Matthew Warchus has directed a rollicking revival of this play with a gender swap that informs the text and also presents a different slant on the characters in the play.
The focal point of this revival is Andrew Scott’s tour de force performance as the infamous egomaniacal actor Garry Essendine.

In Present Laughter Coward sets the scene in the 1930’s with Essendine readying himself for a theatrical tour in Africa, and finds his life becoming more complicated and out of control as he sorts out his relationships with his intimate and professional friends. Essendine pouts, prances about, and orders people around like a demented general. All of which is Essendine’s form of his own entertainment as he deals with his own loneliness.

Although the time period is in the 1930’s this revival has been updated in many respects for a contemporary audience.

In Present Laughter Coward examines the cult of celebrity, and self-indulgence although Essendine’s cutting remarks are recognized by his friends and members of his entourage with a wink and a nod. Essendine has the DNA of both Napoleon and Peter Pan as he rides roughshod over his friends. One cannot overemphasize that Essendine is an insufferable monster. Noted in the program notes – and revealing -- is that Essendine’s surname is an anagram for “neediness”. He is lonely and vulnerable for all of his bluster.

The aforementioned gender swap is that Essendine’s seducer, Joanna, is now swapped with Joe (played by Enzo Cilenti) which provides a unique balance to Essendine’s relationships with his estranged wife, Liz (played by Indira Varma) and his devoted secretary, Monica Reed (played by Sophie Thompson) – with all three of these roles played by all of the actors with suitable off and on ennui. The gender swap simultaneously changes the tone of Coward’s light comedy but also reveals ambiguities in the play – and also makes the play more complicated.

In Present Laughter, Coward presents a parade of assorted characters that march through Essendine’s drawing room including the rather eccentric Roland Maule (played by Luke Thallon), an aspirant playwright and a bit of a stalker, Helen Lyppiatt, a member of Essendine’s management team (played by Suzie Toase), Daphne Stillington, an off the wall fan of Essendine who is hoping for a theatrical career (played by Kitty Archer), Fred, the trusted servant, (played by Joshua Hill), Morris Dixon, Essendine’s manager (played by Abdul Salis), and Liza Sadovy playing both Miss Erikson and Lady Saltbun.

Scott’s performance as Essendine is the dramatic engine in this production of Present Laughter, a role he sparks with the energy of a firecracker, and the comic timing and the frantic tone of an agitated John Cleese.

However overall this revival of Noel Coward’s Present Laughter is a fresh and clever one injecting even more humor and life in one of Coward’s most amusing plays.

NT Live: Hansard

Symphony Space

January 11, 2020

By Mark Kappel

The NT Live cinema screenings have found a welcome home at Symphony Space in New York City, and on January 11, 2020, NT Live presented the cinema screening of the National Theatre’s production of Simon Woods’ Hansard which had premiered in London in 2019.

The definition of Hansard is the official report of all parliamentary debates and as you can well surmise that Woods’ play that juxtaposes political, and through the course of the play, Hansard, marital themes. Performed as a two-hander and the story told in only 90 minutes without an intermission, Hansard is a display of a strategic battle – politically and reflecting marital dynamics of a relationship of a politician and his wife – revealing their secrets, regrets, and problems as they finally erupt.

Hansard is set in 1988 at a time when Robin Hesketh (played by Alex Jennings), a junior Tory cabinet minister returns to his idyllic Cotswold home in his constituency, where he finds all is in chaos. This confrontation is set against the landscape of the many changes occurring in the United Kingdom during the period when Margaret Thatcher was prime minister. Thatcher promoted the removal of financial regulations, battled to the death with coal miners, and unions, and seemed to expose a lack of empathy and intolerance that had been in hibernation.

Everything comes to a boil when Hesketh’s wife Diana (played by Lindsay Duncan) begins her reunion with her husband and it doesn’t take long before verbal sparring is initiated -- evolving into a major marital and political battle as secrets are revealed – including secrets about Britain’s governing class.

Diana focuses on the 1988 Local Government Act which required that local authorities could not respond to homosexuality in a positive fashion – a particular concern of Diana’s that is revealed in the final moments of the play providing Hansard with a major emotional and dramatic wallop. But this is only one of Diana’s complaints among them being denied an opportunity to pursue a career of her own.

As the acerbic banter evolves in Hansard it is suggested that Hesketh might get down from his high horse and his worship of Margaret Thatcher – suggesting that Thatcher might have been persuaded to change her political views if she had seen a performance of Hedda Gabler, and read fiction so she might exhibit some empathy for the people she was serving.

In a world upended by political battles, embarrassments and scandals, Hansard focuses on what seems to be the never-ending chaos and uncertainty in the world we live in – although that chaos and uncertainty appears in a ghost-like fashion every decade or so.

In Hansard, Woods’ words reveal our current political landscape and the stress it has put on everyday life and relationships.

Simon Godwin has directed Hansard with respect for the text – and enhances the text. He successfully brings out the best in Duncan and Jennings making what could have been merely a talkfest rather than the political and emotional drama that it is. Hansard is sometimes predictable. However watching the master actors, Duncan and Jennings simply act triumphs over Hansard’s few flaws.

Fiddler on the Roof – On Tour

State Theatre

December 21, 2019

By Mark Kappel

As one of the presentations of the State Theatre -- in New Brunswick, New Jersey -- Broadway Series, is the national touring company of Fiddler of the Roof which is performing from December 20-22, 2019. This production of one of Broadway’s all-time favorites is based on a Broadway revival that premiered in 2015, with direction by Bartlett Sher.

Fiddler on the Roof is a significant collaboration with a score by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, and a book by Joseph Stein. The original Broadway production premiered in 1964, a production with direction and choreography by Jerome Robbins, and since that time most revivals of Fiddler on the Roof have included Robbins’ contributions. Recent Broadway revivals have made changes adjusting to the point of view of different directors while trying to protect the integrity of this much-loved musical and also some reverence to Robbins’ whose influence over Fiddler hovers like a ghost.

In this production Sher makes a few adjustments in telling this story by Sholem Aleichem about the dairyman Tevye and his daughters which takes place in 1905 in the village of Anatevka. Sher’s modern twist is that it opens with a American tourist in appropriate parka who one perceives to be visiting his ancestral village of Anatevka and then transforms into Tevye, the story teller in Fiddler on the Roof – a story which is how generations of people, in no matter what culture, relate to coping with protecting tradition and how tradition might have to evolve with the outside world changing around them.

Also an added aspect of this revival is that Israeli modern dance choreographer, Hofesh Shecter, has fashioned a gloss over Robbins’ choreography with a modern dance and folk dance feel which is in contrast to Robbins’ signature style.

Fiddler tells the story of Tevye’s daughters breaking with tradition as three of them seek out marriage partners on their own without Tevye’s consent, and also Tevye’s friends and neighbors who are coping with pogroms causing disruption and devastation in their village. Ultimately their lives are turned upside down, and they must move from their little village dispersing in different directions to pursue their lives.

Tevye often speaks to God directly – piercing the fourth wall – asking for guidance as he tries to solve the problems of change being adverse to tradition. This is all accomplished with self-deprecating humor as Tevye’s dialogues with God don’t always produce the answers he needs. Tevye ultimately recognize that the passions and feelings between his daughters and their suitors hasten changes in tradition. Some breaks with tradition Tevye reluctantly agrees to and others he rejects.

This story is told through Fiddler on the Roof’s magnificent score which includes “Tradition”, “Sunrise, Sunset”, “If I Were A Rich A Man”, “To Life”, “Matchmaker, Matchmaker”, and “Sabbath Prayer” and enhanced with Sholem Aleichem’s self-deprecating humor and how the Jews living in their village of Anatevka get by with every day miracles, their faith, and having the courage as they struggle through life. They are survivors.

Productions of Fiddler on the Roof ride on the shoulders of the actor who plays Tevye. In this production it is Israeli actor Yehezkel Lazarov (who has in his background being a member of one of Israel’s leading modern dance companies, the Batsheva Dance Company) and is equally matched by Maite Uzal as Golde. Besides having wonderful voices, and perfect interpretations of their characters, they have a wonderful chemistry.

But this production has an embarrassment of riches throughout the cast including the sensitive interpretation of the role of Lazar Wolf by Jonathan Von Mering, Kelly Gabrielle Murphy as Tzeitel, Ruthy Froch as Hodel, Noa Luz Barenlat as Chava, the manic performance of Motel by Nick Siccone, and the sympathetic Perchik of Nic Casaula, and the comic Yente played with a bit of subtlety by Carol Beaugard.

In short this revival of Fiddler on the Roof is provocative and is a crowd pleaser.

Valentina Kozlova’s Dance Conservatory Presents The Nutcracker Winter Suite

Symphony Space

December 20, 2019

By Mark Kappel

Valentina Kozlova’s Dance Conservatory is presenting its production of The Nutcracker Winter Suite at Symphony Space for performances on December 20th and December 21, 2019. As in the past this production has been staged by Valentina Kozlova with the choreography after the original by Marius Petipa and Valery Vainonen, and is being danced by students from the VKDC the Studio which is based in Norwalk, Connecticut.

This presentation is not the full production of The Nutcracker but instead highlights from the ballet beginning with Act I’s Snow Scene and continuing on to the Act II national dances and the Grand Pas de Deux. There is a thread of narrative to link these divertissements together but nevertheless it is a suite of dances from this well-known ballet presenting challenging stage experience for these students.

As always these student dancers rise to the occasion in performance with excellent stage presence, confidence, polish, spirit and joy.

In noting polish and confidence at this performance Hungarian dancer Rajna Removic danced the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy with Justin Valentine as her Cavalier. Both dancers exhibited that aforementioned confidence and polish.

Also notable were Nikita Conn as Clara and Talia Hull as Marie, the Snow Pas de Deux danced by Serena Reed (partnered by Justin Valentine), and Arabian danced by Jillian Schubert.

For those who are familiar with The Nutcracker one can admire the progress that these student dancers have made from year to year, and for first timers it is a wonderful way to be introduced to this classic ballet.

York Theatre Company Celebrates Maury Yeston

Theater at Saint Peter’s

December 4, 2019

By Mark Kappel

The York Theatre Company is presenting the Off-Broadway premiere of a new musical revue celebrating the music of Maury Yeston in Anything Can Happen in the Theater: The Musical World of Maury Yeston, from November 26 through December 29, 2019.

Maury Yeston is being celebrated in this revue noting that his output is select but notable. Yeston has contributed both music and lyrics to Nine, Grand Hotel, Titanic, Phantom, and Death Takes A Holiday, and all of these pieces have a sophisticated and operatic quality – particularly Nine and Titanic which both won Tony Awards for Best Musical.

Director Gerard Alessandrini, author of the many Forbidden Broadway revues , puts the focus on both Yeston’s music and lyrics with the help of the excellent cast of Benjamin Eakeley, Jovan E’Sean, Alex Getlin, Justin Keyes, and Mamie Parris. Also plaudits to Greg Jarrett as musical director.

Included in this revue are several songs being heard for the first time and a song that was written just for this revue – and also integrates songs from Death Takes A Holiday, Grand Hotel, Nine, Phantom, Titanic, The Queen of Basin Street (an unproduced first attempt at a musical stage version of La Cages Aux Folles), In The Beginning and December Song.

The revue opens with “Anything Can Happen in the Theater” in which actors opine about the hazards of working in the theatre. Other highlights included Justin Keyes’ rendition of “Salt n’Pepper”, Benjamin Eakeley’s performance of “Guido’s Song” from Nine, Jovan E’Sean’s performance of “Mississippi Moon”, the performances of Alex Getlin and Mamie Parris of “No Women in the Bible” from In The Beginning, “I Don’t Want To Rock ‘n’ Roll” sung by Alex Getlin Jovan E’Sean, and Justin Keyes, a moving performance of “Unusual Way” from Nine by Mamie Parris, and the full company singing “Godspeed, Titanic” from Titanic.

All of the cast members capture the introverted emotional moments, and also comedic moments in these wonderful songs which were skillfully directed by Alessandrini.

Anything Can Happen in the Theater – The Musical World of Maury Yeston, is an excellent introduction to Yeston’s music – a reflection on Yeston’s varied songs performed by a spirited and talented cast.

Paper Mill Playhouse Presents Cinderella

Paper Mill Playhouse

December 1, 2019

By Mark Kappel

For this holiday season the Paper Mill Playhouse has opened a holiday gift with the stage version of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella performed with a new book written by Douglas Carter Beane. This version of Cinderella had been presented on Broadway, not all that long ago in 2013, and the Paper Mill Playhouse is presenting Cinderella from November 20 through December 29, 2019.

Directed by Mark S. Hoebee with a Disney spirit, and with comedic wit, this Cinderella is yet another Paper Mill Playhouse success -- and marvelous family entertainment. All enhanced by the costume designs by William Ivey Long, and the scenery designs by Anna Louizos who are both responsible for a great deal of the magic.

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella was envisioned as a television musical, premiering in 1956, which starred Julie Andrews, and has since been seen in other television versions over the years. There have also been multiple stage versions including one for the New York City Opera.

Beane’s interpretation of this musical reflects 21st century norms. Cinderella is not the victim of society or her stepmother, but is an activist of sorts, and she encourages her Prince, Prince Topher, to use his celebrity and his bully pulpit to do what is best for the people of his kingdom – a kingdom with cottages and a few castles, and dragons and other creatures in the forests.

Prince Topher (played by Billy Harrigan Tighe) is an expert in killing dragons, griffins, and giants but is unfamiliar with the everyday life in his kingdom. He is self-involved and easily persuaded by the “influencer” Lord Chancellor Sebastian (played by Christopher Seiber) who is also ruling the kingdom in a sinister manner behind the Prince’s back. Ella (as Cinderella is known here and played by understudy Erin Burniston) is proud of her peasant origins and is not only assertive, she is also her own woman and exceedingly smart. In spite of the production’s updated viewpoint of this vintage tale, there is still the rags to riches story in this imaginative production of Cinderella.

Ella lives with her stepmother Madame (played by Dee Hoty) who is haughty and ambitious, and Ella’s comic stepsisters, Charlotte (played by Angel Lin) who is an outsider trying to fit into society, and resorts to comedy to do so, and Gabrielle (played by Rose Hemingway) who has a closer relationship with Ella, and has a friendship with a local and determined political activist Jean-Michel (played by Andrew Kober).

And then there is the eccentric and mysterious Marie (played by Donna English) who transforms into the Fairy Godmother who makes Ella’s dream come into being with the traditional coach, horses, footman, driver, and the magical costume change from peasant dress to ball gown. And there is a ball when Prince Topher is convinced to seek a bride, complete with Richard Rodgers’ glorious waltzes and waltzing aristocrats swirling on the stage.

However in this version Cinderella doesn’t leave behind one of her glass slippers and after a time-consuming and frustrating search for Cinderella by Prince Topher he invites the ladies of his kingdom to a banquet in the hope that Cinderella would return to the palace. With the help of her step-sister Gabrielle and the Fairy Godmother, Cinderella returns to the palace, reacquaints herself with Prince Topher – and after Jean-Michel has the opportunity to air his grievances to Prince Topher and he swears his love to Gabrielle. This time when Cinderella leaves the palace, she does leave behind one of her glass slippers to enable Prince Topher to find her.

This new approach is presented with Beane’s tongue in cheek humor, sarcasm, wit, and physical comedy. Even telling this tale with this point of view the familiar songs in the score are present including “In My Own Little Corner”, “Impossible/It’s Possible” and “Ten Minutes Ago” , -- and as the Fairy Godmother, Donna English’s glorious rendition of “There’s Music In You” – and the penultimate romantic duet, “Do I Love You Because You’re Beautiful?”.

The Paper Mill Playhouse has assembled a cast that can only be described as sensational from the principal roles to those of the supporting roles.

Erin Burniston in the title role portrays the innocence of Cinderella and her assertiveness at the same time – along with a wonderful voice to sing Rodgers & Hammerstein’s music. That also can be said for Billy Harrigan Tighe as Topher who evolves through this musical and becomes a royal for the 21st century. This is a royal couple with excellent voices and chemistry between them.

Outstanding performances come from other cast members in pivotal roles including Donna English as Marie, Rose Hemingway as Gabrielle, Dee Hoty as Madame, Andrew Kober as Jean-Michel, Angel Lin as Charlotte, and Christopher Sieber as Sebastian.
Even as “modern” as this adaptation of Cinderella is, it is partially set in the world of fantasy and reality as pumpkins still turn into coaches, and then there are Cinderella’s glass slippers.

The Paper Mill Playhouse’s production of Cinderella is an exceptional entertainment for all ages and appropriate for any season of the year.

City Center's Evita

City Center

November 21, 2019

By Mark Kappel

For its annual gala presentation the City Center has produced a re-thought and minimalist production of the musical, Evita, an operatic interpretation of the life of Eva Peron, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and book and lyrics by Tim Rice. Now at the end of its November 13-24, 2019 engagement, it is a production that is glorious and a must see.

First conceived as a concept album, Evita, was transferred to the stage for a premiere in London in 1978 with Elaine Paige in the role of Eva Peron, and Harold Prince as director – a production that was transferred to Broadway with Patti LuPone in the title role. Evita was revived on Broadway as recently as 2012. But this presentation of Evita is a re-thinking of this musical – which is still relevant and informative in our time.

Initially set in Argentina in the 1930s, a young Eva Duarte falls in love with a tango singer and persuades him to take her to Buenos Aires to pursue her career and fulfill her professional ambitions. Che, as the Narrator, tells the story of how Eva achieves her ambitions by sleeping her way up the ladder of success becoming a well-known actress.

With the right-wing coup in Argentina in 1943, Eva’s ambitions reach their heights as she attaches herself to the politically ambitious Colonel Juan Peron. The glamour pair succeeds in ensuring Peron’s election as President in 1946 with the Perons espousing a familiar message of nationalism in promoting the “New Argentina”.

In her role as first lady of Argentina, Eva Peron enhanced her position with her charity foundation, her efforts to secure women the vote as part of the adoption of universal suffrage in Argentina (which along with her husband as a power couple, she succeeded in doing in 1947 and casted her first and only vote on her deathbed), a controversial tour of Europe, and even toyed with the idea of running for the Vice Presidency of Argentina. She gives up the latter goal when it becomes known to her that she is suffering from a fatal illness.

Because of Eva’s connection with the “real” people of Argentina and her personal story of being an outsider yet wanting to assimilate into Buenos Aires’ high society, Eva Peron became an icon in Argentina, worshipped and adored, for her efforts to look after the concerns of the average Argentinean, Even though she was politically divisive, and even after her death in 1952, Eva Peron remains an icon to the present day.

Lloyd Webber and Rice give Eva Peron an operatic treatment with a score full of arias and choral pieces that present Eva Peron’s story in the grand manner. They have also created a role requiring an actress with “star quality” to play it.

Opening with “Requiem”, and the familiar “Oh What A Circus”, “On This Night of a Thousand Stars”, “Buenos Aires”, “I’d Be Surprisingly Good For You”, “Another Suitcase in Another Hall”, “High Flying Adored”, “Rainbow High”, to the grand heights of “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina”, and the lamentable, “You Must Love Me”, the score embodies every aspect of Eva’s story – and her emotions.

Director Sammi Cannold – with the assistance of scenic designer Jason Sherwood – has created a stream-lined production of Evita with a view towards authenticity -- while also being an homage to Harold Prince’s original directorial concept.

In this production’s opening number, the stage is strewn with flowers and suspended over the stage is Eva Peron’s iconic “balcony dress”. Then one hears the sounds of a large orchestra. This sets the stage for an epic story to unfold. In an image of resurrection Eva Peron is there to observe the grief of the Argentinean people at her death, is confronted by Che for the divisiveness she had created, and then begin the flashbacks of young Eva Duarte reflecting her ambitions. It is in the midst of those reflections that there is a split-second flash, and the older Eva appears transformed with her confidence and her assurance.

As Eva Duarte climbs the social ladder, links up with Juan Peron, manipulates the media, and is seen rousing the crowds at political rallies, one grasps why Eva Peron became the icon she became in life and death.

Also one can’t help to be reminded that history does repeat itself.

In this production directed by Sammi Cannold, the role of Eva Peron is divided between two actresses, the young Eva portrayed by Maia Reficco and the older Eva by Solea Pfeiffer. That division provides a theatrical convention to observe how Eva matures into the ambitious icon that she became – and this production, coincidentally, also notes the one hundredth anniversary of Eva Peron’s birth.

Solea Pfeiffer gives a “star quality” performance in the title role – glamorous and elegant – and a singing voice that sings out like a bell and a bit of hell-raising. Maia Reficco also has many wonderful moments as the Young Eva, as does Jason Gotay as Che. Just as potent and confident are Philip Hernandez in the role of Magaldi, and Maria Cristina Slye as the Mistress – and a more than able ensemble cast.

This is a well-directed, well-thought-out, and glorious interpretation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Time Rice musical, Evita, which I hope will be seen many more audience members than what this City Center engagement can offer. Can’t emphasize more that this Evita is a must see!

Royal Ballet Dances Triple Bill

By Mark Kappel

The Royal Ballet is presenting a cinema screening in the United States which includes a survey of works commissioned and staged during the 1960’s. This period of time was seen by many as one of the golden ages of the Royal Ballet not only for the range of talent that the Royal Ballet engaged to choreograph new works for the company -- but for the dancers as well. This well chosen triple bill not only evokes nostalgia but is an example of how a triple bill of dance for a ballet company should be thoughtfully chosen with dance pieces to see for everyone in the audience.

Opening the program is Kenneth MacMillan’s Concerto, which MacMillan created for the Deutsche Opera Berlin during his tenure as artistic director of the company, and staged for the Royal Ballet in 1967. Choreographed to Dmitri Shostakovich’s spirited Piano Concerto No. 2, Concerto has often been described as MacMillan’s “Balanchine Ballet”.

MacMillan’s choreographic style here is neo-classic and provides a wonderful display of that style of dancing while at the same having created choreography that responds to Shostakovich’s music. The choreography is stunning in its simplicity. Structured in three movements the opening and closing movements are glorious and energetic, and the second movement is a quiet adagio that is elegiac in quality.

The Royal Ballet dancers were up to all of MacMillan’s challenges in all three movements of Concerto. The first movement is superbly led by Anna Rose O’Sullivan, and James Hay – a bouncy display of energy and virtuoso dancing. The adagio movement is eloquently danced by Yasmine Naghdi and Ryoichi Hirano, and the finale movement is led with spirit by Mayara Magri.

The middle ballet on this program is Frederick Ashton’s Enigma Variations, which Ashton choreographed for the Royal Ballet in 1968. Choreographed to Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations, Ashton created a biographical dance play which is inspired by Elgar’s music – music having its premiere in 1899 -- and his friends and acquaintances at a British country house gathering as they learn about the delivery of a telegram which describes the upcoming first performance of Elgar’s Enigma Variations.

Enigma Variations, a reflection of its time, focuses on Elgar himself and his intimates as they react to the good news and to each other in fleeting dance solos and mimed dialogues, and enhanced by the beautiful costumes and scenery designed by the masterful designer Julia Trevelyan Oman.

Christopher Saunders portrays Elgar himself, with Laura Morera as the empathetic Lady Elgar with Francesca Hayward as the amusing Dorabella, and Matthew Ball as the jaunty and confident Troyte. All danced with a distinct Ashton flair with the ballet coming to a satisfying end with a rousing finale and photographic tableau.

One of the crowning glories of 19th century era of ballet was Marius Petipa’s last full-length ballet, Raymonda, with its ravishing score composed by Alexander Glazunov. The plot of Raymonda is rather complicated and performing a full-length version of the ballet requires not only financial resources but also human resources.

At this Royal Ballet performance was the reappearance of Rudolf Nureyev’s staging of Raymonda Act III is danced with confidence and in the grand manner by Natalia Osipova and Vadim Muntagirov. All of the soloists and supporting ensemble also bring the necessary elegance that a performance of this ballet requires.

Notable is that the choreography reflects the national qualities and characteristics of Hungary – and a mix with 19th century ballet, and Act III is a wedding celebration which includes beautifully choreographed and danced Hungarian dances, and classical variations culminating in a joyous finale. All enhanced by Barry Kay’s elegant designs.

This is the repertoire that the Royal Ballet performed in New York frequently during the 1960’s and early 1970’s and all of these ballets are welcome returns to the company’s active repertoire.

Cinema screening dates and venues in the United States can be found at rohcinematickets.com.

The Royal Ballet Dances The Nutcracker

By Mark Kappel

This season the Royal Ballet’s cinema screening series includes a screening of the company’s production of The Nutcracker which is an encore presentation. Screenings of The Nutcracker will be seen in the United States on various dates, and the screening dates and venues can be found at rohcinematickets.com.

Peter Wright staged this version of The Nutcracker for the Royal Ballet in 1984 inspired by the research included in a book about Tchaikovsky’s ballets authored by Roland Wiley. Details provided by Wiley’s research is included in this production of The Nutcracker while also in keeping with the important story-telling aspects necessary in any 19th century story ballet and also danced in the spirit of the present day.

The story of The Nutcracker describes the coming of age of Clara, here danced by Francesca Hayward, who is inspired to dream holiday dreams and telling her story about being championed and romanced by a Nutcracker Prince – here named Hans-Peter, danced by Alexander Campbell, who battles an army of mice and takes her to the Kingdom of the Sweets which is ruled by the Sugar Plum Fairy.

The audience is taken to the Christmas Party in the Stahlbaum’s home and is entertained by Herr Drosselmeyer who provides magic, fantasy, and gifts, He guides Clara through the Battle of the Soldiers and the Mice, and then on to the Kingdom of the Sweets to observe and participate in the Act II divertissements -- and then awakes from her dream to realize that it might not have been a dream. All of this wonderful story-telling is enhanced by the joy of Tchaikovsky’s music, and the holiday card designs by Julia Trevelyan Oman.

Unique in this production of The Nutcracker is that Clara and her Nutcracker Prince are not mere observers to the divertissements in Act II but also dance in them. They become the heroine and hero in their story.

But what The Nutcracker is about is fantasy and entertainment, and the Royal Ballet’s production combines all of it with superb and stylish dancing.

In this cinema screening the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy is danced in a regal style by Lauren Cuthbertson, which is enhanced by the princely manner of her cavalier, danced by Federico Bonelli, who gives a master class in partnering. Francesca Hayward and Alexander Campbell are also charming, and there is a depth in the character dancing as exemplified by the performance of Gary Avis as Herr Drosselmeyer.

The Royal Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker is a holiday treat.

Colin Dunne In Solo Performance

Jerome Robbins Theater at the Baryshnikov Arts Center

November 14, 2019

By Mark Kappel

Colin Dunne, former star of Riverdance, and a celebrated Irish artist who has been expanding the possibilities of Irish dance, is performing in his own solo piece, Concert, in its American premiere from November 14-16, 2019, in a presentation by the Irish Arts Center at the Baryshnikov Arts Center.

Since leaving Riverdance Dunne has explored all dance forms and in expanding his dance horizons he has embraced modern dance and post-modern dance – and has also expanded his interpretation of music -- which is exemplified in his 50-minute dance, music, and spoken word piece, Concert.

Concert is inspired by the music of Irish fiddle player Tommie Potts who is best known for his 1972 album, The Liffey Banks. Dunne also collaborates here with director Sinead Rushe and composer/sound designer Mei Mercier in Dunne’s virtuoso piece.

Music, and the interpretation of music, is the one of the more important elements in Concert as Dunne’s choreography and performance reacts to an interpretation of Potts’ fiddle playing dancing in barefoot, in sneakers, and ultimately in the shoes traditional for Irish dancing. Dunne’s explores Potts’ unique relationship between music – and its rhythms – with the dance. Potts made the fiddle talk and Dunne’s execution of his own choreography also talks – herein lies the dialogue between Potts and Dunne. And their collaboration creates alchemy.

Technique is evident in Dunne’s performance -- as a different use of his body as well -- but it is the way he connects with the interpretation of the music that makes Concert as original and as unique that it is.

The performance of Concert by Colin Dunne reminds one again that there is a strong connection between a dancer and music – also that the dance experience is also a theatrical experience that entertains an audience and also provokes an audience. In all those aspects, Concert, makes for an engaging and joyous dance event.

Druid’s Richard III

Gerard W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College

November 12, 2019

By Mark Kappel

Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival is presenting a wide array of programming and is including performances by the Druid, an Irish theatre company, in the American premiere of its production of William Shakespeare’s controversial tragic/comedy, Richard III, in performances from November 7-23, 2019 at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College.

Druid was founded by Garry Hynes, Mick Lally and Marie Mullen in 1975 and Hynes is the company’s current artistic director – and is the director of this production of Richard III. Co-founder Marie Mullen participates in Richard III as an actress portraying the dual roles of Queen Margaret and Lord Mayor.

Druid has frequently been seen in New York in performances at past Lincoln Center Festivals and it is fortunate that Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival is continuing the tradition of presenting this company in New York in imaginative theatre productions.

Shakespeare’s Richard III is a play filled with mystery, political intrigue, and political power, and usually put on the list of Shakespeare’s history plays. However there are many comic elements in the play, and also a great deal of irony.

Richard III, himself, has been portrayed in productions of the Shakespeare play about him as a crippled and murderous villain presenting an image in keeping with Shakespeare’s patrons’ point of view of this controversial ruler of England. Richard killed off people who were in his way in terms offering him a path to succeed to the throne of England. He met his demise in what was the conclusion of the War of the Roses in a battle on Bosworth Field at the hands of the Tudor heir, Henry, who became Henry VII. By marrying Elizabeth of York, Henry enjoined the warring families that had caused devastation uniting England and its monarchy – and in establishing the Tudor line that stretched for decades – ending with the reign of Elizabeth I.

To add to the intrigue of any current production of Richard III was the curious event, in 2012, when Richard III’s bones were found in a car parking lot and after research it was discovered that Richard III was not the crippled human being that he had been portrayed as in Shakespeare’s play – which was also one of several historical inaccuracies that are included in the play.

In Shakespeare’s Richard III we find ourselves in England during a period of civil war in the late 15th century. Richard’s brother, Edward, is the King of England but Richard wishes to ascend to the throne himself. Richard begins his plotting and scheming from the beginning of the play, and when Edward suddenly becomes ill Richard puts his plot into action to make himself King of England.

He plots the imprisonment and murder of his brother Clarence, then courts Lady Anne who becomes his wife – and imprisons Edward’s sons after Edward’s death. With the help of the Duke of Buckingham and further plotting against anyone who might be in his way, Richard is given the crown. However Richard is still insecure about his position and power, and murders Edward’s two sons and his own wife, Anne, and also schemes to marry the daughter of Queen Elizabeth -- Elizabeth being Edward’s widow.

Richard and the Earl of Richmond (the Tudor heir) meet on the battlefield at Bosworth and Richard is killed. Richmond is crowned king and marries Elizabeth’s daughter – thus uniting the warring families and providing the people with an era of relative peace, and flourishing of economic and political power in the Tudor era.

Although Richard is a self-proclaimed villain, Tudor propaganda further condemned Richard as a tyrant.

Richard is also played as a villain and plotter with visual examples of his brutal and ritualistic murders of his enemies. One of the key scenic elements of the play was a glass box with a skull that is suspended over the stage – and the play is performed on a starkly designed stage space. A key in all is that Richard employs others to do the deeds choosing their fates to survive by cooperating with Richard or reflect their principals and face fatal consequences. Also Richard is portrayed as a clever politician using modern means of getting his message out to the British public and also in his manipulation of his accomplices.

With that in mind one has to examine Shakespeare’s play itself and also how director Garry Hynes has interpreted this controversial king of England and how the company’s actors – including Aaron Monaghan in the title role – bring to life Hynes’ interpretation. In this respect Hynes has artfully directed this production of Richard III and emphasizes Richard’s political and manipulative prowess. This is all interpreted well by Aaron Monaghan as Richard, who sometimes with a wink and nod, expresses irony and wit.

The remainder of the cast was equally excellent and in some instances playing multiple roles. Among those notable cast members were Marie Mullen as Queen Margaret, Siobhan Cullen as Lady Anne, Rory Nolan as Buckingham, and Marty Rea as Clarence.

The Druid’s Richard III is a provocative and absorbing production of Shakespeare’s play – and certainly of the moment.

Past and Current Generations at the New York City Ballet

Symphony Space

November 11, 2019

By Mark Kappel

It is rare that the leaders of artistic institutions in New York speak to the institutions’ constituents. Symphony Space and Words on Dance presented a unique forum on November 11, 2019 – with the participation of Jonathan Stafford, artistic director of the New York City Ballet, Wendy Whelan, associate artistic director of the New York City Ballet, and moderated by Edward Villella, a former principal dancer of the New York City Ballet, and recently the artistic director of Miami City Ballet.

Represented on this panel were different generations of dancers at the New York City Ballet but all had similar experiences in terms of their dance education and their respect for the George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins repertoire that they had danced – and have also curated.

Before the forum began presented was a featurette focusing in on the accomplishments of Villella, Stafford and Whelan and one noted that all were destined for leadership in the ballet world.

With Villella as the questioner both Whelan and Stafford revealed facts about their dance education, their path to joining the New York City Ballet, the respect they had for their teachers, and what it has been like taking over the directorship of the New York City Ballet.

Whelan and Stafford explained how their relationship works and what tasks they have set out for themselves functioning as artistic partners for the New York City Ballet noting that one person could not direct the New York City Ballet and what a large organization it is today.

Both Stafford and Whelan mentioned they are now attending performances to seek out choreographers to work with the New York City Ballet’s dancers, and look forward to the hard decisions that they will have to make in their positions at the New York City Ballet.

As revealing as this chat was I hope that these chats will occur more often and that Stafford and Whelan will become confident in being able to reveal their artistic plans for the New York City Ballet in the future.

Congratulations to Words and Dance, founded in 1994 by Deborah Kaufman, for providing a forum for dance artists to share their professional stories, and what inspired and encouraged their lives in dance. Such forums are very useful in connecting these artistic leaders to the public and audiences that enjoy their organizations’ performances.

Utah Lyric Opera Presents An Enchanted April

Theatre Row

November 2, 2019

By Mark Kappel

Elizabeth Von Arnim’s novel An Enchanted April has inspired film and stage versions, and it has now inspired a new musical with book and lyrics by Elizabeth Hansen and music and lyrics by C. Michael Perry.

From November 1-16, 2019 this musical version of An Enchanted April is being sponsored by the Utah Lyric Opera at Theatre Row in a production directed with subtlety by Alice Jankell.

An Enchanted April is set in London in February 1922. Four women are desperate to escape their horrible memories of World War I and the repression of London – as well as the continuous and frequent days of rain. Even the images on the backdrop – umbrellas – emphasized the Londoners battle with rain and also the Edwardiana that is represented in this musical version of An Enchanted April.

In order to be relieved of the doldrums they face in London two of the ladies, Rose Arbuthnot (played by Christiana Cole) and Lotty Wilkins (played by Leah Hocking) initiate a friendship after never having spoken as members of the same ladies social club. In those conversations they reveal their wish to escape London and they also commiserate with each other about their troubled marriages.

Arbuthnot and Wilkins engage in conversations which motivate them to apply for further details about renting a castle in Italy. Both of minimum means and to reduce expenses, they recruit two other ladies who reply to an advertisement of their own, Mrs. Fisher (played by Alma Cuervo), and Lady Caroline Dester (played by Gene Sims) – and the four ladies couldn’t be more different in their outlooks on life and also their generational differences.

Peripheral characters are Lotty’s husband, Mellersh (played by Jim Stanek), a lawyer who seems to be oblivious to his wife’s contributions to their marriage, Rose’s husband, Frederick (played by Aaron Phillips) who is an author who writes racy novels, and young Thomas Briggs (played by Peter Reid Lambert) who is the castle’s owner, who develops romantic feelings for Rose.

Rose Arbuthnot, Lotty Wilkins, Mrs. Fisher, and Lady Caroline Dester, during this short time, let their hair down and in sharing their lives, these women find a new approach to life and a new view of life. And, in particular, Rose Arbuthnot and Lotty Wilkins evolve and appreciate the lives they have with their husbands – Mrs. Fisher finding a new lease on life – and Lady Caroline Dester deciding not to marry the man she is expected to.

This story is told with a witty book, and music and lyrics that evoke the period in which the story takes place. There are some moments when you might think of a play by Chekov or even Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, however this version of An Enchanted April has much of its own to offer – which is enhanced by the wonderful cast that is telling the story.

The Australian Musical – From The Beginning

By Mark Kappel

Although the Broadway musical is an American art form that has become an international phenomenon, there have been major contributions to this art form and major successes in all parts of the world. In the book, The Australian Musical -- From The Beginning by Peter Pinne and Peter Wyllie Johnston (published by Allen & Unwin) these authors describe the careers of the pioneers in the development of musicals in Australia up to the modern age, and also provide a detailed listing of all of the significant Australian musicals with creative team credits, casts, lists of songs, and comments by contemporary theatre critics – The A-Z of the Australian Musical.

Australians have been an enthusiastic audience for musicals which have been imported from Broadway and also from London’s West End, but there is a healthy appetite for musicals in Australia with Australian content that can trace its roots from the beginning of the 20th century.

There have been musicals composed and written by Australians that have included the contribution of Australian Oscar Asche to the international hit Chu Chin Chow which premiered in London in 1917 up to Tim Minchin, another Australian who has won acclaim for his musicals, Matilda, and Groundhog Day, and Eddie Perfect, who has been represented on Broadway with King Kong and Beetlejuice – and Peter Allen’s contributions to Legs Diamond, and the jukebox musical Priscilla Queen of the Desert based on a well-known Australian film.

As musicals in Australia date back to 1926 there have been many Australians who made contributions to the development of native Australian musicals including Kenneth Launcelot Duffield, the first composer of Australian musicals to achieve recognition in his native Australia in the early part of the 20th century, and a great many Australian women such as May Broke, Varney Monk, and Edith Harrhy who composed two musicals each by 1935. And back in 1920, black history was reflected in Australian musicals by Jack Fewster, and gay themes and love stories going back to 1972.

Whereas Jewish composers, lyric writers and book writers made important contributions to Broadway musicals, the Australian musical tradition didn’t reflect their own Jewish influences initially but is now catching up.

Many of Australia’s leading songwriters devoted aspects of their careers to the musical theatre, and many of them travelled to London and the United States to either pursue their careers in the musical theatre or as songwriters, and then returned to Australia to parlay what they had learned.

Also there has been a host of Australian musical stars that have been developed including those who have achieved international recognition – Hugh Jackman, Caroline O’Connor, Keith Michell, and Philip Quast among them.

No doubt the Australian preference for imported musicals inhabited the emergence of Australian musicals, but that has been balanced with a healthy Australian theatre scene, and the sophistication of audiences and audience interest in musicals which has now created a demand for native Australian musicals.

Also in the development of musical theatre in Australia, women played important roles from direction to creative to being entrepreneurial – more so than what developed in London and New York. Many of the earliest Australian musical writers also pursued their careers in London before returning to Australia to achieve further success in their native land. It is thought that the success of women in this endeavor was due to the fact that Australian women had won the right to vote earlier than in other nations and in doing so they were already taking risks and defying conventions.

The pioneers in the development of Australian musicals had their work produced in both amateur and professional productions all over the continent of Australia which emphasized the size of Australia as a country. It wasn’t until much later in the 20th century when there were commercial theater producers who tapped into the market for musicals with Australian creative teams, and based on Australian stories and novels.

But the consistency of the purpose of producing Australian musicals has been somewhat hit or miss – a hidden history which noted more failures than successes and not many of these musicals being seen beyond Australia’s borders.

The earliest Australian musical of interest was The Bunyip which was written by Ella Airlie and Herbert de Pinna as part of an all-Australian creative team and Australian context – even with Aboriginal songs and described as a “pantomime” when it premiered in 1926 – and a success with Australian audiences.

But the book points to the musical FFF, which premiered in Adelaide in 1920 with music by Jack Fewster and lyrics and libretto by Clement John De Caris represented the first professional production of an original musical comedy with an Australian story.

The story of musicals in Australia includes periods of drought from 1937 through 1960, and generally the struggles in getting musicals based on Australian history and stories produced in any of the major Australian cities. It wasn’t until 1959 that the first Australian television musical was authored by Peter Stannard, Peter Benjamin, and Alan Burke, entitled Pardon Miss Westcott.

In the modern age there was the London success of Robert and Elizabeth by Ron Grainer which starred Australians Keith Michell and June Bronhill – and Grainer went on to compose film scores including the score for To Sir With Love, and more successes by other Australian composers including Grahame Bon, and the partnership of Pinne and Battye who had multiple hits during their careers.

Also there is Nick Enright, who wrote the books for many successful Australian musicals including The Boy from Oz – notably because he studied at New York University and was influenced greatly by playwright Israel Horovitz during his New York sojourn.

However there have been other international hits that have had their roots in Australia such as Hot Shoe Shuffle and most recently the musical King Kong which arrived on Broadway only in the last year. There have also been Australian musicals that have been produced in New York’s off-Broadway community. Among them was for a recent New York Musical Festival, Jonathan Holmes’ Errol and Fidel, a musical with an Australian creative team that presented an odd story about Hollywood movie actor, Errol Flynn and his unique relationship with Fidel Castro – and another, Atomic, by the creative team of Philip Foxman, Danny Hinges, and Gregory Bonsignore.

In Australian Musicals From the Beginning, this story of Australian musicals is punctuated and pictured with photos and posters of historic Australian musicals as well as recent Australian musicals – and unfortunately too many of them that could be covered thoroughly in this book.

Also an interesting dance connection as one of the leading Australian composers for musical theatre, Tom King, was commissioned by Australian ballet dancer, Robert Helpmann (who would also be a member of the Royal Ballet and artistic director of the Australian Ballet) to compose a score for Helpmann’s first solo ballet, Business-a-la-Russe.

Having often listened to CD’s of Australian cast recordings of American musicals such as Chicago, Side by Side by Sondheim, and They’re Playing Our Song, they indicate that there is a market for these cast recordings not only in Australia but not as available on an international basis. Hopefully with the expansion of Australian audiences for musicals in general that these cast recordings will be distributed more widely.

However, in the meantime, The Australian Musical is an interesting read about the development of this art form in Australia, and what has been stated already, is a hidden history.

York Theatre Company’s Musicals in Mufti Presents Panama Hattie

Theater at Saint Peter’s

October 27, 2019

By Mark Kappel

To conclude this season’s Musicals in Mufti’s tribute to Cole Porter, the York Theatre Company is presenting Porter’s musical, Panama Hattie from October 26 – November 3, 2019.

Panama Hattie’s was one of four collaborations involving Cole Porter and Ethel Merman as well as the additional collaborators of Herbert Fields and B.G. DeSylva who wrote the book – and guided Panama Hattie to a Broadway premiere in 1940.

For this concert version with deft music direction by Deniz Cordell and the able direction by Michael Montel, Panama Hattie comes to life and this is an opportunity to see, hear and experience a musical that may not be considered for a revival but has much to offer including many highlights in its score.

The plot of Panama Hattie is very simple and uncomplicated. It all takes place in Panama’s Canal Zone in the 1940’s where a nightclub owner, Hattie Maloney is hoping to be the fiancé of Nick Bullett, one of the operators of the locks in the canal. He has a child and his plans to marry Hattie Maloney are not approved by Bullet’s supervisor at work. With the help of some American sailor friends, Maloney thwarts a German plot to blow up the Panama Canal and then finds herself celebrated as a hero and earns the permission of Bullett’s boss to marry her.

Although the book for Panama Hattie is a bit outdated and its one-liner jokes are somewhat lightweight – those jokes find their origins in the low comedy of burlesque and vaudeville -- Panama Hattie was an entertainment aimed at an audience that was facing the brink of World War II, and difficult economic circumstances, and the audience habit of going to the theatre was seeking inexpensive entertainment and diversion. And in that sense Panama Hattie was the antidote -- and there is also a Cole Porter score worth listening to. The score’s highlights include “Visit Panama”, “I’ve Still Got My Health”, “Let’s Be Buddies” , and “Make It Another Old Fashioned, Please”.

Klea Blackhurst as Hattie Maloney plays a great service to this material in her Merman delivery but yet individual in the way she portrays the character and sets up the comic elements in the plot.

Blackhurst is ably supported by Stephen Bogardus as Nick Bullett, and Simon Jones as Vivian Budd, as well as David Green, Jay Aubrey Jones, Lael Van Keuren, Garen McRoberts, Casey Shuler, Gordon Stanley, Joe Veale, Zuri Washington, and Anita Welch in playing varying roles – in particular young Kylie Juioka’s performance as Nick Bullett’s young daughter -- Juioka could sell her smiles and make a fortune.

This concert version of Panama Hattie is a welcome diversion with a re-introduction to another amazing Cole Porter score – and well performed by a superlative and well-match cast.

Houston Ballet Returns to the City Center

City Center

October 25, 2019

By Mark Kappel

The Houston Ballet is one of the leading American ballet companies yet performs in New York on a sporadic basis. In recent New York visits the company has performed at the Joyce Theater. This engagement from October 24-26, 2019 marked the return of the Houston Ballet to the City Center after not having performed at this venue in a full company engagement since 1985.

The Houston Ballet made its debut in Houston in 1969 and it has evolved artistically since then.

Now under the direction of Stanton Welch, the Houston Ballet represented itself in this engagement with contemporary ballet and dance pieces. Over the years the Houston Ballet has made a commitment to produce new works at a high rate. For this welcome visit the Houston Ballet presented a triple bill program which included two commissions and an acquisition. What they all had in common was that each choreographer has had works performed frequently in New York and were similar in style and tone.

The program opened with the first of the two commissions, Mark Morris’ The Letter V choreographed to Joseph Hayden’s Symphony No. 88 which was created for the Houston Ballet in 2015.

Morris’ choreographic reputation rests on his ability to interpret music with a keen ear and he lived up to that reputation for the most part in The Letter V – an ensemble piece that is musical, simple in choreographic language, and to the point. Morris’s choreography is staid and uncomplicated in the work’s ensemble sections but Morris’ unique choreographic style, voice, and energy does not emerge until the final movement of the work.

The dance piece that followed was the Houston Ballet’s acquisition of Aszure Barton’s Come In which was created for Mikhail Baryshnikov and Hell’s Kitchen Dance in 2006. This dance piece was acquired by the Houston Ballet in 2019, and was choreographed to atmospheric music composed by Vladimir Martynov.

Barton’s Come In was danced by a male ensemble of dancers all of whom are costumed in black and who executed distorted and subtle repetitive movement with uniformity – mostly hands and arms – which had a Noh and Kabuki-like energy – and replete with many false endings. Although beautifully performed by the excellent male ensemble, somehow Come In seemed to be incomplete and unfocused.

The third work on the program was also the second of the commissions that the Houston Ballet performed on this program. This was Justin Peck’s Reflections, choreographed to music by Peck’s frequent musical collaborator, Sufjan Stevens. In Reflections Stevens’ music is composed for two pianists who are present on the stage throughout the piece.

Reflections were premiered by the Houston Ballet in 2019 and the work has its influences from Jerome Robbins’ primarily – particularly his piano ballets – and the angularities present in George Balanchine’s ballets. The structure of Reflections included ensembles and duets, and the most successful sections in this ballet were the two pas de deux danced by Melody Mennite with Connor Walsh, and Karina Gonzalez with Charles-Louis Yoshiyama. Overall the choreography for Reflections was playful but offered few moments of strikingly inventive series of steps.

All of these dance pieces were superbly danced by the Houston Ballet’s talented dancers but I wish that there were dance pieces presented on this program that had a greater variety of tone.

However all of these pieces were enhanced by the presence of live music – and I hope that the Houston Ballet’s New York visits will be more frequent in the future.

American Ballet Theatre Performs A World Premiere By Twyla Tharp

David Koch Theater

October 22, 2019

By Mark Kappel

Entering the second week of its fall season, on October 22, 2019, American Ballet Theatre presented a world premiere work, Twyla Tharp’s A Gathering of Ghosts, created as a vehicle for long-time ABT principal dancer, Herman Cornejo, who is celebrating his 20th anniversary as a member of the company.

Choreographed to music composed by Johannes Brahms’ String Quartet in G Major, Tharp intended to present Cornejo as a host for a multitude of ghosts that were appearing and disappearing in a black space. Among those ghosts were Louis XIV (Blaine Hoven), Marie Antoinette (Stephanie Williams), Murasaki (Joo Won Ahn), North Wind (Calvin Royal III), Greased Lightning (Catherine Hurlin), Mme. De Stael (Aran Bell), Irene (Christine Shevchenko), and Proust (Wanyue Quiao) some well-known historical figures and others such as Murasaki a character in The Tales of Genji, and North Wind and Irene, characters from works written by George MacDonald – and some of them casted and costumed in a gender bender manner. These characters were also supported by consorts (Skylar Brandt, Zimmi Coker, Luciana Paris, and Cassandra Trenary).

But in the actual performance these theatrical conventions were not realized and what was the result was a rather predictable Tharp piece with her signature random steps and dances in duets and trios – with Cornejo displaying his virtuoso dancing throughout. Also what didn’t illuminate the message were Norma Kamali’s costumes, which were striking and original, but did not define who the “ghosts” were.

Framing Tharp’s work was the opening ballet, George Balanchine’s Theme and Variations, a work that Balanchine created for American Ballet Theatre in 1947 as a vehicle for Alicia Alonso (who has recently passed on) and Igor Youskevitch, playing to these two dancers’ strengths. The ballet is danced to the fourth movement of Tchaikovsky’s Third Orchestral Suite with inspiration in the choreography and music from Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty. Theme and Variations was choreographed by Balanchine during a fertile period of creativity which also included another seminal work, Symphony in C.

The ballet at this performance was danced a la Petipa with the proper grandeur and musicality, with Devon Teuscher radiant in the ballerina role and Corey Stearns as her stalwart partner.

Closing the program was Alexei Ratmansky’s The Seasons, choreographed to Glazunov’s musical composition of the same name which American Ballet Theatre premiered during the company’s Metropolitan Opera House season earlier this year.

Divided into Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall, with each section led by a principal cast, reflecting a work that has joy and spirit, and plays to the strengths of American Ballet Theatre’s dancers. The most distinct section of The Seasons is the Fall Pas de Deux which was given great nobility and elegance by Stella Abrera, who recently announced her plans to retire from American Ballet Theatre after this season. But all of the dancers in this ballet gave notable performances.

American Ballet Theatre Presents A Look at the Present and a Look at the Past

David Koch Theater

October 19, 2019

By Mark Kappel

American Ballet Theatre’s fall seasons have focused on triple bills highlighting dance works in a variety of styles. This year’s fall season at the David Koch Theater has kept up that tradition and there was also the addition of a particular focus on the work of female choreographers.

The program that American Ballet Theatre presented at the David Koch Theater on the afternoon of October 19th, 2019 included a nod to the future but also to the past.

The new was represented by Jessica Lang’s Let Me Sing Forevermore, a duet that Lang created for Catherine Hurlin and Aran Bell as part of their participation in the 2019 Erik Bruhn Competition and here danced by Isabella Boylston and James Whiteside. Let Me Sing Forevermore is choreographed to recorded songs sung by Tony Bennett, songs that would be considered part of the American Song Book which comprised songs composed by Irving Berlin, the Gershwins, and Bart Howard. With Bennett’s song stylings Lang created a piece reminiscent of Twyla Tharp’s Sinatra Suite in which random steps – organic in their nature – are responses to the music – Lang and the dancers, Boylston and Whiteside – played with the music.

But there were many more nods to the past on this program than what was new.

For this program American Ballet Theatre revived the original version of George Balanchine’s Apollo, a work that was given its world premiere by the Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in 1929. This revival was staged for the company by Victoria Simon and included the birthing scene which Balanchine eliminated in his revision of the ballet in 1978. The birthing scene depicts Leto giving birth to Apollo, and Apollo’s realization of what his role will be as the god of music. It is in the second scene of this ballet that Apollo is introduced to his muses Terpsichore, Polyhymnia, and Calliope, and they return to a metaphorical Mt. Parnassus in the end.

Balanchine’s choreography for Apollo is refined and notable for its simplicity, and the narrative grows out of the choreography and Stravinsky’s music.

This fall season’s revival of Apollo included many debuts in the principal roles. They were Calvin Royal III in the title role, Hee Seo as Terpsichore, Christine Shevchenko as Polyhymnia, and Zhong -Jing Fang as Calliope. The performances by these dancers in Apollo reflected why Apollo has stood the test of time and spoke well for the ballet’s future performances.

Also included in this program was Clark Tippet’s Some Assembly Required, a duet created for Amanda McKerrow and John Gardner in 1989, and here danced by Skylar Brandt and Roman Zhurbin. Tippet was exploring relationships in his short piece which is referenced in the title of this duet – relationships do not come with manuals – with organic choreography responding to William Bolcom’s quirky Second Sonata for Violin and Piano.

Closing this program was the company’s acquisition of Twyla Tharp’s Deuce Coupe, a major step forward in Tharp’s career when given its world premiere by the Joffrey Ballet premiere in 1973. Choreographed to the recordings of the Beach Boys and performed in front of a graffiti filled wall, Deuce Coupe was a dance piece of its era – created in a choreographic language of the era.

Unfortunately Deuce Coupe has not aged well over time and seems more nostalgic than current. However this valentine to the music of the 1970’s and the spirit of the 1970’s was well danced by the principal cast of Katherine Williams, Cassandra Trenary, Luciana Paris, Xuel An Lu, Blaine Hoven, and Thomas Forster.

Broadway Debut of The Lightning Thief

Longacre Theatre

October 11, 2019

By Mark Kappel

After entertaining audiences off-Broadway and on a national tour, The Lightning Thief has made its Broadway debut where it opened at the Longacre Theatre on October 16, 2019 for a limited engagement until January 5, 2020.

The Lightning Thief is based on a novel by Rick Riordan about Percy Jackson, the son of a mortal woman and the Greek god, Poseidon, a twelve year-old who has been given powers that are challenging for him to master. With Jackson a bit more grown up than a twelve year-old, this musical takes Jackson on his life journey fighting off monsters of all kinds and leads him to search for Zeus’ lightning bolt – which will prevent a war between the Greek gods.

Along for the journey are Jackson’s friends Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood, and they encounter many interesting characters along the way.

The Lightning Thief, a teen novel and a musical for a teen audience, is an enterprise created by book writer Joe Tracz and director Stephen Brackett, a team that produced another teen-oriented musical, Be More Chill -- and there are elements from that aforementioned musical in The Lightning Thief.

The Lightening Thief focuses on the experiences of outcasts which is a universal theme whether those outcasts are half mortal and half god or mere mortals. From the beginning The Lighting Thief jumps right into the exposition and plot in its fantasy tale. Percy Jackson, who has had his share of problems at school including his battle against dyslexia, having to change schools quite often, yet having supportive teachers, but finds kindred spirits at Camp Half-Blood where half humans and half gods are connecting with each other and supporting each other. Their sense of comradeship leads to Percy Jackson and his fellow campers, Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood to embark on a quest. On that quest they engage the characters and god-like forces typical in Greek myths. They even get lost in New Jersey and yet find their way to the underworld in Los Angeles. At the end of the quest, they find themselves and what goals they should pursue in their lives – life lessons.

It is often noted in The Lightning Thief that a hero’s life is never easy and these heroes are endearing and you find the best of ourselves in them – and even more so as performed by this wonderfully talented young cast.

With an effective and evocative rock score by Rob Rokicki, and an engaging book by Joe Tracz, The Lightning Thief is a joyful, and humorous tongue and cheek adventure that is entertaining and connects with audiences.
Notable in the cast are Chris McCarrell as Percy Jackson, Jorrrel Javier in the roles of Grover Underwood and Mr. D, Kristin Stokes as Annabeth Chase. They are supported ably by the remainder of the cast which included Ryan Knowles, Sarah Beth Pfeifer, James Hayden Rodriguez and Jalynn Steele who play multiple and varied roles in The Lightning Thief.

In this stage musical version The Lightning Thief is engaging and entertaining – a family friendly theatrical event. As The Lightning Thief is with us for only limited time keep it mind as a family adventure as it will entrance children and the child within adults.

City Center For Fall for Dance - Program 5

October 12, 2019

By Mark Kappel

Program 5, and the closing program of the City Center Fall for Dance Festival, was dominated by modern dance pieces with an added world premiere of a contemporary ballet piece for a bit of variety.

Opening the program was Canada’s Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal dancing excerpts from Dance Me, choreographed by Andonis Foniadakis and Ihsan Rustem, a dance piece celebrating the music of Leonard Cohen.

Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal was established in 1972 and is currently directed by Louis Robitaille. The company’s repertoire and style has evolved over the years and its repertoire is now mainly contemporary and modern dance.

The excerpts from Dance Me were Suzanne (with choreography by Rustem), Famous Blue Raincoat and Nevermind (with choreography by Foniadakis) all reflecting the spirit of Cohen’s music. Suzanne was a duet that provided fluent and modern dance choreography, to be followed by Famous Blue Raincoat which began with a male duet and expanded to include the entire cast in Nevermind. Although the choreography was in the modern style, it was lyrical and musical, and an entertaining and well-danced tribute to Cohen’s music.

The world premiere on the program was Kim Brandstrup’s Blanc danced by Sara Mearns and Taylor Stanley of the New York City Ballet. Choreographed to music by Ludwig Van Beethoven, Hamlet Gonashvili, and Robert Schumann, the choreography was the antithesis to the traditional ballet blanc.

The piece is danced in the environment of a bare stage with two chairs and a work light as the only design elements. The two dancers dance together and apart in this sparse and desolate space – two people in or not in a relationship – dark and emotionally taxing with modern dance vocabulary which effectively tested both dancers.

Providing a bit of comic relief was Monica Bill Barnes’ The Running Show which is a presentation that is clever and evokes tongue in cheek humor as Barnes led a group of student dancers from Hunter College in a sports inspired routine with satiric and comic commentary by Robbie Saenz De Viteri – even down to the sports casting slant as Barnes attempts to break the record for the most turns. Included in the commentary are those of young ballet students who reveal their honesty in expressing their feelings about how much they enjoy dancing – the ambition of young dancers, and the wisdom of children.

Closing the program was the Martha Graham Dance Company dancing Graham’s Chronicle, a work that premiered in 1936, and one of the rare pieces that Graham choreographed which expressed her political views. The piece expresses Graham’s concern and distress about the rise of Fascism in Europe which was having a negative effect on the lives of the people on that continent -- with the fear that it might spread elsewhere. Chronicle is a powerful work was danced by an ensemble of outstanding female dancers led by Xin Ying and Anne Souder sending a powerful message of emotions and determination.

As always the City Center Fall for Dance Festival lived up to its mission to providing a variety of dance programming and styles, and also offered its performances at ticket prices that are affordable to audiences at a time when buying a ticket for an arts performance can be a major dent in someone’s budget.

City Center Fall for Dance Festival – Program 3

City Center

October 5, 2019

By Mark Kappel

The City Center Fall for Dance Festival’s Program 3 featured three major international dance companies – two ballet companies and one, the unique Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, along with a modern dance company from Sweden. Once again the Festival’s programming hit the mark in presenting a sampler and variety of dance.

Opening the program was the Mariinsky Ballet dancing the American premiere of Alexander Sergeev’s At The Wrong Time. This work for six dancers was choreographed to piano music composed by Heitor Villa-Lobos that reflected folk dance rhythms and intimacy. At The Wrong Time owed its inspiration from Jerome Robbins’ piano ballets. But Sergeev exploited the dancers’ classical lines and their strengths as well as their personalities – in particular as reflected in the third comic duet.

Perhaps the greatest pleasure was seeing Anastasia Nuikina, Xander Parish, Nadezhda Batoeva, Konstantin Zverev, Maria Shirinkina, and Alexei Timofeyev of the Mariinsky Ballet display their pure classicism during one of the company’s rare New York visits.

English National Ballet followed with a duet from Akram Khan’s Dust, danced by Erina Takahashi and James Streeter. In contrast to the classicism of Sergeev’s At The Wrong Time, Khan’s Dust represented his modern dance signature and was also given its American premiere.

The collage score composed by Joyce Pook transcribed British anthems and songs including Auld Lange Syne depicting people who have been devastated by the dire effects of war. In Dust Khan expressed those emotions in an unvarnished manner. Also to note that Dust was included in the English National Ballet’s commemoration of World War I, Lest We Forget, and Dust, as a full piece of choreography, focuses on the women who took over many jobs and occupations during the war years.

From Sweden was the Skanes Dansteater from Malmo, Sweden dancing the American premiere of Madeleine Mansson’s and Peder Nilsson’s Dare To Wreck. Dare To Wreck was danced by its creators – one of whom, Madeleine Mansson, had restricted mobility in her wheelchair –and depicted a relationship stretched in opposite directions.

In this piece the choreographers were liberated as emotions were expressed physically as Nilsson easily handled the weight and encumbrances of Mansson plus her wheelchair. Dare To Wreck was a demanding piece of choreography fraught with emotions.

Closing the program was the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre dancing Act II of Rennie Harris’ Lazarus. Lazarus was inspired by the life and times of Alvin Ailey. In particular the atmosphere of racial inequities when Ailey founded the Ailey company.

But for a few moments of narrative towards the end of the piece, this issue was only expressed in a short section which was primarily comprised of group dances choreographed in the hip-hop style. As noted in the narrative section of the piece, the hip-hop style was described as a dance style that is a conduit for bringing people together.

The Ailey dancers that formed the ensemble in Lazarus were well-served by Harris and the dancers’ exuberance was a shining light.

City Center Fall for Dance Festival – Program 2

City Center

October 3, 2019

By Mark Kappel

This season’s City Center Fall for Dance Festival includes its usual eclectic programming offering audiences unique samplers of varied styles of dance. This variety was on display in the Festival’s Program 2 featured on October 3, 2019.

This program presented various styles of dance but all of the pieces that were danced on this program did have the commonality of being ensemble dances.

The program opened with the Mark Morris Dance Group dancing the “Eleven” section from Morris’ Mozart Dances which is choreographed to Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 11 – played live by the MMDG Music Ensemble.

Having been premiered in 2006, Morris has created musical, lyrical and understated choreography in an ensemble dance dominated by the women of his company and enhanced by the simple projection of three swishes of black paint that is displayed behind them.

All of the members of this ensemble cast should be noted including Mica Bernas, Karlie Budge, Brandon Cournay, Domingo Estrada, Jr. Lesley Garrison, Lauren Grant, Laurel Lynch, Dallas McMurray, Matthew McLaughlin, Minga Prather, Maile Okamura, Brandon Randolph, Christina Sahaida, Billy Smith, and Noah Vinson.

The Washington Ballet, which rarely performs in New York, was represented on this program with Dana Genshaft’s Shadow Lands, a work choreographed to Mason Bates’ quirky “Omnivorous Furniture” with was interpreted with quirky choreography in a contemporary ballet style – following the music where it was going but at the same time meandering without structure. Premiered in 2019, Shadow Lands was not consistently engaging but the ensemble cast of Victoria Arrea, Katherine Barkman, Gilles DeLellio, Kateryna Derechyna, Corey Landolt, Javier Morera, Maki Onuki, Gian Carlo Perez, Daniel Roberge, and Alexa Torres.

The international aspect of the programming was provided by companies from France and Argentina.

France was represented on this program with the DYPTIK Company’s performance of the American premiere of Mehdi Meghari’s and Souhail Marchiche’s Dans L’Engrenage.

Opening this work was an ensemble surrounding and laying hands on a table with choreography emphasizing quick hand movements – and an atmosphere similar that of Kurt Joos’ The Green Table – filled with argument and agitation. The table is abandoned as the work develops – the movement developing beyond the repetitive hand movements to movements using all parts of the body – post-modern, cultish, and flavored with bravado in an effective theatrical manner.

The piece’s impact was owed to the performances of Yohan Daher, Wiliam Domiquin, Samir El Fatoumi, Evan Greenaway, Katia Lharaig, Emilie Tarpin-Lyonnet, and Marine Wroniszewski.

Malevo, a company created in Argentina in 2015, specializes in the highly theatrical, virtuoso and engaging Malambo, a traditional Argentine folk dance and then adding flamenco and percussive dance to the mix. The company presented the world premiere of Matias Jaime’s Salvaje, which was accompanied by live music.

The piece was a series of individual dance numbers – including the opening number in which the dancers danced to percussive music while drumming their own drums, and then on to other virtuoso dance numbers that ranged from flamenco to folk dancing.

This all-male troupe including Federico Arrua, Mauro Dias, Miguel Flores, David Gerez, Matias Jaime, Facundo Lencino, Gabriel Lopez, Franco Martinez, Daniel Medina, Lucas Orcajo, Thiago Rivas, Leonardo Santander, and Leandro Suarez was a crowd-pleaser.

The mix and variety presented in this program lived up to the City Center Fall for Dance Festival’s mission.

Guggenheim Works & Process – Ballet West & George Balanchine

Guggenheim Museum

September 29, 2019

By Mark Kappel

As part of its Works & Process Performing Arts Series, the Guggenheim Museum presented Ballet West in a discussion and demonstration focusing on George Balanchine’s The Song of the Nightingale, and Apollo.

This event was moderated by Ballets Russes expert, Lynn Garafola and among the panelists were Kenneth Archer (reconstructor and supervisor of Matisse’s designs for The Song of the Nightingale), Phil Chan (Co-Founder of Final Bow for Yellowface), Millicent Hodson (Reconstructor and Stager of Balanchine’s The Song of the Nightingale), Victoria Simon (George Balanchine Trust Repetiteur), and Adam Sklute (Artistic Director of Ballet West).

The discussion focused on Balanchine’s original version of The Song of The Nightingale which had costume and scenery designs by Henri Matisse, and was premiered by the Diaghilev Ballets Russes in 1925. The ballet was choreographed to a score by Igor Stravinsky – which was the first collaboration of this team as choreographer and composer.

This production was reconstructed by Millicent Hodson and Kenneth Archer and will be performed by Ballet West in October in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Although versions of The Song of the Nightingale choreographed by John Taras and Frederick Ashton have been seen in this part of the world, this was the first exposure to any part of Balanchine’s version – Balanchine did not attempt to reconstruct his version of this ballet for the New York City Ballet’s Stravinsky Festival in 1972 but asked John Taras to choreograph a new version of this ballet.

The Song of the Nightingale had its beginnings as an opera-ballet and as versions of this piece were shelved for many different reasons, it wasn’t until 1925 that Balanchine became involved as a choreographer, and Matisse as a designer. The ballet was performed by Diaghilev Ballets Russes only until 1929 and this reconstruction by Archer and Hodson was premiered by Les Ballets de Monte Carlo in 1999.

The ballet itself includes 39 dancers and in the original production, Balanchine, himself, played the role of the mechanical nightingale, and the style of the choreography and production was described as Soviet avant-garde featuring what were antecedents of the angular movement that Balanchine would include in his future ballets.

The lively discussion included Archer’s and Hodson’s roles as exploring the forensics of the choreography and this also presented the animated discussion including Phil Chang about Chinese stereotypes that are in the ballet’s choreography. Of course in seeing some of the excerpts – only danced by 9 dancers – one could see the beautifully recreated Matisse costumes.

Also included in this program were descriptions Balanchine’s Apollo which was also created for the Diaghilev Ballets Russes and is perhaps the best known of Balanchine’s works from that period that is still being performed today. During his lifetime Balanchine had different thoughts about the ballet – particularly in regard to the designs which were presented in photos of past productions – and also the changes made by Balanchine in his 1978 revision in which first scene including Apollo’s birth had been eliminated and also with choreographic changes in the ending – both the original and new endings were danced by Ballet West’s dancers with comments by Victoria Simon.

The inclusion of these works in Ballet West’s repertoire is a reflection of Adam Sklute’s interest in these works going back to the time he was a dancer with the Oakland Ballet and the Joffrey Ballet which both had ballets and dance pieces in their repertoires.

The Ballet West dancers, which included Allison DeBona, Adrian Fry, David Huffmire, Emily Neale,Kazlyn Nielsen, Sayaka Ohtaki, Jordan Richardson, Rex Tilson, and Joshua Whitehead, acquitted themselves well in what was an informative dance event.

Cole Porter’s Fifty Million Frenchmen

York Theatre Company – Theatre at Saint Peter’s

September 29, 2019

By Mark Kappel

This season the York Theatre Company’s Musicals in Mufti series is a tribute to the musicals of Cole Porter, another one of the greats that this series has celebrated in the past.

The first of the offerings is Fifty Million Frenchmen with a book written by Herbert Fields and adapted by Tommy Krasker and Evans Haile which is being presented from September 28-October 6, 2019.

As stated and emphasized by Cole Porter expert, Robert Kimball, in the after performance talk back, Porter’s Fifty Million Frenchman was an important development in Porter’s career as a composer – and also for it being a popular success with audiences. Porter’s other classic musicals might not have reached the stage if Fifty Million Frenchmen had not been the success that it was.

Premiered on Broadway in 1929, Fifty Million Frenchmen takes the audience to 1929 – the month of June – the time when American tourists invade Paris and the local Parisians leave town to have their own holiday vacations.

The story focuses on a young American millionaire, Peter Forbes, who travels to Paris and bets with his friends that he can live without his money for a month. Trying to follow through on his bet, he gets engaged to Looloo Carroll, and among the challenges his bet creates, he cannot throw her a party until after July 4th -- after which he is free from the bet – and he take s on many menial jobs, including as a tour guide and a dance-host, to make enough money to throw the party. Forbes makes his best effort, but he loses Looloo over the confusion created by a bet at the racetrack. However when all has been explained Peter and LooLoo are united with plans for marriage.

Fifty Million Frenchmen depicts Americans abroad with their eccentricities, expectations and frivolity, and all is explained in this adaptation of the musical that employs only 11 actors – as compared to the original Broadway production that included 100 actors – and only presents the essence of the book material. However all of Cole Porter’s songs are here to explain and propel the narrative forward and also provide profiles of all the dotty characters that are included in this musical’s plot.

Fifty Million Frenchmen’s plot is a traditional boy meets girl, boy loses girl, and boy gets girl back. But Cole Porter’s score is filled with satiric wit, entertaining jokes, and also quotes from other musicals.

Perhaps the best known song in this score is “You Do Something To Me”, but the superb cast adds to the glory of more obscure Cole Porter tunes including Kristy Cates as Violet singing “Where Would You Get Your Coat?” and “The Tale of the Oyster”, and Karen Murphy as Gladys singing “Queen of Terra Haute”. But all of the cast members, which also included Sam Balzac, David Michael Bevis, Ashley Blanchet, Cole Burden, Ray DeMattis, Andy Kelso, Wade McCollum, Evy Ortiz, and Madeline Trumble, provided the strong singing and characterizations that justified this presentation of one of Cole Porter’s early successes.

Hans Friedrichs directed this fine cast and got the most out of Cole Porter’s lyrics and the adaptation of Herbert Fields’ book by Tommy Krasker and Evans Haile – and Haile doubled in this production as musical director on the piano.

Fifty Million Frenchmen is a great start for this season’s Musicals in Mufti series.

The Height of the Storm

Samuel Friedman Theatre

September 27, 2019

By Mark Kappel

The Manhattan Theatre Club has opened its new season at the Samuel Friedman Theatre with the New York premiere of Florian Zeller’s intriguing play, The Height of the Storm, which had been premiered in London in 2018. Translated by Christopher Hampton and directed by Jonathan Kent the Manhattan Theatre Club’s presentation of The Height of the Storm includes several cast members from the London production.

In Zeller’s Pinteresque play, Andre, a famous writer (played by Jonathan Pryce), is suffering from dementia, and is unable to accept the death of his wife, Madeleine (played by Eileen Atkins) to whom he had been married for 50 years. His two daughters are struggling to decide his future – including a major move from his home to a nursing home as it appears that Andre cannot survive on his own. However the mystery sets in as it seems that Madeleine appears and reappears to her husband and her two daughters – and all the while emphasizes Madeline’s promise to outlive her husband and not leave him on his own.

In this 80-minute play Andre and Madeleine are living in the country somewhere outside Paris, and are depicted as coping with daily life – infusing their lives with arguments about their daughters and what their daughters plan for them, and also being confronted by a woman (played by Lucy Cohu) who claims to have had a past friendship with Andre – and is also supporting his move to a nursing home. All the while, the daughters Anne (played by Amanda Drew) and Elis (played by Lisa O’Hare) are debating Andre’s future in front of a man who is Elis’ love interest and is also a real estate agent who is planning to assist the daughters in selling the family house. And then there are the rights to Andre’s literary efforts – including a diary in which Andre reveals relationships that were not known to Andre’s daughters.

Zeller tries to make clear what Andre is feeling through his moments of dementia, and how he is coping with the death of his wife who seems to be drifting in and out of his own reality – but are we seeing these events through Andre’s dementia or through the muddled minds of both of Andre’s daughters. It is the metaphor for ships passing in the night without knowing their destinations. In the end we don’t really know how all of these issues are resolved – whether Andre will live happily with the memories of his wife guiding him – or whether he will be persuaded to accept another destiny. Zeller does not provide any answers to these questions.

What seems to be clear in this haunting and disturbing play is how one copes with – and also how a family copes with – the debilitating effects of dementia and how those sufferers stumble through loss and reality. In that sense Jonathan Pryce and Eileen Atkins paint a colorful picture filled with all of those details as the other characters are manipulating their lives – and how much that relates to our own experiences and observations if we have coped with this same dilemma.

Although this play doesn’t comes to any resolution, the play is superbly acted – and what you see and hear in Zeller’s The Height of the Storm is through the eyes and ears of the beholder.

Kathryn Posin Dance Company Returns to the 92nd Street Y

92nd Street Y

September 13, 2019

By Mark Kappel

The 92nd Street Y is presenting the Kathryn Posin Dance Company for what is the Company’s third engagement as part of the Y’s Digs Dance series on September 13 and 14, 2019.

Kathryn Posin is known as a choreographer who works in the abstract style but she is accomplished at story-telling as well. Both aspects of her work were on display in this imaginative and engrossing dance program. Posin’s focus was on two new original works and a revision of a previous work with dancers she has worked with before and those that are new.

Opening the program was Triple Sextet, Posin re-visiting her work Double Sextet, which is choreographed to Steve Reich’s Double Sextet. Reich’s music is structured to represent two identical sextets, and in this piece the third sextet is represented by the sextet of dancers who are dancing this piece.

In Triple Sextet Posin responds to the rhythms of Reich’s music – at pitch point – yet also responds effectively to the “Slow” section in a choreographic chain sequence which reflected a relative calm.

This piece was effectively and energetically danced by the sextet of dancers which included Claire Mazza, Camila Rodrigues, Chanmee Jeong, Daniel White, Alejandro Ulloa, and Cristian Laverde Konig.

A world premiere on this program was Memoir, a new solo co-choreographed by Kathryn Posin and Lance Westergard, to music by J.S. Bach. This piece was danced by Westergard and exhibited what artistry can be expressed with one gesture – and what’s behind that gesture.

In her remarks before this performance Posin emphasized the linkage of passing on the art of those master choreographers and teachers she had studied with and learned from, and this solo for Westergard focused on those links.

The most adventurous piece on the program was the world premiere of Evolution: The Letters of Charles Darwin, based on an idea by Jane Burkhardt, whose father, Frederick Burkhardt edited Darwin’s letters – with the participation of Jane Burkhardt’s son, Jonathan Burkhardt, who created the visual effects and drawings that were integral ingredients in this dance piece’s design.

Posin narrates this piece herself reading excerpts from selected letters written by Darwin while serving as the on-board naturalist for the H.M.S. Beagle’s historic 5-year sail around the world – letters written to family members and fellow scientists.

Momchil Mladenov portrayed Darwin with the rest of the company playing the roles of family members, friends and scientists dancing choreography which interpreted Darwin’s thoughts, observations, and emotions as he made his discoveries during this voyage and applied his theories about the evolution of species of animals – culminating in Darwin’s significant scientific theories formulated in his “On The Origin of Species”.

Posin effectively and expressively told Darwin’s story with his own prose and words, and communicating this story as well – and with those ideas also effectively conveyed by Mladenov and the entire company.

This performance presented a range of Posin’s work – a combination of contemporary ballet and modern dance – and her choreography is exchanged with an audience that is absorbed by it. This all makes for an important artistic statement.

Broadway’s Unique Revival of Oklahoma

Circle in the Square

September 10, 2019

By Mark Kappel

One of the major hits of the last Broadway theater season was a unique revival of Oklahoma, which was also recognized with a Tony Award for Best Musical Revival of the season. Having already been seen at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn, this revisal of Oklahoma premiered on Broadway in April of this year – and is continuing to enthuse Broadway audiences ever since.

Working from the template of the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II score and Hammerstein’s book, director Daniel Fish, has fashioned a version of Oklahoma that is immersive -- as performed at the Circle in the Square -- and adding details that reflect the location of the story and the time of the story – and bringing it all into the 21st century.

Among the many tweaks in this production is having the music performed with new arrangements which emphasize a County & Western style and instruments that would be regionally appropriate, and a brashness that is reflective of the American frontier.

But the most significant aspect of this revival is that it is performed by a small cast, is intimate in terms of relating to the audience, and also takes advantage of the smaller space provided by the Circle in the Square.

Using Lynn Riggs’ Green Grow the Lilacs as its source material, Oklahoma’s original choreographer Agnes de Mille simply described the plot of Oklahoma to be that of a young woman who must choose which of two men she would go out with to a box social. However the musical reflects American optimism at a time when America was testing the waters to enter the fray of World War II and not knowing what the future might hold.

For a 21st century audience, this production of Oklahoma is seasoned with some earthiness and the characters are redrawn to reflect 21st century norms – assertive men and assertive women. There is no shyness among them, and no glamorization of the surroundings that the story takes place in.

This version of Oklahoma includes involving performances by the principal actors, and Daniel Fish has refashioned the interpretation of how the principal roles are drawn. In many respects the overall feeling is making these characters larger than life, easily identifiable, funny and portrayed with humanity.

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s glorious score makes its mark in this production of Oklahoma, and still evokes sentiment and nostalgia even in the reduced orchestration and overall the intent of Hammerstein’s story is preserved in this production as well.

Damon Daunmo as Curly and Rebecca Naomi Jones as Laurie, whose story is the core of Oklahoma, are not the wall flowers one might expect, and they are both determined and know what they want from life. In this same mode is the Tony Award winning performance of Ali Stroker as Ado Annie who careens around the stage in her wheelchair with a big voice and big personality. Jimmy Davis as the adoring Will Parker, and then there is the motherly and comic Mary Testa as Aunt Eller. Will Brill gives the role of Ali Hakim an unconventional slant as well, and Patrick Vaill is the mysterious Jud Fry but is portrayed with a bit more humanity yet reinforces that he is an outsider.

The only weakness in this intimate production of Oklahoma is the dream ballet – choreographed by John Heginbotham – which opened the second act. Choreographed to an odd musical arrangement of bits and pieces of Oklahoma’s score, this version of the Dream Ballet didn’t seem to move forward this musical’s narrative. The Dream Ballet was meant to express Laurie’s anxieties about Jud Fry as a predator and her confusion about her feelings for Curly, and this version did not convey what Laurie was experiencing. However Coral Dolphin, the one dancer involved in the Dream Ballet, gave an excellent account of Heginbotham’s choreographic vision.

In spite of this weakness this production of Oklahoma still reflects a sense of community and fully captures the American spirit that Rodgers and Hammerstein had in mind.

If you wish to see a different slant on an old favorite, this production of Oklahoma will make for a fascinating look forward as to how musicals of Broadway’s Golden Age might be revived in the future.

Liaoning Ballet of China Performs in Ballet Gala Program

David Koch Theater

August 24, 2019 (Matinee)

By Mark Kappel

For its second of two programs on August 24, 2019, the Liaoning Ballet of China presented a ballet gala program which included excerpts from the company’s original ballets steeped in Chinese folklore, short contemporary and modern pieces, and familiar 19th century classics. In the course of this program, the company presented the many distinguished dancers that have been trained at the Liaoning Ballet’s School.

Although the names of the dancers who danced each piece were identified in the program, the order of the pieces was not. The program’s first half was restricted to the modern dance and contemporary pieces – and the only piece that was considered to have traditional Chinese roots.

The traditional Chinese miniature was The Jasmine choreographed by Liu Tinting which was for the most part an ensemble piece – led by cast member Zhang Yixin –featuring the use of Chinese fans to symbolize Jasmine flowers.

A series of short contemporary pieces by both Chinese and Western European choreographers were also included in this part of the program. Among them were Marc Ribaud’s The Cliff danced by Liu Shijie and Chen Yongyu, Fei Bo’s Tomb Figures danced by Ao Dingwen and Wang Zhanfeng, Wang Yuanyuan’s Out of the Mist danced by Li Siyi and Chang Sinuo, and Rui Luis Lopez Graca’s Songs Without Words with a cast led by Yu Chuanya and Zhang Haidong which was the most ambitious piece among these contemporary works and successfully reflected the emotional expression in the music. Not all of the pieces included unique choreography or a personal voice, and the dancers were not best showcased in these pieces.

The second half of the program included the excerpts from the 19th century classics along with an excerpt from a 20th century full-length ballet.

This part of the program opened with the Pas de Deux from Swan Lake Act II including the corps de ballet in attendance, staged by Vladimir Malakhov, and danced by Yu Chuanya and Zhang Haidong. Beautifully danced, and a nuanced and musical performance of this classic pas de deux.

What followed was the Esmeralda Pas de Deux danced with style and bravura by Li Siyi and Chiang Sinuo, the Le Corsaire Pas de Trois with the cast of Chiang Sinuo, Ma Miaoyuan, and Zhang Yikun, adding even more than the usual bravura that this classic piece usually gets from the dancers who dance it.

What followed were two pas de deux not usually seen on New York stages – one from the 19th century and one from the 20th century. The pas de deux from the 19th century was the Grand Pas de Deux from Act II of The Nutcracker danced with classical precision and delicacy by the cast of Ao Dingwen and Wang Zhanfeng, and from the 20th century there was the Pas de Deux from Yuri Grigorovitch’s Spartacus danced with the obligatory heroics by Zhang Haidong and Chi Linna.

The closing piece was Wang Peng’s Ballet Elegant Demeanour which was a finale piece including all of the dancers who appeared in the modern dance and contemporary pieces – and the 19th century pieces – adding up to a rousing finale which definitely showed off the company’s dancers.

In all of these pieces one had to admire the company’s male dancers as partners and presenting themselves with classical elegance, and there were delicate and bravura performances by the female dancers as well. All of the dancers also danced with clean lines.

Of the two programs presented by Liaoning Ballet, this second program had the most excitement and punch.

Liaoning Ballet of China Makes New York Debut with Huamulan

David Koch Theater

August 23, 2019

By Mark Kappel

The Liaoning Ballet of China is making its New York debut at the David Koch Theater for a series of four performances from August 23 through August 25, 2019 presenting two different programs of dance. Currently under the direction of artistic director Qu Zijiao, the company was founded in 1980.

The Liaoning Ballet of China opened its engagement with an original full-length work, Huamulan, based on the Ballad of Mulan, and choreographed by Qu Zijiao, which had its premiere in 2018. This ballet also has a libretto written by Wang Yong and Chen Hufen with a commissioned score composed by Liu Tong.

The story of Huamulan takes place on the Gobi Desert frontier where the Emperor Khan visits to recruit men in the local village to join the military. Khan makes the request of drafting Mulan’s father in the army but as he is ailing, Mulan agrees to take his place. After receiving military training from General Li Shuo Mulan becomes an excellent archer. She distinguishes herself and is promoted. But after many successful battles she loses her beloved Li Shuo who is killed in one of the battles with the enemy’s leader. Throughout her military service Mulan dreams of being back home with her family, and ultimately she returns to resume the life of a peasant once again.

The ballet has a recurring theatrical theme of creating tableau to illustrate the ballet’s plot points and Zijiao’s choreographic vocabulary includes ballet, modern dance, Chinese folk dance, and martial arts in order to tell the story – which Zijao does effectively. The overall production reflects Chinese theatrical traditions, and simple stage craft which help to tell the story in a compelling and expeditious manner from scene to scene, and from location to location.

What is on display is a well-trained company of ballet dancers who are also gifted actors – with the male dancers particularly showing their strengths as partners, and showing nobility and dignity in their dancing and how they portray the principal characters.

It was unfortunate that the names of the dancers, and the characters they were portraying, were not printed in the performance’s program. However I wanted to take note of their quality and how committed they were to telling the story of Mulan.

Guangzhou Ballet Makes New York Debut

David Koch Theater

August 17, 2019

By Mark Kappel

Under the auspices of the China Arts and Entertainment Group Ltd., the Guangzhou Ballet made its New York debut at the David Koch Theater on August 17, 2019.

The Guangzhou Ballet was founded in 1993 by Zhang Dandan, a former dancer with the National Ballet of China, and is currently under the direction of Zou Gang.

The company’s repertoire has included the 19th century classics, ballets choreographed by George Balanchine, and new works based on Chinese stories. In spite of touring internationally and having a wide repertoire, the Guangzhou Ballet is not known in this part of the world – at least not as well known as the National Ballet of China.

For this engagement, which introduced the company to a New York audience, the Guangzhou Ballet presented a double bill of works which included ballets by choreographers who have had their works danced in New York in the past.

The opening ballet on the program was Peter Quanz’s Goddess of the Luo River, choreographed to a violin concerto composed by Du Mingzin, and based on a story derived from Chinese folk lore.

The Goddess of the River Luo was a deity in ancient China. She was recognized as the daughter of the mythical emperor Mi Xi, and when she drowned when crossing a river, she was then transformed into a river deity.

Quanz approached this story somewhat in the abstract choreographing in a neo-classic manner even though the dancers were portraying the principal characters of Yi Ren, Lian Jun, and Ruo Shui. One is reminded of Balanchine’s similar approach in his interpretation of the Divertimento from Le Baiser de la Fee. Goddess of the Luo River was expressively danced, and exhibited Quanz’s craft as a choreographer.

The more ambitious of the two works presented was Jiang Qi’s Carmina Burana, for which Qi had a very different interpretation of Carl Orff’s well known music.

The ballet was divided into three sections – The Spring, Tavern, and Destiny – all portending an alternative story than one would expect from Orff’s music. In the Spring section Bolanzifaluo (danced by Kou Zuquan) immediately falls in love with his betrothed, Helena (danced by Zhou Yu) after her face is revealed when she lifts her veil. However Helena prefers to pursue a different life and without a relationship. Tavern is a celebration of warriors who have succeeded on the battlefield and they are thinking about their post-war lives which they pursue in different ways. In Destiny the land cracks, the river dries up, and Bolanzifaluo sacrifices his life in the struggle to survive these adversities. In order to focus on praying for a peaceful world, Helena wears a red dress to worship the god of heaven and in so doing, the rains come, and the earth returns to life.

Qi’s uses a mix of contemporary ballet and modern dance choreography to reinterpret Carmina Burana and tell his distinct story – and this version of Carmina Burana was impressively danced by the dancers of the Guangzhou Ballet.

Unfortunate that the Guangzhou Ballet had such a short New York visit and one would like to see these well-trained and expressive dancers for a longer period of time and more often.

Joyce Theater Ballet Festival – Program D

Joyce Theater

August 16, 2019

By Mark Kappel

Closing this year’s Joyce Theater Ballet Festival was a program curated by Royal Ballet principal dancer Edward Watson. Watson chose to dance with fellow Royal Ballet principal dancer Sarah Lamb, Maria Kowroski of the New York City Ballet, and former New York City Ballet principal dancer, Robbie Fairchild. This eclectic program of dance – the fourth of the Festival’s programs – included contemporary ballet and modern dance pieces incorporating two solo works, two duets, and a four dancer closing work. Two of the works were world premieres.

To open this program was a repeat performance from Program A of an excerpt from Wayne McGregor’s Qualia which here again was danced by Sarah Lamb and Edward Watson, and confirming its aesthetic sensibilities that were revealed in its first Festival performance.

What followed was the first of two world premieres, James Alsop’s Assume Form, choreographed as a solo for Robbie Fairchild, and choreographed to James Blake’s Assume Form. This piece was danced against the background of an impression of an urban landscape, and the impact that urban life has had on the solo dancer. Alsop’s choreographic vocabulary was a hybrid of vernacular dance, modern dance, and post-modern dance – varied to some extent – but had ideas that could have been developed much further and more succinctly. The piece was effectively danced by Fairchild which served to expand Fairchild’s artistic horizons – the solo was challenging and brief.

A second solo work and world premiere was Laila Diallo’s All My Song, which was danced by Sarah Lamb. Divided into two sections with the first danced to Elvis Presley singing “Are You Lonesome Tonight” and the second section danced to de Sainte-Colombe’s “Les Pieurs”. All My Song’s first section was an experiment in non-movement expressing emotions, and in the second section more of an emotional release, and also speaking in the language of modern and post-modern choreography.

Robbie Fairchild and Edward Watson combined forces to dance in Javier de Frutos’ 3 with D which seemed to be designed to reflect a complicated dance conversation – depicting a relationship between the two men that was stressing both of them. de Frutos used a soundscape of songs by Ivor Novello, George Gershwin, Cole Porter and Dan Gillespie Sells -- Sells also sung the music live. de Frutos also employed modern dance choreography to express the emotions generated by the tense relationship – a relationship effectively characterized by Fairchild and Watson.

The final and closing piece on the program was Arthur Pita’s Cristaux, a work structured in three sections and danced by Robbie Fairchild, Maria Kowroski, Sarah Lamb, and Edward Watson.

The first section, cristaux – a, was choreographed to Frank Moon’s “Dreaming and the Upward Sky” which was danced by Lamb and Fairchild with the choreography featuring the dancers apart and together seeming to employing a circular pattern to frame the performing space. Some of the same choreographic characteristics surfaced in cristaux – b which began as a solo danced by Maria Kowroski and then was partnered by Watson. This section of Christie was danced in a moody and dimly lit atmosphere to Bev Lee Harling’s “Sunlight/Impossible Human”.

Cristaux – c was the third and final section of Cristaux which was initiated in an eerie atmosphere choreographed to an arrangement of the Second Movement Adagio from Bizet’s Symphony in C – and there was the surprise of Watson lying on the stage floor wearing a mask, then interacting with Lamb, Fairchild and Kowroski, and ending with Watson leaving the stage and walking up the Joyce Theater’s aisle – and curtain. Although one is uncertain of what Pita is trying to say in his choreography and the atmosphere he has created on the stage, it was still somewhat structured and had a point of view.

As curated by Watson, this program reflected his taste in choreography and how he wished that the choreography was to be communicated to the audience. If there was a purpose served in this program it was the opportunity for the dancers to be freed from convention and break out of their comfort zones.

This year’s Joyce Theater Ballet Festival can be described as an esteemed success, and whether or not more time is needed to plan the Festival’s programs, I hope there will be more of them in the future provoking thought in new works, but also presenting older works that would be just as thought provoking.

Sea Wall/A Life

Hudson Theatre

August 14, 2019

By Mark Kappel

It is a major event to have two respected and talented actors appearing in one-act plays on Broadway. In this instance it is British actor Tom Sturridge and American actor Jake Gyllenhaal who are gracing the stage of the Hudson Theatre in two intriguing and absorbing one-actors.

This presentation is under the combined title of Sea Wall/A Life – Sea Wall written by Simon Stephens, and A Life written by Nick Payne. Both plays have common themes of what it is like being a father and coming to terms with fatherhood as the two men in these plays follow different paths to fatherhood.

These plays were performed with the same actors at the Public Theatre earlier this year and this is a welcome opportunity to see these plays come to life again during this limited engagement at Broadway’s Hudson Theatre.

Opening this evening of one-actors sees Gyllenhaal on the stage sitting at a piano who then abruptly leaves the stage and then appearing is Sturridge who carefully arranges props on a desk and with the flip of a light switch, Stephen’s Sea Wall begins. The evening also ends with a striking image of these two fathers on the stage – which is a moving image even though these stories are unique in their own way.

In Stephens’ Sea Wall, Sturridge plays Alex, a young photographer who is on a family holiday in France and is not only coping with fatherhood but also grief. Alex describes his relationship with his father, a military man who had served in Northern Ireland and the Falklands, and had a mysterious relationship with the sea. Alex tells the audience about his magical experience visiting a sea wall guided by his father.

Alex talks about the joys of being a father and how his daughter seemed to wrap around her fingers all of the people that she met. Ultimately he confesses about how he has dealt with an unexpected experience of grief during this vacation in the south of France – an event which turns both his and his wife’s life upside down and finding coping mechanisms -- to laugh or to cry or you can’t cry.

In Payne’s A Life, Gyllenhaal plays Abe, a music producer who comes to grips with his grief after his father’s death, anticipating a baby on the way, and unsure about being father and the impact that a child will have on his life. Abe seesaws from humor to hysteria as he moves back and feeling a full range of emotions facing his father’s death and his apprehensions about being a father. Abe tells this tragic comedy story with self-deprecating humor, and his surprise in how he is managing with new emotional experiences.

In the course of this performance Abe and Alex share their personal and moving stories about their wives, their children and the relationship they had with their fathers. The actors are talking to everyone in the audience, and the audience members feel that. Sturridge and Gyllenhaal successfully and winningly bring their stories to us.

Both plays share the theme of fatherhood and unexpected events that move these characters off even kilter – and both plays are effectively performed by actors who are true to each play’s text and the playwrights’ stories and intent.

Director Carrie Cracknell has ably guided both of these actors in coloring their characters with detail as both plays are performed in a bleak atmosphere in front of a set of brick walls. She also has made sure that the actors are drawing the audience into their stories – an intimate duality of two stories, told honestly, and forthrightly, and bringing back the tradition of simple story-telling in the theatre where primarily the story is what has to be communicated to the audience.

Encouraging is that both of these excellent actors have made commitments to their stage work and how lucky we are that we have a second chance in seeing these fine actors – acting in two plays that are both emotionally moving, unsettling, and introspective.

Joyce Theater Ballet Festival – Program C

Joyce Theater

August 13, 2019

By Mark Kappel

In its second week, the Joyce Theater Ballet Festival’s third program, curated by designer Jean-Marc Puissant, proved to be the most substantive of the four programs presented during the Festival as it did not consist of a series of solos or duets but included two works and excerpts from a larger work . As in the second program presented last week included in this program were dancers not only from the Royal Ballet but also from American Ballet Theatre, New York Theatre Ballet and the New York City Ballet.

Opening this program was Gemma Bond’s Then and Again, choreographed to Alfredo Piatti’s 12 Caprices for Solo Cello. It was danced by members of American Ballet Theatre including Zimmi Coker, Thomas Forster, Anabel Katsnelson, Betsy McBride, Courtney Shealy, Cassandra Trenary, Stephanie Williams, and Erez Milatin of New York Theatre Ballet, and quite clearly Bond knew these dancers very well and fashioned her choreography to play to their strengths. The piece’s choreography was dominated by complex partnering, random steps, and effectively played against lighting that shadowed the dancers and their movement.

A notable piece on this program was Maurice Bejart’s Song Of A Wayfarer, choreographed to Mahler’s composition of the same name here heard in a recording sung by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. This was a work that not been seen on a New York stage in some years. This special duet for two male dancers had been created for Rudolf Nureyev and Paolo Bortoluzzi, and was often danced by Nureyev with many ballet companies in New York during the height of his career.

In this duet Bejart’s choreography reflected camaraderie between the two dancers, also simplicity and a dramatic interpretation of the music. Simplicity was the lesson here that so much more can be said without decorative choreography. Staged by Maina Gielgud, this performance of Song Of A Wayfarer was danced by David Hallberg of American Ballet Theatre and Joseph Gordon of the New York City Ballet challenging them both as dancers and artists. In its short duration, Bejart’s Song Of A Wayfarer has a greater emotional punch than many full-length ballets. This is a self-searching piece of choreography which brings out the emotions and expression in Mahler’s music.

Closing the program were excerpts from Kenneth MacMillan’s Elite Syncopations, a ballet choreographed for the Royal Ballet in 1974, when there was interest in the music of American composer Scott Joplin. In Elite Syncopations MacMillan created a nightclub scene for quirky and comedic dance episodes which were included among the excerpts in this performance. The cheeky, comic and mocking duets, and a virtuoso male solo were performed with a wink and a nod enhanced by the dancers’ comic timing and executing the choreography as if they were floating over the music.

Notable was the wonderful sophistication by Sarah Lamb and Calvin Richardson dancing the duet to Bethena: A Concert Waltz, but also Romany Pajdak and Joseph Sissens in their comic duet, Cassandra Trenary – filling in superbly in one of the solo excerpts, and Marcelino Sambe showing off in his virtuoso solo. With Ian Spurling’s over the top costumes, this was a perfect ending to a satisfying evening of dance.

Joyce Theater Ballet Festival – Program B

Joyce Theater

August 10, 2019

By Mark Kappel

The second of the four programs being offered by the Joyce Theater Ballet Festival received its first performance on August 10, 2019, and was curated by Royal Ballet principal dancer Lauren Cuthbertson.

In this program Cuthbertson danced in all but one of the works presented on this program and in support were dancers from American Ballet Theatre and the National Ballet of Canada. Four of the five pieces performed on this program were world premieres and the remaining work was an American premiere.

In presenting so many new works this was a notable experiment with new choreography, bringing choreographers’ works to a wider audience, and reflected Cuthbertson’s taste in choreography. In addition to curating this program Cuthbertson danced in four of the five works on this program – and such a program is not only a major challenge in and of itself artistically but also in logistics.

Having seen Cuthbertson in the past primarily in the classics and other story ballets, this program showed off her versatility as a dancer.

Opening the program was the world premiere of Jonathan Watkins’ Darl, which was choreographed to Hannah Peel’s “Rethinking Bolero – after Ravel” with audio additions including spoken word referencing Cuthbertson’s life as a dancer – cluttered with ideas, decisions to be made and self-deprecating humor in a salad of disconnected steps in classical ballet and modern styles – a piece establishing Cuthbertson’s persona and personality.

Gemma Bond was represented on this program with the world premiere of Seventy Two Hours, a duet choreographed to piano music composed by Rachmaninov. Danced by Aran Bell and Devon Teuscher of American Ballet Theatre, the choreography was notable for its convention of frequent entrances and exits by the dancers individually and together, with complicated lifts and intertwining of the dancers’ bodies which was beautifully executed by Bell and Teuscher.

Closing the first half of the program was the American premiere of Juliano Nunes’ Two Sides Of, a duet danced by Cuthbertson and Marcelino Sambe which was choreographed to Bear Story II by Luke Howard. The piece consisted of two consecutive pas de deux – similar in tone and notable for the execution of partnering – and well danced by this pairing who danced this work with great conviction.

The second half of the program opened with another solo danced by Cuthbertson and another world premiere, Stina Quagebeur’s Reverie, choreographed to Reverie L68: Claude Debussy. Quagebeur choreographed her piece in a modern and organic style in which Cuthbertson interpreted the piece as someone with inner struggles and yearning. Quagebeur’s piece was certainly choreographed in contrast with Watkins’ more humorous piece.

The most adventurous piece on this program – if only because of the larger number of dancers that appeared in the piece – was the world premiere of Robert Binet’s Dialogue Dances. Binet is a resident choreographer of the National Ballet of Canada, and his piece was inspired by native Indian spirit and themes which was choreographed to selections from Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa composed by Jeremy Dutcher.

Binet’s choreography was ritualistic and spiritual in nature, and besides the music, the piece was also choreographed to spoken word.

The piece opened with an expressive solo danced by Xiao Nan Yu, principal dancer of the National Ballet of Canada, evoking tribal subject matter, dialogue with the elements, and repetitive movement in conjunction with the theme of the piece. Dialogue Dances succeeded in its purpose with a choreographic vocabulary that included contemporary ballet and modern dance with group dances and pas de deux alternating throughout the piece.

Dialogue Dances was danced by a glorious cast. Besides Yu, also included in the cast were Sklylar Campbell, Hannah Fischer Spencer Hack all of the National Ballet of Canada joined by Lauren Cuthbertson and Nicol Edmonds of the Royal Ballet.

The choreographers whose works were presented on this program owed much to the committed and well danced performances of those works on this program.

Cuthbertson had the opportunity to make an artistic statement which was reinforced by the fine performances by all of the dancers involved.

Joyce Theater Ballet Festival – Program A

Joyce Theater

August 6, 2019

By Mark Kappel

In the past several years the Joyce Theater has self-produced dance programming at its own venue and in other venues in New York City. At the Joyce Theater itself there has been programming bringing together dance performing groups with a theme in mind and also performing for shorter than one week engagements.

This season’s Joyce Theater Ballet Festival has been curated by Kevin O’Hare, artistic director of the Royal Ballet, with the participation of several dancers from the Royal Ballet. However through the course of planning this adventurous programming, the participants and repertoire have changed. Reflecting the challenges that are often caused by visa requirements, dancer injury, coordinating rehearsals, and securing the permissions of choreographers to have their works to be danced at these performances.

In addition to the dancers from the Royal Ballet, dancers from the National Ballet of Canada, American Ballet Theatre, the New York City Ballet, and the New York Theatre Ballet will also be performing in the four programs that will come under the banner of the Joyce Theater Ballet Festival. Also involved in curating these programs are Royal Ballet dancers, Lauren Cuthbertson, and Edward Watson, and designer Jean-Marc Puissant.

The first program of the four being presented as part of the Joyce Theater Ballet Festival on August 6, 2019, is the only program in which the Royal Ballet dancers and repertoire dominate. Included were excerpts from longer works that have been created by choreographers most associated with the Royal Ballet including Frederick Ashton, Kenneth MacMillan, and the Royal Ballet’s current resident choreographers, Christopher Wheeldon, Liam Scarlett and Wayne McGregor – some of these pieces were familiar to New York audiences and others were not.

The first of the two Frederick Ashton works was Dance of the Blessed Spirits, a solo choreographed to Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice: Dance in the Elysian Fields, which was created for Anthony Dowell in 1978. Itwas danced here by Joseph Sissens. As Seissens exemplified in this piece and other pieces on this program he is an elegant and talented dancer – and it was with the elegance that he danced with that dignified this solo work choreographed by Ashton.

The second of the two Ashton works, Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan, here danced by Romany Pajdak, is a series of solos that were created as a vehicle for Lynn Seymour in 1976 and was an homage to the dancing and choreography of Isadora Duncan. Danced to live piano music played by Kate Shipway this was one of the more significant works on the program – and closed this program of dance – with Padjak portraying the emotions, and determination in this pastiche celebrating Duncan.

Kenneth MacMillan was represented by Concerto Pas de Deux, the middle movement of MacMillan’s Concerto, which he created for the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Choreographed to Shostakovitch’s Piano Concerto No. 2, Concerto has often been referred to as MacMillan’s Balanchine ballet, and this elegiac duet to this piano concerto’s middle movement is notable for its fluidity and musicality. Danced to live piano music Lauren Cuthbertson and Nicol Edmonds beautifully interpreted and danced this simple, romantic pas de deux with the clean lines that MacMillan created in his choreography.

These aforementioned works are examples of the Royal Ballet’s vintage works and the other works on this program represented an indication of the company’s artistic future with excerpts from works by the Royal Ballet’s current resident choreographers.

Opening this program was Liam Scarlett’s flowing Pas de Deux from his Asphodel Meadows which he created for the Royal Ballet in 2010 and is choreographed to music by Poulenc. This pas deux was performed with sophistication and restraint by Romany Pajdak and Calvin Richardson in complicated adagio choreography.

Christopher Wheeldon was represented by two excerpts from his Within The Golden Hour, a work he created for the San Francisco Ballet in 2008 and since acquired by the Royal Ballet, choreographed to music by Ezio Bosso and Antonio Vivaldi. The male duet was danced with physicality by Joseph Sissens and Calvin Richardson, which was contrasted by the more emotional and atmospheric duet danced by Sarah Lamb and Marcelino Sambe.

Wayne McGregor was represented by excerpts from two of his dance works. One of which was one of the duets from Obsidian Tear, a co-production of the Royal Ballet and the Boston Ballet, and choreographed to music composed by Esa-Pekka Salonen. Obsidian Tear is a work for an all male cast and this particular duet is combative and survival oriented with Joseph Sissens dancing in red as the outcast, and Calvin Richardson protecting his community and tribe. The duet was a great athletic display which was ably danced by these two dancers.

The second McGregor excerpt was from Qualia, a work he created in 2003. In this piece McGregor is channeling William Forsythe blending with a modern dance vocabulary and as danced by Sarah Lamb and Edward Watson this excerpt highlighted the athletic strengths of the dancers.

Joseph Sissens had an additional opportunity to shine in Charlotte Edmonds’ solo, JoJo, which for Sissens was a tour de force that was entertaining and exploited Sissens’ strengths as a dancer.

This performance presented an appetizer of what the Royal Ballet might dance here in New York if the full company was able to make the trip from London, and also a teaser for what is yet to come in the other three different programs that will be danced during the Joyce Theater Ballet Festival. And for nothing else it is worth seeing this particular program just to see these magnificent dancers from the Royal Ballet.

Marius Petipa – The Emperor’s Ballet Master

By Mark Kappel

Marius Petipa – The Emperor’s Ballet Master by Nadine Meisner and published by Oxford University Press is the first English language biography of one of the world’s most renowned and accomplished ballet choreographers. This exhaustive historical survey of this giant’s career is filled with fascinating details played against the political strife, and social change during the time period when absolute monarchs ruled Russia.

Petipa was the most influential choreographer of the 19th century and whose influence is still felt today into the 21st century. Meisner cleverly presents Petipa’s career within the context of Russia’s history, development of ballet technique and social history, and Petipa’s significant collaborations with the great composers and artistic bureaucrats of the day.

Petipa arrived in Russia at 29 years of age to pursue his career as a dancer and in 1847 signed a contract to be a premiere danseur and mime with the Imperial Theatre now known as the Mariinsky Ballet in St. Petersburg. Petipa spent 63 years of his life in Russia and after an immensely successful career he died in 1910.

Petipa served four emperors, was chief ballet master for 41 years, created more than 50 ballets and restaged 19 other ballets, and created choreography for 37 operas. He guided, what is now known as the Mariinsky Ballet to establish its worldwide reputation. Somewhere in the world there is a ballet company performing his ballets which have become standard components of ballet companies’ repertoires.

It is ironic that Petipa was not so well-known in his time because his works were not being acquired by ballet companies in Western Europe whereas foreign choreographers and their ballets were welcomed by Russian ballet companies. Also Petipa seldom travelled abroad so his fame was somewhat clouded during his most creative period in Russia.

Towards the end of Petipa’s life, 21 of his ballets were notated in a new system developed by Vladimir Stepanov which made it possible for his ballets to be restaged for ballet companies outside of Russia. However Petipa’s ballets were kept alive by the passing on the choreography from one generation to the next from one dancer to another and one ballet master or balletmistress to another yet we may never know how authentic these productions are.

Also in the last two decades or so, there has been an interest in Petipa’s ballets being reconstructed as they were originally performed using the aforesaid Stepanov notation, and costume and scenery designs in the archives of Russia’s ballet companies -- all in an effort for the Russian ballet companies to disconnect themselves from the re-thought productions of Petipa’s ballets that were staged during Russia’s Soviet era.

Petipa’s survival in his esteemed position was not only due to his talent as a choreographer but also being successful as a diplomat and politician to cope with the whims of Russia’s monarchs who controlled and influenced the hirings and firings that took place within the Imperial Theatres.

The art of the ballet in Russia and interest in supporting this art form may have had its roots as far back as the early 18th century. Noted in this biography was the custom to recruit ballet dancers and balletmasters from the ranks of serfs on vast Russian estates where theatres had been established. Petipa’s career was played against Russia’s archaic governmental and social system – he also survived the vicissitudes of the revolutionary politics of the early 20th century.

In her book Meisner describes in detail the burgeoning world of ballet in the 19th century and its interconnections with ballet companies all over Europe. The book is a history of the personalities and ballets that were performed during that period and describes the connections of Petipa’s family which led him to Russia – that family history – both immediate and extended – is described in detail and provides Petipa’s roots as an artist and family member.

Most interesting was the examination of how at the end of the 19th century there was an invasion of Italian dancers and choreographers into Russia, which resulted in Russian dancers wanting to study with Italian teachers. Petipa exploited these Italians’ freshness and tricks. Most notably Pierina Legnani with her trick and execution of 32 fouettes which was exploited in Swan Lake’s Black Swan Pas De Deux – but a trick used to draw and dramatize the character of Odile.

Petipa’s professional and creative life was drastically changed as he succumbed to illness in the final years of his life, and it seemed the art of ballet was evolving in a different artistic direction. Petipa survived the torment of Vladimir Teliakovsky an artistic bureaucrat at the Imperial Theatre – but who arranged a life contract for Petipa with the blessing of the Russian Emperor.

However during that time he also expressed his jealousy about a rival when Alexander Gorsky’s star was rising and was appointed artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet -- and who also re-staged many of Petipa’s ballets.

In spite of a life contract Petipa was reduced to supervising the rehearsals of his older ballets rather than creating new ballets, and died in the midst of the changes in Russia to come with the beginnings of political revoluations and the rise of the Diaghilev Ballets Russes in Western Europe.

Meisner describes Petipa as an evolutionist rather than an innovator – perhaps an apt description of Petipa’s work as a choreographer and stage director.

As a research tool Meisner’s biography is invaluable as it includes detailed information concerning Petipa’s ballets with notations and the artists who performed in them. This serves not only as a reference in regard to Petipa’s career but also of other ballet luminaries of Russian and Western European ballet. This is a valuable biography of one of the most important artists in the ballet world and also how Petipa’s influence is very much alive on the ballet stages of the world today.

#DateMe: An OK Cupid Experiment – Dating in the 21st Century

Westside Theatre

August 3, 2019

By Mark Kappel

In the 21st century meeting and dating has evolved into a science. Online dating sites have taken the place of other methods of trying to find Mr. Right or Ms. Right. And it is that spirit of mystery which is taken up in a new off-Broadway comedy with music, #DateMe: An OK Cupid Experiment, which is currently playing at the off-Broadway, Westside Theatre.

#DateMe: An OK Cupid Experiment is the creation of comedienne Robyn Lynne Norris chronicling a personal experience of her own. When she had moved to Los Angeles a friend suggested that she try out the dating site OK Cupid. Instead of creating an honest profile, she created a fake profile, Tracy Loves Cats, and was besieged with messages of all kinds – she then created 38 fake profiles and compiled those messages into a theatrical form with her collaborators Bob Ladewig and Frank Caeti, which was the kernel that was expanded into this current two-act comedy with music.

#DateMe: An OK Cupid Experiment is an audience interactive experience asking audience members to log into the show’s app, setting up a dating profile and getting into the online dating game that is being played on stage. As if most people aren’t already attached to their smart phones and other devices, this seems to be an aspect of the 21st century universe of meeting people – with the hope of love in the end.

Some audience members are actually matched up and for others their ludicrous and funny stories about dating in this high tech and “disconnected” age is meshed into songs and skits – not to mention explaining and uncovering some of the stereotypical male online daters’ messages – factoring in the OK Cupid site’s algorithm and scientific data.

Lorin Lattarro, as director, has fashioned the distinct aspects of the stereotypes that are included in this play and the musical numbers that are performed – and in some instances incorporates the profile requirements expressed by audience members. This makes for a spontaneous theatrical experience.

The material was placed in the able hands of the excellent and versatile cast of Chris Alvarado, Kaitlyn Black, Jillian Gottlieb, Jonathan Gregg, Eric Lockley, and Megan Sikora who are the story-tellers who unmask the stereotypes found in online dating and take the fun journey in discovering whether online dating will actually lead one to Mr. Right or Ms. Right. In the course of the journey #DateMe: An OK Cupid Experiment is a reflection of its time, and offers some hope for its audience that perhaps all will end well.

Still Here – Elaine Stritch

By Mark Kappel

Alexandra Jacobs, a culture critic and features writer for the New York Times, has written a thoughtful and descriptive biography about one of the leading lights of New York’s theatrical community, Still Here: The Madcap, Nervy, Singular Life of Elaine Stritch, published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

Born in 1925 and leaving us in 2014, Elaine Stritch had a career on the stage, in movies, and on television that stretched through the latter half of the 20th century and into the early part of the 21st century.

From Detroit and then pursuing her career in New York, she made major contributions to theatrical history.

Particular examples -- in 1970 creating the role of Joanne in Stephen Sondheim’s Company to her 2001 Tony Award-winning one-woman show, At Liberty. This is not to mention her appearances in plays by Noel Coward, Tennessee Williams, Neil Simon and Edward Albee.

Jacobs begins Stritch’s story with her roots in Michigan coming from a comfortable family life because of her father’s affiliation with B.F. Goodrich – which enabled the Stritch family to survive several economic crises and wound up in even more improved circumstances.

She moved to New York in 1943 to pursue a career in show business where she participated in drama classes with well known contemporaries in New York and was to able to take advantage of a few outstanding opportunities. Among them was being engaged to be Ethel Merman’s standby in Call Me Madam – and doing double-duty in a featured role in the coming Rodgers & Hart musical Pal Joey, and then touring in Call Me Madam in the starring role. Also there was a supporting role in William Inge’s Bus Stop for which she received great acclaim.

Disappointments were the musicals Goldilocks and Sail Away, and challenging was being the matinee Martha in Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.

However she did put a stamp on a role – an iconoclastic role – that of Joanne in Stephen Sondheim’s Company, and in Still Here Jacobs describes how the role was developed, how Stritch got involved in making that role her own, and in great detail, there are comments about Stritch’s performance from members of Company’s original cast.

Stritch also regretted not having been chosen to play Mama Rose in Gypsy, the title role in Mame and Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd – and also missed out on being cast as Dolly in one of the original national tours of Hello, Dolly!. But she re-invented herself with her one woman show, At Liberty, and also becoming a fixture at the Café Carlyle.

There was also a significant sojourn in London where she met her husband John Bay and she appeared in the London production of Company and in several plays. But returned to the States and was able to re-start her career. Through her career she did appear in films – some successful and notable, and some not – as well as guest appearances in television shows. She had auditioned for one of the roles in the television series The Golden Girl but didn’t get it. But it was her contributions to the theatre that are her most important contributions to our cultural history.

Although not ideally suited to the role, towards the end of her life she did grab one’s attention playing Madame Armfeldt in a Broadway revival of A Little Night Music.

It is so unfortunate that Stritch was plagued by a chronic problem with alcohol during her life which probably resulted in her losing many of the roles she had coveted.

Although so much about Elaine Stritch is well known to members of the New York theatre community, I think there is much to read about and learn from in Jacobs’ detailed biography of a great lady of the Broadway stage.

NT Live Presents Cinema Screening of The Lehman Trilogy

Beekman Theatre

July 29, 2019

By Mark Kappel

Stefano Massini’s The Lehman Trilogy, as adapted by Ben Power, was given its English language premiere at the National Theatre in London in 2018. It is now being seen all over the world through the courtesy of NT Live’s cinema screenings. The cinema screenings of The Lehman Trilogy also mark the 10th anniversary of NT Live’s cinema screenings – a program that has brought many of the National Theatre’s productions to audiences in all parts of the world.

Expertly directed by Sam Mendes, The Lehman Trilogy is presented as three different plays describing the origins of the Lehman Family, which established the financial services and investment firm, Lehman Brothers. In the course of Massini’s story-telling, The Lehman Trilogy describes the business’ 164 years of existence culminating in its bankruptcy which triggered a worldwide financial crisis in 2008. The Lehman Trilogy is an epic play incorporating the many details of how this financial calamity occurred, and tracing the prospects for this catastrophe through the experiences and eyes of the founders of Lehman Brothers.

A 3-actor cast portrays the original Lehman brothers, Henry Lehman (Simon Russell Beale), Emanuel Lehman (Ben Miles), and Mayer Lehman (Adam Godley) who found this business, as well as portraying their children and grandchildren as they trace their family history in parallel with the history of their family business.

The story begins in 1844 when the Lehman brothers – German immigrants-- join forces in Montgomery, Alabama developing a dry goods business which also includes a cotton trading business and expands into commodities trading. The Lehman brothers enlarge their commodities business and open an office in New York City – further expanding their business into financial services, investing in promising new industries and stock trading. In the end family members were no longer involved in the business, and what followed were power struggles among the new leadership and mergers with other corporations.

The Lehman brothers’ businesses survived the travails of the American Civil War which destroyed their business. But they survived by relocating their business to New York while also trying to revive the Southern economy – persuading businesses to invest in that part of the world. Each opportunity was one step towards fulfilling their American Dreams and when selling any new deal or investment the phrase, “Trust Me!” was invoked. However the mission of Lehman Brothers as a business evolved and greater risks were taken to make money, increase power and dominate, in the course of seeking their own vision of immortality. As portrayed in The Lehman Trilogy when Lehman Brothers as a business was lost there was a great deal of collateral damage and the ghosts of the past were there to remind the current generation that their excesses could be lethal.

The performances by Simon Russell Beale, Ben Miles, and Adam Godley are expert and inspiring – and they capture all of the many characters that they portray from one generation to the next. Their performances are individual tour de forces, but they also collaborated as an amazing dramatic ensemble.Enhancing this incredible story was the glass cube set design by Es Devlin – rotating glass box with furnishings of a contemporary office and video projections (created by Luke Halls) which change the landscape and serve as the background of the stories being told in this ambitious play.

In The Lehman Trilogy, the actors and the creative team have collaborated to visually and verbally explain how it all happened. There is an important story being told in Massini’s The Lehman Trilogy and as history tends to repeat itself it is also important that such a major catastrophe doesn’t happen again.

On Stage At The Ballet – Robert Barnett

By Mark Kappel

On Stage at the Ballet – My Life as Dancer and Artistic Director, an autobiography about and by Robert Barnett with Cynthia Crain, has been published by McFarland at McFarlandBooks.com.

This autobiography chronicles Barnett’s life -- unique as someone who had an illustrious career as a dancer and then transitioned to being an artistic director during the 1960’s when many American professional ballet companies were founded.

Barnett was born in the state of Washington into modest circumstances. He enrolled in tap-dancing classes in his early youth performing in the small town his family lived in but felt he was destined to be a fashion designer.

After his military service in the Navy, Barnett pursued his ballet studies with Bronislava Nijinska in California and what followed was a tour with the Original Ballet Russe. In his book Barnett describes the dissension among the management and artistic leaders of the Original Ballet Russe and the origins of the Original Ballet Russe. But in his words Barnett emphasized the important influence that the Original Ballet Russe had in terms of developing ballet audiences in the United States and the education of future ballet dancers when members of the Original Ballet Russe settled in different parts of the United States and established ballet schools.

However it was in 1949 that he auditioned for George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins and Lincoln Kirstein, and was engaged for the New York City Ballet. He was immediately sent to work with Robbins in a new ballet. An audition that changed Barnett’s life.

It is in those chapters about Barnett’s working relationship with the New York City Ballet that the book is most illuminating. In those chapters Barnett describes the early days of the New York City Ballet – including the small but enthusiastic audiences – and the ballets he created roles in and those roles he stepped into.

Unfortunately Barnett does not describe in depth the working relationship of the New York City Ballet’s dancers had with George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and Lincoln Kirstein and only focuses on his own experiences with them in few details.

However Barnett does describe his one and only fight with Jerome Robbins which was in London during one of the New York City Ballet’s international tours. It was of interest in terms of how such fights erupt during moments of stress during a rehearsal period for a ballet and what set of skills are necessary to diplomatically find mutual respect and continue an artistic collaboration.

Also described were George Balanchine’s efforts to educate the public, academicians, and journalists about neo-classical ballets and what was the future of ballet as an art form.
But certainly among the issues that were stressful and tense for Barnett was the revelation of Tanaquil LeClercq being diagnosed with polio which threatened her life and also possibly the existence of the New York City Ballet. Balanchine’s frequent and long-term absences from the New York City Ballet to be with his wife, Le Clercq, during her illness and treatment might have caused the New York City Ballet to suspend operations.

Also stressful was the decision for Barnett and his wife, Ginger, to take positions with the Atlanta Civic Ballet as dancers and as directors in training and then being appointed as artistic director of that organization in 1961 until his departure from what became the Atlanta Ballet in 1994. Barnett admitted to the fast learning curve he had to cope with as he was at various times a dancer, director and stager works for the company – all roles offering special challenges – especially when you are trying to do all of these jobs at once.
Barnett describes what it was like to build a professional ballet company in the United States – with one’s own hands – with brick and mortar. The lucky breaks, difficulties in funding, taking advantage of opportunities that present themselves.

Barnett noted in his autobiography that Dorothy Alexander, who was the founder of the Atlanta Civic Ballet (now known as the Atlanta Ballet) questioned the assistance of the support from the Ford Foundation in the 1960’s to transition the Atlanta Civic Ballet into a professional ballet company. Her concerns were that George Balanchine, as artistic leader of the New York City Ballet, wanted to take the regional ballet companies in the United States under his wing by offering his ballets, costumes, and Ford Foundation financial support. But it was Alexander’s feeling that Balanchine’s real goal was to centralize ballet in America through the auspices of the Ford Foundation, and she turned down the funding offered by the Ford Foundation for that reason.

In his autobiography On Stage At the Ballet, Barnett is definitely introspective and has had the opportunity to look back on his career involving himself in all aspects of the ballet world. For any dancer who is considering the prospect of taking on the job of an artistic director of ballet company this is a must read.

Encores! Off-Center Presents Sondheim’s Road Show

City Center

July 27, 2019

By Mark Kappel

For its third offering of this season Encores! Off-Center presented a concert version of the Stephen Sondheim/John Weidman musical, Road Show from July 24-27, 2019.

Encores has had a relationship with Stephen Sondheim’s musicals over the years, re-examining them in the process, and these concert versions allow audiences to appreciate and evaluate Sondheim’s many and stellar contributions to musical theatre. Road Show started its life at Chicago Goodman Theatre in 2003 under the title of Bounce – and it opened at New York’s Public Theatre under the new name of Road Show in 2008. During its journey Road Show had undergone revisions and after a London production in 2011 and other regional theatre productions, Road Show has found its way back to New York – for a second time.

I had not seen Road Show in its previous incarnations and in this concert version produced by Encores! Off-Center there was the opportunity to see this musical with a fresh perspective.

Road Show has also turned out to be the most recent – and hopefully not the last – of Sondheim’s musicals to be produced – and it has been angling for attention for more than a decade. This production offered the opportunity re-evaluate Sondheim’s Road Show utilizing the large talent pool based here in New York.

Road Show tells the story of the brothers Mizner, Addison (played by Brandon Uranowitz) and Wilson (played by Raul Esparza) who aspire to greatness with the encouragement of their parents (played by Mary Beth Peil and Chuck Cooper). The brothers are persuaded to pursue their fortunes at the beginning of the 1920’s – during the Klondike gold rush to the real estate boom in Florida.

Road Show depicts the Mizners as they stumble through several decades of fraudulent deals and swindles meant to make short-term gains. The collateral damage includes serial estrangements between the two brothers – and Addison Mizner’s estrangement with his lover, Hollis Bessemer (played by Jin Ha). Relationships breakdown and fortunes change on the way towards what is believed to be achieving the American Dream revealing this musical’s dark side. And taking dramatic license, as the brothers are only reconciled after death.

Road Show is not an historic representation of the Mizners’ adventures and misadventures, and their personal relationships. But certainly relevant today as Weidman’s book includes modern day advertising slogans and Sondheim’s music has familiar phrases from his other musicals. However the story effectively focuses on how these brothers squandered their talents and how the relationship between the Mizner brothers evolves from bad to worse – emphasizing the theme in Road Show that when thinking about the American Dream it is the journey not the destination.

Director/choreographer Will Davis employed the concept of presenting Road Show in the environment of a radio play which works very well in terms of the historical period that the musical is set in and also is adaptable to the use of scripts in hand and a minimalist design environment.

This theatrical convention also allowed for Road Show’s many shifts of locations to move swiftly and expeditiously emphasizing how the relationship between the brothers Mizner deteriorated.

There are a few musical gems in Road Show’s score including “The Best Thing That Ever Has Happened” and the recurring “The Game”.

The Encores! Off-Center concert version of Road Show is lit up by the performances of its marvelous cast – in particular Raul Esparza as Wilson, Brandon Uranowtiz as Addison, Mary Beth Peil and Chuck Cooper as the Mizner parents, and Jin Ha as Hollis. They brought a great deal to these complicated characters in complicated relationships – as well as contributing their voices to enhance Sondheim’s music.

Road Show is not one of Sondheim’s neglected masterpieces but earned a place in the Encores! Off-Center series because it deserved to be heard and seen.

Encores! Off Center Presents Promenade

City Center

July 11, 2019

By Mark Kappel

The Encores! Off Center’s second offering is the Maria Irene Fornes/Al Carmines musical, Promenade, which had its off-Broadway debut in 1965, and opened a commercial off-Broadway engagement in 1969.

With a book and lyrics by Maria Irene Fornes and music by Al Carmines, Promenade has rarely been performed and has been described as an experimental musical that is not presented in a linear form. There are illusions to legendary absurdist artists – and musicals with a message such as The Cradle Will Rock – a response to the politics and social issues in 1960’s America –and Brechtian in style and form.

The focus of this musical is on two prisoners, known as 105 and 106 (played by James T. Lane and Kent Overshown) who escape from prison to be pursued by a prison guard – who exchanges sex for favors. Besides being pursued by the prison guard, the two prisoners have their adventures including mingling with a group of wealthy socialites and snobs, to be joined in their misadventures by a disgruntled maid, a soldier who has ambiguous feelings about facing death on a battle field but complains about his terrible hamburger, and then off to the home of the Mayor where this odd collection of characters are forced into entertaining the Mayor and are ultimately sent to jail. In the end the prisoners’ pasts catch up with them, but they have learned from their experiences navigating and observing the world of the haves and have nots.

Promenade is structured like a vaudeville encompassing wonderful and witty musical gems which reveal much about the characters who are singing them. Al Carmine’s score represents a broad range of musical styles and forms including opera arias, military marches, and songs that tell stories – both lurid and sympathetic. Also highlighted is Maria Irene Fornes’ own outlook on the world at the time, and her streetwise and surprising commentary on the social issues at hand -- and the clever manner in which she makes cogent points. Promenade is a musical not only with a message but with many messages.

Notable musical moments are the performances of Bonnie Milligan as Miss Cake singing “Chicken Is He”, Soara-Joye Ross singing “The Moment Has Passed”, and the wonderful calmness exuded in “All Is Well In The City” led by James T. Lane, Kent Overshown and the Company. And this is an excellent company of musical theater professionals who bring out the best in Promenade’s sometimes disconnected musical numbers.

As this production’s director Laurie Woolery has put a spotlight on Promenade’s many wonderful moments which are enhanced by Hope Boykin’s choreography, and Clint Ramos’ costumes which presented clear pictures of what the characters were all about when they set foot on the City Center stage.

Promenade is an intriguing piece of musical theatre that is worth another look!

Royal Danish Ballet at the Joyce Theater

Joyce Theater

July 9, 2019

By Mark Kappel

From July 9-14, 2019 The Joyce Theater Foundation is presenting a themed program, The Bournonville Legacy, featuring current members, and a former member of the Royal Danish Ballet, the company most associated with this historic style of dance and choreography.

Auguste Bournonville stands as a giant of 19th century ballet preserving the French style of dance in Copenhagen for the Royal Danish Ballet. He was a renaissance man not only as a teacher and choreographer but also a writer and painter, and his travels provided him with the stories that he adapted for his ballets.

Bournonville’s ballets depicted people in their everyday lives – soldiers, peasants, fishermen, shoemakers, and farmers – typical of the characters that appeared in the ballets presented at the Paris Opera Ballet in a country where “democracy” was evolving. However there was room for fairy tales and legends that were portrayed in Bournonville ballets such as La Sylphide and A Folk Tale.

This group of Royal Danish Ballet dancers which is performing at the Joyce Theater is under the guidance of the organizer of the tour, Ulrik Birkkjaer, a former member of the Royal Danish Ballet and currently a principal dancer of the San Francisco Ballet.

For these performances only excerpts from Bournonville’s ballets are being danced – which conform to the Joyce Theater’s stage – but this is an important showcase as the Royal Danish Ballet’s American tours are infrequent.

The program opened with excerpts from Act II of La Sylphide, perhaps the best known Bournonville work and also the only work on this program which represented Bournonville choreographing a work that included otherworldly spirits. Based on a Scottish tale, La Sylphide was originally premiered at the Paris Opera Ballet and Bournonville choreographed in his own version for the Royal Danish Ballet in 1836 – dancing the role of James in the ballet himself.

La Sylphide tells the story of betrayal in which a Scotsman, James, exhibits his lack of grace in not assisting a beggar woman who shows up at his front door as he in the midst of planning for his wedding. The beggar woman tells fortunes and the fortune for James is not a good one prompting James to throw the beggar woman out of his house. James becomes infatuated with a woodland spirit and follows her into the forest, and James soon finds out that the beggar woman is a witch who wreaks revenge on him by conjuring up a shawl that James believes will transform the Sylph into human form – but instead causes the Sylph’s death.

It is in Act II of La Sylphide that there are the happy moments of the Sylph’s and James’ relationship and James’ hope that the Sylph will be transformed into human form – only to be betrayed by the witch. Minus the corps de ballet, this excerpt focused on the Pas de Deux of the Sylph and James, and the mime sequences in which the witch gets her revenge.

Even in this excerpt Ida Praetorius dancing the role of the Sylph, Ulrik Birkkjaer dancing the role of James. and Sorella Englund portraying the role of the Witch, one sees Bournonville’s magical touch in conveying the emotions and passions in this ballet, and also how convincing it all can be when danced in the pure Bournonville style.

The second half of the program were more divertissements collectively presented under the title of “A Bournonville Square” in which the dancers quickly shifted from one divertissement to the next.

Leading off this sequence was the Pas de Trois from The King’s Volunteers on Amager – a ballet celebrating the patriotism of Danish soldiers who are defending Denmark from a British invasion. This piece was exuberantly danced by Liam Redhead, Camilla Ruelykke, and Emma Riis-Kofoed.

Following was the competitive Jockey Dance from Bournonville’s last ballet, From Siberia To Moscow, which was danced with a wonderful display of technique and comic timing by Marcin Kupinski and Alexander Bozinoff.

A particular enjoyment was the Street Singer solo from Napoli danced by Tobias Praetorius in which a dancer mimes the notes of a musical piece – that is comic and also informs one about what this character might have been like in the full-length ballet Napoli.

Also there was the rare glimpse of the Pas de Deux from The Kermesse in Bruges danced by the principal characters in the ballet, Carelis and Eleonore – and here danced with charm and elegance by Stephanie Chen Gundorph and Jon Axel Fransson.

The last time the Royal Danish Ballet danced in New York at the David Koch Theater, the company performed a revised and reinterpreted version of Bournonville’s Napoli – only performing Act III which updated the story to the 1950’s and even included the arrival of some of the participants on a Vespa. The updating seemed odd and it was much appreciated that the original version of Napoli Act III is being presented on this program. It seems the current leadership of the Royal Danish Ballet has put aside its mission to preserve the company’s Bournonville legacy. That said no legacy as important as this legacy is is absolutely pristine even when carefully staged and reconstructed.

This program ended with a rousing performance of the Pas de Six and Tarantella from Napoli Act III with Gundorph as Teresina and Fransson as Gennaro with the Pas de Six danced by Liam Redhead, Alexander Bozinoff, Emma Riis-Kofoed, Camilla Ruelkke, Astrid Elbo, Ji Min Hong, Tobias Praetorius, Marcin Kupinski, and Ida Praetorius and Ulrik Birkkjaer leading the first Tarantella.

Even in these excerpts it was important to note that Bournonville’s choreography is best danced by dancer/actors who are not only dancing what the characters might be like but also as actors providing vivid pictures of these characters.

It was a privilege to see these Bournonville excerpts danced with integrity, and freshness, and also to see a new generation of the Royal Danish Ballet’s dancers.

City Center Off Center Presents Working: The Musical

City Center

June 29, 2019

By Mark Kappel

Starting its 2019 season Encores! Off Center is presenting a concert version of Working: The Musical from June 26-29, 2019 which is inspired by the City Center’s 75th Anniversary Celebration.

Based on Studs Terkel’s 1974 book, “Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do”, Working: The Musical had its premiere in Chicago in 1977. Presented by Encores! Off Center was the 2012 revised version of Working which has absorbed the changes and revisions that have been made since Working’s premiere. However what the different versions all have in common is that Working celebrates the people who keep the wheels turning in this country.

Terkel’s book was adapted for the musical stage by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso, and for this concert version included among the many stories of working people are the stories contributed by City Center’s staff. The score which includes songs by Schwartz as well as Craig Carnelia, Micki Grant, Mary Rodgers and Susan Birkenhead, and James Taylor – and the addition of two new songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

The characters are anonymously named Woman and Man with numbers thereafter but each actor plays at least one type of worker who expresses their feelings about their work in song and in monologues – describing the good and the bad of each profession – and the lack of recognition they receive when they accomplish their work. They are the people behind the scenes in working America and most of them feel they are invisible.
The monologues and dialogues reflect what we have all experienced in our working lives – and all are expressed with honesty, self-deprecating humor, a sense of dedication and great humility.

Breathing life into this version of Working are the wonderful cast of Andrea Burns, Mateo Ferro, David Garrison, Helen Hunt, Christopher Jackson, Javier Munoz, and Tracie Toms, who enact and tell the stories of the remarkable working people we encounter every day in song -- and also praising them.

Every one of these actors had their special moments including Mateo Ferro singing “Delivery”, Christopher Jackson’s comical rendition of “Lovin’ Al”, Helen Hunt’s earnest rendition of “Nobody Tells Me How”, Tracie Thoms moving performance of “Millwork”, Andre Burns comic and confident rendition of “It’s An Art”, and also a moving performance of “Joe” by David Garrison.

Also notable was the choreography by Avihai Haham which was not the style one would expect in a Broadway musical but reflected the sentiment that is in Working. Also special praise for Anne Kaufman who directed this version of Working not only with great skill but also with great sensitivity.

This performance of Working was inspiring in many ways and reinforces the need to recognize the wonderful people who are working in our country – and everywhere in the world – who work every day with nobility of purpose which can be recognized with a simple “thank you” whenever you can.

Royal Ballet Dances Romeo and Juliet

June 26, 2019

By Mark Kappel

The final offering of the Royal Ballet’s cinema screenings for the 2018-19 season was Kenneth MacMillan’s production of Romeo and Juliet. An audience favorite since its premiere in 1965 this version of Romeo and Juliet was frequently performed in New York by the Royal Ballet, and since its acquisition of this version of Romeo and Juliet it has been more frequently performed in New York by American Ballet Theatre.

The Royal Ballet’s cinema screenings continues in the United States and the Royal Ballet’s Romeo and Juliet will be screened in movie theaters in the United States beginning July 2nd. Screening dates and venues in the United States can be found at rohcinematickets.com.

Choreographed to Serge Prokofiev’s magnificent score with equally imaginative designs by Nicholas Georgiadis, the Royal Ballet’s production of Romeo and Juliet has been produced in the grand manner. Following the structure of Leonid Lavrovsky’s version of Romeo and Juliet as an antecedent MacMillan has followed the story of Romeo and Juliet as presented in three acts.

Set against the atmosphere of the feuding Capulet and Montague families, MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet opens with Romeo, Mercutio, and Benvolio pursuing their romantic interests which takes them to the Capulet’s Ball where Romeo encounters Juliet for the first time. This is love at first sight and reckless love at that. Knowing that the families would not approve of this match, Friar Laurence and Juliet’s Nurse plot together to bring Romeo and Juliet together in marriage. Friar Laurence prepares a ruse to allow Romeo and Juliet to pursue their lives in any place but Verona. However the ruse falls apart and all ends in tragedy.

Nothing is more impressive in this opulent production than the Act I Ballroom Scene with its lavish costumes and scenery – the huge compliment of dancers in the ensembles – but it is in the Balcony Scene Pas de Deux at the end of Act I that MacMillan provides his most moving choreography.

What makes MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet enduring is its flexibility in allowing dancers to develop their own interpretations of the principal and supporting roles. At the moment the Royal Ballet is grooming a new generation of dancers to take on principal roles in the company’s repertoire and this performance was a showcase for the talents of one such pairing of dancers.

For this cinema screening Matthew Ball danced the role of Romeo and Yasmine Nagdhi danced the role of Juliet, and based on their performances, the Royal Ballet has a great future. Besides meeting the technical demands of MacMillan’s choreography and the dramatic requirements infused in the choreography, they both exuded innocence and then the sexual tension between them. There was musicality in their dancing and they successfully represented Romeo and Juliet as young and impetuous. Between them there was intense energy.

In supporting roles were Valentino Zucchetti as Mercutio, and Benjamin Ella as Benvolio who played these boys at play in the market scenes and successfully toying with the bully Tybalt danced by Gary Avis as Tybalt. Also notable were Christina Arestis as Lady Capulet and Kristen McNally as the Nurse.

The Royal Ballet owns this genre of full-length ballets and how fortunate that American and worldwide audiences can see these performances in cinema screenings if we cannot be in London to see them in person.

American Ballet Theatre Dances Swan Lake

Metropolitan Opera House

June 25, 2019

By Mark Kappel

American Ballet Theatre’s production of Swan Lake – staged by Kevin McKenzie – has been danced annually by the company at the Metropolitan Opera House since its premiere in 2000. Performed in two acts with revisions that do not strictly adhere to traditional productions of Swan Lake, it is a production that has been staged in the grand opera house manner.

If nothing else Swan Lake is the supreme challenge for both female and male dancers in the 19th century ballet repertoire and in this production there is an opulent scenic showcase to perform in.

In this production of Swan Lake, the story is followed along traditional lines except for a short prologue in which Von Rothbart puts his magic spell on Odette who is then transformed into a swan forever unless she is successful in finding true love. The first act of the ballet presents Siegfried’s dilemma as his mother insists that he must marry and assume his royal role. But he does so with much reluctance and wanders in the forest to hunt by the lake side. It is there that he meets the vision of Odette in the form of a swan and he pledges true love to her.

In the midst of an opulent ballroom, where candidates for Siegfried’s hand in marriage are presented to him, Von Rothbart arrives with Odile, who is disguised as Odette, and who tricks Siegfried into a pledge of love to her. Searching for Odette at the lakeside Odette and Siegfried pledge their love to each other but in having no method of breaking Von Rothbart’s spell, the story ends in tragedy as neither Odette nor Siegfried cannot live without the other.

Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov who choreographed and staged their successful production of Swan Lake for the Mariinsky Ballet infused the ballet with dramatic choreography which succinctly tells the story. Their spirit is very much in evidence in this production of Swan Lake.

The ballet itself is all poetry and dramatic tension, and Swan Lake is in the hands of its principal dancers to transform this ballet into an emotional and effecting metaphor.

At this performance on June 25, 2019 the principal roles were in the capable hands of Christine Shevchenko in the dual role of Odette/Odile and James Whiteside as Prince Siegfried. Shevchenko provided the necessary poetry in her performance of Odette contrasting that with her performance of the evil Odile. In both roles Shevchenko gave a polished, refined – and I would even say thrilling – performance. Matching her was Whiteside as Siegfried who was a stalwart partner, who was expressive and always in the moment. This was a perfect match in terms of a partnership. Their Black Swan Pas de Deux was musical and a spectacular display of technique – a performance that set the stage on fire and was danced in the grand manner.

Adding to this performance of Swan Lake was Calvin Royal III’s commanding performance as Von Rothbart in the ballroom scene, and Thomas Forster’s equally commanding performance as the Von Rothbart who rules his lakeside domain. Also notable was the spirited Act I Pas de Trois which was danced by Cassandra Trenary, Skylar Brandt, and Joseph Gorak. Even American Ballet Theatre’s corps de ballet added to the drama of the story in the lakeside scenes.

Overall this was a potent performance of one of the great 19th century classics.

American Ballet Theatre Revives Manon

Metropolitan Opera House

June 18, 2019

By Mark Kappel

As part of its Metropolitan Opera House season American Ballet Theatre has delved into its past repertoire and revived a popular work that was created in the latter half of the 20th century.

American Ballet Theatre acquired Kenneth MacMillan’s full-length ballet Manon in 1993 and has been performing the ballet on a cyclical basis ever since. MacMillan created this ballet for the Royal Ballet in 1974 with a libretto based on Prevost’s novel about a young girl arriving in Paris who is to be transformed into a courtesan by her brother, and instead falls in love with a young student.
Rather than employing the music from Jules Massenet’s opera version of Manon, MacMlilan used orchestrated versions of other music that Massenet had composed – including ballet music – creating a new musical score for Manon. During the time MacMillan was in rehearsal for Manon he seemed very intrigued by figure skating and intricate skating partnering which was incorporated into his choreography for this ballet. In particular this influence is in the passionate pas de deux he created for the principal characters in this ballet.

MacMillan’s ballet adaptation of Manon is about a love at first-sight relationship between an impetuous young girl and a reckless student -- which begins with their running away together – Manon running away from a relationship that had been set up for her by her brother with an elderly aristocrat. Manon and her student lover, Des Grieux, have their misadventures with Manon’s brother being arrested, and Manon banished to prison and exile in Louisiana. This story of reckless love does not end well, but it is a story that MacMillan tells masterfully in his ballet – in the grand ballet manner.

MacMillan’s Manon is a gritty and naturalistic tale which requires an animated corps de ballet to provide the naturalistic atmosphere to tell the story. And from Manon’s arrival in Paris, one sees the arc of her story from an innocent girl to a vindictive and manipulating woman yet Des Grieux stands by her until this tragedy comes to an end.

Among the highlights in MacMillan’s choreography are the erotic pas de deux that are sprinkled throughout the ballet – particularly the Bedroom Pas de Deux that is in Act I. These pas de deux are not just showcases for wonderful dancing and emotions being expressed, but they all move the story forward.

As American Ballet Theatre’s performances of Manon are after several years of absence from the company’s repertoire, during this week’s performances of Manon many dancers will be getting their opportunities to make debuts in this ballet’s principal roles. What makes Manon enduring tends to be the interpretations of the many dancers who have danced these principal roles.

At the performance on June 18, 2019 Sarah Lane made a remarkable and compelling debut in the title role not only in her dancing but her transformation as this character’s story is revealed with Herman Cornejo supportive in the role of Des Grieux. Outstanding performances also came from Blaine Hoven as Lescaut, and Cassandra Trenary dancing the role of Lescaut’s Mistress.

These dancers made an excellent case for the revival of Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon and I hope that in the future American Ballet Theatre will revive this ballet more often and frequently.

York Theatre Company’s Return Engagement of Enter Laughing: The Musical

York Theatre Company At Saint Peter’s

June 15, 2019

By Mark Kappel

The York Theatre Company has initiated its 50th Anniversary Celebration with a revival of its production of Enter Laughing: The Musical -- with a book by Joseph Stein, and a score by Stan Daniels. Enter Laughing: The Musical is based on a play of the same name written by Joseph Stein – and the play’s source is a 1958 novel by comedy writer Carl Reiner. Enter Laughing: The Musical initiated its engagement on May 7th with an extension now through June 23, 2019.

Enter Laughing tells the story of a Bronx-born, depression era teenager David Kolowitz (played by Chris Dwan) who has ambitions to be an actor but is not blessed with much talent. Distracting from his goal is his obsession about being a celebrity and what would be his due if he were to achieve being a celebrity. This is all complicated by his obsessions about girls and movie stars, and Kolowitz is further stressed out by his doubting parents (Alison Fraser and Michael Kostroff) who insist that he become a pharmacist and live a normal life.

Kolowitz gets his break at a theatre academy directed by the eccentric and self-absorbed Marlowe (played by David Schramm) who preys on hopefuls who are given the privilege of appearing in supporting roles in pot-boiler theatre productions starring himself and his man-crazy daughter Angela (Farah Alvin). Although David has fantasies about a secretary Miss B (played by Dana Costello) and is pursued by the man-crazy Angela, he remains faithful to his girlfriend Wanda (played by Allie Trimm).

Enter Laughing is about Kolowitz’s journey and is sprinkled with clever and witty musical numbers that allow for each character’s musings – and also allows them to comment on the situations at hand.

Highlights among those musical numbers were “The Man I Can Love”, a parody of a torch song, sung and expressed with comedic skill by Farah Alvin as Angela, “The Butler’s Song, a comic song tour de force performed in a dead-pan manner by David Schramm who as Marlowe is transformed into Kolowitz’s butler as Kolowitz fantasizes about his hopes for being a successful actor, and the duet of “Hot Cha Cha” sung and danced with comic skill by Paul Kreppel as Mr. Forman, Kolowitz’s employer, and Michael Kostroff as Kolowitz’s father.

Enter Laughing does parody musicals that came before it. But it is all straight forward, pulling no punches, and emphasizes one-line jokes, physical comedy, and clever lyrics to get the story across. All is guided with skill by director Stuart Ross, who has also contributed to the recent revisions of this musical. The play within the play that is part of this musical’s second act is a clever farce with the actors performing organic shtick with enormous skill, and also creates an atmosphere of humanity and sincerity.

A virtuoso performance is given by Chris Dwan as David Kolowitz especially in the opening number expressing his desire for stardom as an actor and in the play within a play farce in which he creates magic as he goes through flashes of stage fright and coming out looking like a “star” to his friends and family.

Join the fun and enjoy Enter Laughing: The Musical at the York!

American Ballet Theatre Performs Le Corsaire

Metropolitan Opera House

June 13, 2019

By Mark Kappel

As part of its Metropolitan Opera House season, American Ballet Theatre has included its production of Le Corsaire which was given its company premiere in 1998 and was staged by Anna-Marie Holmes. Le Corsaire is an anomaly among the 19th century classics as it was hidden away in Russia until the latter half of the 20th century when the ballet was performed by Russian ballet companies on its foreign tours and now many ballet companies all over the world have staged their own productions.

This production was staged by Holmes, with choreography by Konstantin Sergeyev after Marius Petipa. But the ballet was first choreographed by Joseph Mazilier for the Paris Opera Ballet in 1856, and then re-staged and re-choreographed by Marius Petipa in a version that premiered at the Maryinsky Theatre in 1899. The score had been composed by Adolphe Adam but through the years there have been revisions and inserts composed by Cesare Pugni, Riccardo Drigo, Leo Delibes and Prince Oldenbourg – a bit of a patchwork and re-orchestrated by Kevin Galie.

The story of Le Corsaire is based on a poem by Lord Byron which is very much a romantic adventure in which Conrad saves Medora from the fate from being sold into slavery and entering the service of a Middle Eastern Pasha. Structurally Le Corsaire follows many of Petipa’s other ballets notable for a pure dance piece, Jardin Animee, and many other pyrotechnic show pieces. Beyond its showy scenic effects, comedy, and swashbuckling, there is a lot of dancing in Le Corsaire.

In the cast of the June 13th performance of Le Corsaire, Brooklyn Mack appeared as a guest artist in the role of Conrad. Mack had danced with the ABT Studio Company but pursued his professional career with the Orlando and later with the Washington Ballet, and has danced in this production of Le Corsaire with the English National Ballet. He certainly served up the needed experience and pyrotechnics for this role.

As Medora he partnered Christine Shevchenko who gave a stylish and technically polished performance, and also adding to the pyrotechnics was Joo Won Ahn who superbly stepped in for the injured Daniil Simkin in the role of Ali. In particular Shevchenko, Ahn and Mack collaborated on an exciting performance of the Pas de Trois in the second act of this ballet.

Cassandra Trenary dancing the role of Gulnare, Aran Bell dancing the role of Lankendem, and Gabe Stone Shayer dancing the role of Birbanto, also added to the sparks that were generated on the stage.

American Ballet Theatre’s production of Le Corsaire offers an opportunity to experience a 19th century full-length ballet that is rarely performed – as well as offering lots of comedy, and entertaining dancing. It is a ballet in which the dancers are given opportunities to shine and play to an audience.

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast

Paper Mill Playhouse

June 8, 2019

By Mark Kappel

Concluding its 2018-19 season, the Paper Mill Playhouse in Milburn, New Jersey is presenting a family musical entertainment Disney’s Beauty and the Beast from May 29-July 3, 2019.

Beauty and the Beast, with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, and book by Linda Woolverton, and one of Disney’s earliest forays in terms of its stage musicals, had been a long-time constituent on Broadway. The Broadway production opened in 1994 and ended its Broadway engagement in 2007. However Beauty and the Beast seems ever present. This new production directed by Mark S. Hoebee, with choreography by Alex Sanchez, is a slightly different take on this musical. But retains all of the humanity that this musical reflects – a story that is as old as time.

This musical version of Beauty and the Beast tells the tale of Belle who is pursued by a rather uncouth and arrogant suitor, Gaston. She has a loving relationship with her eccentric inventor father which certainly has influenced her interest in books. But her love of books and her independence makes her a village oddity. Her wanderings to the castle of the Beast, to find her father who had been lost in the woods, meeting the castle’s wonderful inhabitants, and sharing her love for books with the Beast, helps break an Enchantress’ spell and Belle gets her Prince. There are animated candelabras, spoons, clocks and tea pots which encourage a romantic relationship between Bell and the Beast, and also create entertainment for Belle as her romance with the Beast blossoms.

Certainly what distinguishes this production of Beauty and the Beast is Mark S. Hoebee’s reverential and clever direction, and the imaginative scenery designs by Kelly James Tighe and costumes designs by Leon Dobkowski.

Hoebee’s care is evident everywhere in this production which can be explained by the fact that Hoebee was an original cast member of the Broadway production. You will leave the theatre humming the score which includes so many hits and standards – and also humming the costumes and scenery designs which is not a negative.

Among the highlights of any performance of Beauty and the Beast are the renditions of the haunting ballad, “If I Can’t Love Her” which was given a stirring performance by Tally Sessions as the Beast, and the title song, “Beauty and the Beast”, beautifully sung by Stacia Fernandez as Mrs. Potts.

Overall the excellent cast cannot be faulted particularly Belinda Allyn’s warm and spirited performance as Belle, Tally Sessions mysterious portrayal of the Beast and his transformation into the Prince, Joel Blum as Belle’s father, Maurice, Stephen Mark Lukas as the vain Gaston, Stacia Fernandez as the comforting Mrs. Potts, Donna English as Madame de la Grande Bouche, Kevin Ligon as Cogsworth, Kevin Curtis as the comic and amusing Lefou, and the luxury casting of Gavin Lee as Lumiere. Beautiful performances, beautiful voices, perfect comic timing combine for a spirited entertainment.

Beauty and the Beast delivers on life lessons – particularly that you can’t judge a book by its cover, the love of reading and learning, and observing two odd people who find mutual interests and romance – and having a happy ending.

Even before this production opened an extension was announced and this production of Beauty and the Beast is a must see by young and old.

American Ballet Theatre Presents Company Premiere of Jane Eyre

Metropolitan Opera House

June 4, 2019

By Mark Kappel

American Ballet Theatre is presenting the company premiere of Cathy Marston’s full-length ballet, Jane Eyre, based on Charlotte Bronte’s novel, from June 4th through June 10th as part of its current Metropolitan Opera House season.

Marston, a British choreographer, comes to American Ballet Theatre after choreographing works for many companies in Europe and also for the San Francisco Ballet here in the United States. Quite often her subject matter for her dance pieces are narrative works, and Jane Eyre, originally choreographed for Northern Ballet in England, premiered in 2016. Uniquely American Ballet Theatre and the Joffrey Ballet have entered into a co-production agreement to present this ballet in the United States.

Set in Northern England in the 19th Century, Charlotte Bronte’s 1847 novel tells the story of the orphaned Jane Eyre who is cruelly treated by her Aunt Reed, but upon completion of her schooling accepts a governess position at Thornfield Hall, the home of Edward Rochester – where a bond is developed between Eyre and Rochester. But Rochester’s hidden past reveals itself in the course of the story-telling and puts their relationship in jeopardy. As in other Victorian novels, women are often mistreated by the men in their lives, and yet are dependent on men in the end.

As for any choreographer attempting to create a full-length ballet that choreographer must realize that he or she must be a theatre director as well and also librettist in adapting the story to the visual art form, dance. Marston is credited not only with the choreography for her version of Jane Eyre but also for the direction and scenario. In a program article about Jane Eyre, Marston explained that she had been influenced by two different traditions of transferring a story from book to stage. The British school focusing on the source text and being true to the author’s vision, and the German influenced school of the role of the director as an interpreter.

Marston takes those theories to the stage in telling the story of Jane Eyre through flashbacks with the older Jane Eyre remembering her experiences as expressed by her younger self. Marston has also included an ensemble of male dancers which she describes as the “D-Men” who function as a Greek chorus of shadowy figures who transport Jane from scene to scene. The scenario for this production of Jane Eyre has been adapted by Marston and designer Patrick Kinmonth. Kinmonth’s costumes and scenery designs are minimalist with the costumes not detailed to reflect the period this story is set in, and the scenery is a series of backdrops. Locations are suggested with simple props such as a chair or stools.

Philip Feeney is credited with compiling and composing the score for Jane Eyre which includes a combination of piano pieces composed by Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn, and Franz Schubert, and Feeney’s own compositions. Quite often, though, the score does not provide dramatic underpinnings for the important plot points in this version of Jane Eyre.

Marston’s dance vocabulary is modern dance and contemporary ballet which doesn’t always define the characters or heighten the emotions of the moment. For that reason the dancers in the principal roles share the burden of bringing these fascinating and familiar characters to life.

For this company premiere the title role was danced by Devon Teuscher, revealing Eyre’s emotional life journey with Catherine Hurlin effectively portraying and dancing the role of Young Jane, and James Whiteside also effectively dancing the role of the very proud Edward Rochester. All of these dancers met the challenges of these roles.

Also there was the luxury of casting with experienced dancers in the supporting roles in this ballet including Zhong-Jing Fang as Jane’s imperious Aunt Reed, Calvin Royal III as Reverend Brocklehurst, the school headmaster, Sarah Lane as Thornfield’s housekeeper Mrs. Fairfax, Stella Abrera as one of Rochester’s love interests, Blanche Ingram, and Cassandra Trenary as Rochester’s mysterious and mad wife.

American Ballet Theatre’s acquisition of Marston’s Jane Eyre is daring in that it has given a major opportunity for a female choreographer and Marston attempts to tell story defying ballet conventions. Anyone with interest to dance should take the time to see this version of Jane Eyre if only to experience what it is that Marston is attempting, not always successfully, to communicate to an audience.

American Ballet Theatre Celebrates Alexei Ratmansky

Metropolitan Opera House

May 21, 2019

By Mark Kappel

The focus of American Ballet Theatre’s Metropolitan Opera House season is celebrating the tenth anniversary of its association with choreographer Alexei Ratmansky as Artist in Residence. During the season Ratmansky’s works will be in full view and if you wish to see a survey of his work, the Ratmansky triple bill program presented on May 21, 2019 represented the range of choreographic work that Ratmansky has contributed to American Ballet Theatre’s repertoire.

Opening the program was Songs of Bukovina choreographed to music by Leonid Desyatnikov in which Ratmansky’s choreography reflects the folk tradition and rhythms in the music. The music was sensitively played by pianist Jacek Mysinski and the cast led by Isabella Boylston and Blaine Hoven executed the choreography which faithfully reflected the expressiveness in the music. One felt the ballet’s antecedents and influences.

In 2009 Ratmansky created a new version of On The Dnieper, a one-act narrative ballet, that had been premiered in 1932 by the Paris Opera Ballet, with an original libretto by Sergei Prokofiev and Serge Lifar, and with commissioned music by Prokofiev.

In Ratmansky’s slightly revised libretto, Sergei (Cory Stearns), a Red Army soldier, returns to his village after experiencing the rampages of World War I. His return to the village is not celebrated by all of the inhabitants and Sergei also finds that he is no longer in love with Natalia (Hee Seo) to whom he promised his love. Having a bit of roving eye and doubts about his love for Natalia, Sergei falls in love with Olga (Christine Shevchenko), whose parents already prepared a match for her with a man (James Whiteside) she doesn’t love. After confrontation with the local villagers, Sergei and Olga, escape from the village with Natalia’s assistance.

In On The Dneiper Ratmansky’s choreography includes solos in which the principal characters express their emotions and Ratmansky has clearly channeled Antony Tudor in doing so in this ballet. Ratmansky created a great sense of theatre in this piece.

This program closed with Ratmansky’s latest world premiere, The Seasons, choreographed to Alexander Glazunov’s The Seasons.

Using Glazunov’s score as an empty canvas, but also employing its themes, Ratmansky has created a whimsical, spirited, and joyous choreographic interpretation of Glazunov’s music. Variations in ballet styles figure prominently and references to scenes from the 19th century classics as well. Each section of the ballet depicts the changing seasons with the choreography showing off the dancers’ strengths.

Winter was led by Joo Won Ahn as he and his seasonal cohorts, Zhong-Jing Fang, Devon Teuscher, Courtney Lavine, and Betsy McBride danced with elegance. Spring was led by Zephyr Thomas Forster with Cassandra Trenary and Breanne Granlund. Summer was led by The Spirit of the Corn, Stella Abrera, with Blaine Hoven – and Satyrs, Gabe Stone Shayer and Tyler and Mahoney, and the celebrators of Autumn were led by Catherine Hurlin and Calvin Royal III.

Ratmansky’s The Seasons is a wonderful showcase for the American Ballet Theatre’s dancers in all ranks of the company.

City Center Encores Presents High Button Shoes

City Center

May 11, 2019

By Mark Kappel

City Center Encores’ closing presentation is High Button Shoes from May 8-12, 2019 a rarely seen musical which has music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Sammy Cahn, and a book by Stephen Longstreet, that was also particularly notable for Jerome Robbins’ choreography when this musical opened on Broadway in 1947.

High Button Shoes focuses on two travelling con men caught up in an attempt to exploit an heiress and her family taking them all on a chase from New Brunswick, New Jersey, to the Jersey Shore, and to Atlantic City. The two con men create schemes concerning fake watches, diamond mines, phony land deals, and being only one or two steps ahead of the police.

Structured somewhat as a vaudeville entertainment with a minimum of physical comedy but lots of one-liners – in a concert adaptation by Jack Viertel – High Button Shoes is somewhat anachronistic – and not always politically correct – and most notably is a nostalgic period piece.

This was a time when there was excitement about the Model T, a not very bright football hero, real estate swindles, all occurring in the wilds of New Brunswick, New Jersey – including a focus on the Rutgers University football team – with anti-heroes who smile and charm their way through life.

Highlights of this concert version were the reproductions of two gems of Jerome Robbins’ choreography for High Button Shoes including the “Bathing Beauty Ballet” and “I Still Get Jealous” which were re-produced by Sarah O’Gleby. “Bathing Beauty Ballet” is choreographed to “On A Sunday By The Sea” in a Keystone Comedy style as the actors walk and run in out of opening and closing doors. The dancing in High Button Shoes represent some of the stellar numbers in this musical including “Papa, Won’t You Dance With Me” and “Tango” danced with wit and aplomb by Matt Loehr and Mylinda Hull – and then there are those wonderful bird-watching ladies.

Director John Rando has ably controlled the chaos and humor on stage, and Kevin Chamberlin as Mr. Pontdue, and Michael Urie as Harrison Floy – the two con men – are played as lovable villains – and Betsy Wolfe as Sara Longstreet is also part of this wonderful cast that brings this fun story to life and justifies these concert performances to hear an equally fun score.

Here there was the luxury of being able to listen to this wonderful score by a large orchestra which was under the expert direction of Rob Berman.

Have to thank City Center Encores for presenting a concert version of High Button Shoes as its nostalgia and optimism are just right for these enigmatic times we are living in.

Australian Ballet Makes Joyce Theater Debut

Joyce Theater

May 9, 2019

By Mark Kappel

From April 29 through May 12, 2019, the Joyce Theater is presenting an Australia Festival celebrating the wide variety of dance that is being offered and performed by Australian dance and ballet companies. Some of these companies were, in fact, making their Joyce Theater debuts.

From May 9-12, the Joyce Theater is hosting the Australian Ballet -- making its Joyce Theater debut – and also making it possible for this company to make up for its infrequent New York engagements.

Having performed at larger venues in New York in the past, the Australian Ballet is presenting a different side of its dance personality in performing works not only created for the company but also dancing in works that are notable for their contemporary ballet and modern dance influences rather than the full-length ballet story ballets that the company usually performs during its New York engagements.

In this engagement, artistic director David McAllister, has put his personal artistic stamp on the repertoire that is being performed, and it should also be noted that all three choreographers represented that are in this performance, are also among the Australian Ballet’s resident choreographers.

Opening the program was Tim Harbour’s Chairman Dances employing the familiar music composed by John Adams from his opera, Nixon in China.

This ensemble piece – with the dancers costumed in red uniforms – makes some references to the music’s source -- along with the repetitive movement for the dancers. But Harbour’s contemporary ballet style also included unexpected quirks and tongue-in-cheek humor.

The Australian Ballet’s dancers took to all of Harbour’s choreography with an outstanding ensemble performance by Robyn Hendricks, Coco Mathieson, Amanda McGuigan, Karen Nanasca, Dana Stephensen, Nathan Brook, Adam Bull, Callum Linnane, Jarryd Madden, Make Mangakahia, and Christopher Rogers-Wilson.

Following Chairman Dances was Stephen Baynes’ Unspoken Dialogues, a work for two dancers choreographed to Alfred Schnittke’s Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano. Baynes’ piece, superbly danced by Kevin Jackson and Jill Ogai, represented a tug of war within a relationship – a relationship’s ups and down. But it is a virtuoso piece to display all aspects of the dancers dancing the piece.

The closing work on the program was Alice Topp’s Aurum, which was underwritten by the Joyce Theater’s Rudolf Nureyev Prize for New Dance. The work, choreographed to music by Ludovico Einaudi, was inspired by the Japanese craft of repairing cracked pottery with precious metals, known as kintsugi – and is also a metaphor of how people repair the cracks in their own lives.

Topp’s piece was the piece on the program that was most obviously influenced by modern dance styles and was carefully structured to make her philosophic point of view about life. In that respect it was the most adventurous piece on the program as well. Most eloquent was its quiet ending with only a couple on stage.

The ensemble of dancers dancing Aurum were Robyn Hendricks, Coco Mathieson, Amanda McGuigan, Karen Nanasca, Jill Ogai, Dana Stephensen, Nathan Brook,, Adam Bull, Kevin Jackson, Callum Linnane, Jarryd Madden, and Jake Mangakahia.

All of these pieces showcased the Australian Ballet’s well-trained dancers, and the current Australian spin on multiple dance styles.

I hope that this engagement will make it possible for the company to appear more often here in New York and also continue to perform its ballets and new works that make up a wide range of dance styles that are part of the company’s repertoire.

MasterVoices’ Lady in the Dark

City Center

April 26, 2019

By Mark Kappel

MasterVoices has been sponsoring concerts of vocal symphonic pieces and operas on regular basis in New York City. Every now and again MasterVoices has employed its chorus in presenting a concert version of a Broadway musical – Song of Norway – or an operetta – The Pirates of Penzance.

Bearing these artistic choices in mind, musical director, Ted Sperling, has collaborated with the Orchestra of St. Lukes and Doug Varone’s Dancers for MasterVoices presentations and from April 25-27, 2019 MasterVoices is presenting a concert version of Lady in the Dark, a musical which had premiered on Broadway in 1941. Lady in the Dark is rarely performed and represents an interesting theatrical enigma.

The collaborative team for Lady in the Dark was Kurt Weill as composer, Ira Gershwin as lyricist, and Moss Hart as the book writer. The focus of Lady in the Dark is the story of Liza Elliott, an unhappy editor of a fashion magazine who is undergoing psychoanalysis.

Besides the music being totally integrated into the story, this musical’s narrative is presented in three dream sequences, entitled Glamour Dream, Wedding Dream, and Circus Dream, with the fashion magazine’s staff members and Liza’s love interests taking on such roles roles of a snake charmer and a lion tamer to fit into this dream motif. Most important is that all of these “dreams” were meant to illustrate what was going on inside Liza Elliott’s head.

Weill and Gershwin restricted their music to the dream sequences and flashbacks in this musical with the composers’ past experiences influencing their contributions. Weill had composed 1-act operas in the past and Gershwin, seeking his own inspiration, from patter songs that might appear in operettas.

The story was inspired by Moss Hart’s own treatment by a psychoanalyst, and the acceptance of Sigmund Freud’s theory that universal human discontent is a form of illness -- and as part of that philosophy was the interpretation of dreams. MasterVoices’ concert version employed a script adapted by Christopher Hart and Kim Kowalke which was seasoned with some excellent one-liners and self-deprecating humor.

The role of Liza Elliott was created on Broadway by the inimitable Gertrude Lawrence. Danny Kaye was recognized as a star playing the role of fashion photographer Russell Paxton and singing the tour de force, "Tschaikovsky", a patter song with its roots in Gilbert & Sullivan.

To enhance this concert version of Lady in the Dark, musical director Ted Sperling took up Anna Wintour’s recommendation to work with Vogue editor Hamish Bowles to find current fashion designers to realize the costumes and look of the individual dream sequences with the Glamour Dream designed by Zac Posen, the Circus Dream designed by Thom Browne, and Marchesa designing Liza’s bridal gown in the Wedding Dream. Costume designer Tracy Christensen provided the clothing for the real-life scenes and supplement and coordinate the work of these three fashion designers’ contributions to this concert version of Lady in the Dark.

When we come upon Liza Elliott she seems to be a confident business woman, editor of a successful fashion magazine, Allure, who is described as glamorous and successful – and much admired. But her life is falling apart and making any kind of decisions seems to be difficult for her.

In seeking the help of a psychoanalyst Liza’s dreams are analyzed and much of the story telling emerges from those dreams.

Act I of Lady in the Dark is comprised of The Glamour Dream and The Wedding Dream (less of a dream than a nightmare) and Act II is comprised of The Circus Dream with the Ringmaster singing, “Tschaikovsky”, Liza expressing her reasons for being indecisive in “The Saga of Jennie, and ending on the more tranquil but emotional note of “My Ship”. One could describe each dream vignette as an opera unto itself, and thereby lends itself to the concert treatment that was offered by MasterVoices.

Victoria Clark’s performance as Liza Elliott was a tour de force and was especially moving in the musical numbers, “The Saga of Jenny” and “My Ship”. But there was also the luxury casting of Ashley Park as Miss Foster, Montego Glover as Maggie Grant, David Pittu as Russell Paxton (who delivers an excellent rendition of “Tschaikovsky”), Amy Irving as Liza’s psychiatrist, Dr. Brooks, Ben Davis as Randy Curtis, a Hollywood Star, Christopher Invar as Charley Johnson, and Ron Raines as Kendall Nesbitt.

MasterVoices’ concert version of Lady in the Dark has a great deal to offer in and of itself, but also gives one the opportunity to appreciate what a major musical theatre work that Lady in the Dark is.

Valentina Kozlova Dance Conservatory’s Spring Gala

Symphony Space

April 20, 2019

By Mark Kappel

In spite of the fact that the Valentina Kozlova Dance Conservatory has moved its home based from New York City to Norwalk, Connecticut, the Conservatory is continuing its tradition of having its students perform in New York City.

On April 20, 2019, these students were presented on stage in a varied program including excerpts from the 19th century classics, and commissioned new works which were created for the Conservatory students. Featured among the students were medalists and award winners from the recent Valentina Kozlova International Ballet Competition which was held in March of this year.

The first piece on the program was the opening sequence from Act II of Giselle which featured the student dancers as Queen of the Wilis and the Wilis corps de ballet evoking the mysteries of the Romantic ballet era. Other excerpts from the classics included the Four Little Swans from Swan Lake, Nikiya’s Death Scene from La Bayadere, and Paquita.

Also included in the classical aspect of this program was Joseph Mazilier’s Satanella Pas de Deux which was well danced by Jillian Schubert and Justin Valentine.
The program also included six short contemporary pieces choreographed by Nina M. Buisson in which the Conservatory students expressed another side of their dancing.

Wonderful to see these students getting stage performance time and feeling comfortable in their skins as they danced this challenging repertoire.

Benny and Joon - The Musical

Paper Mill Playhouse

April 20, 2019

By Mark Kappel

From April 4-May 5, 2019, the Paper Mill Playhouse in Milburn, New Jersey is presenting the East Coast premiere of a new musical, Benny & Joon, based on the 1993 film which starred Johnny Depp, Aidan Quinn, and Mary Stuart Masterson.

With a score by Nolan Gasser (music), and Mindi Dickstein (lyrics), a book by Kirsten Guenther, and under the direction of Jack Cummings III, Benny and Joon explores the engine of a family relationship, particularly the relationship between Joon, a young woman dealing with mental illness, and her brother, Benny, who is her protector and care taker. Their lives change when an eccentric stranger, Sam, enters the picture.

Joon (played by Hannah Elless) is a functioning schizophrenic whose flight of fantasies and mental health issues are exacerbated after her parents die in an auto accident. Since the time of that accident her brother Benny (played by Claybourne Elder) changes his life completely to be Joon’s caretaker.

Joon uses painting as her escape while brother Benny has closed himself off to relationships because he feels a strong obligation to be his sister’s guardian.

Benny works for a local auto garage and also participates in a regular card game with his co-workers. Joon wants in on the card game and in losing one of the hands, Benny and Joon take on the responsibility of the cousin of one of Benny’s co-workers.

Enter Sam who is an eccentric, to the say least, dealing with his own personal demons and seems intimidated by all others. He is a devoted movie fan and quotes from classic films, and he is recruited to be Joon’s temporary caretaker. This unusual trio evolves into a family unit and ultimately a stronger relationship develops between Sam and Joon which does not meet Benny’s approval. And it is how these relationships evolve further and resolve themselves that is the core of Benny and Joon as a musical.

Set against the landscape of Spokane, Washington in the 1990’s this quirky and emotionally charged story is set to music that is equally quirky and transparent. The score created by Nolan Gasser and Mindi Dickstein reveals every character, their feelings, and their desperation to resolve a set of circumstances that can only be described as complicated. Kirsten Guenther’s book doesn’t replicate the film but does reflect the movie’s quirkiness and absurdities. Coping with mental illness is not a joy but somehow all could work out for the better.

Benny and Joon’s story is told and interpreted well by its excellent cast. Benny’s earnestness is articulated well by Claybourne Elder. Hannah Elless’s Joon is eccentric and her thoughts are expressed beautifully in song, and then there is Conor Ryan who interprets Sam as combination of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin -- and there is also the compassion of Benny’s love interest Ruthie as played by Tatiana Wechsler.

One comes away from Benny and Joon that these wonderful characters have found a reality that they can cope with and survive in, and one has taken an emotional -- and amusing and charming – ride with them.

Manhattan Theatre Club Presents Broadway Premiere of Ink

Samuel Friedman Theatre

April 19, 2019

By Mark Kappel

The Manhattan Theatre Club has scored a coup in being able to present the Broadway premiere of James Graham’s Ink. Ink is an involving and provocative play – wonderfully directed and acted – which exposes one to the lack of transparency in the media and the media’s influences on public discourse.

Originally produced by London’s Almeida Theater, this Broadway production has Rupert Goold repeating his direction, and also includes among its cast members, Bertie Carvill, who created the role of Rupert Murdoch in the London production. These contributions give Graham’s Ink a remarkable authenticity and intensity.

Set in London in 1969 this tale unfolds when media mogul Rupert Murdoch purchases a struggling newspaper, The Sun, and brings in an unconventional editor, Larry Lamb to rejuvenate this tabloid newspaper with the ulterior motive to cause a disruption on London’s Fleet Street, the reverential home of Britain’s major newspapers.

The relationship between Murdoch and Lamb is the core of Ink, and they are portrayed as competitors in a poker game. But Murdoch knows his mark and presents Lamb with the challenge of surpassing The Daily Mirror’s sales figures to become the market leader in a year – no matter how this goal is achieved.

Murdock’s aim was to create a populist newspaper and populist tabloid for the masses. It is how Murdoch and Lamb accomplish this feat and who gets the credit for it – and the collateral damage that results in the process – that is examined in Ink. Also revealed is the underbelly of the newspaper business, a bit of blind ambition, greed and sensationalism.

Although the focus of Ink is on Murdoch’s skirmish with the London publishing elite in the late 1960’s, there are lots of hints of what is to come as Murdoch builds his international media empire – in many respects one feels that one is looking through the rear view mirror in experiencing this play and knowing what was to happen in only a few decades.

This story is conveyed somewhat like a vaudeville piece with a mixture of serious dialogue, comic turns, and music – which can be a bit mawkish but nevertheless hits the mark with every word and gesture. The central visual image of desks piled on top of each other, and watching a flood of ink drowning it, all like lava coming out of a volcano, is a compelling metaphor which was deftly realized by scenery designer Bunny Christie and lighting designer Neil Austin.

As a whole Rupert Goold’s directorial choices are also compelling and expand the focus of the play as well as the telling of this intriguing tale.

Bertie Carvill as Rupert Murdoch and Jonny Lee Miller as Larry Lamb give virtuoso performances – truly a master class in acting. This is a message play and both actors communicate the message in a remarkable fashion.

James Graham’s Ink is a significant play for our time but could apply to any time, and this production of Ink, presented by the Manhattan Theatre Club, is an example of what theatre should be – thought provoking, absorbing and entertaining.

Merce Cunningham Celebration at Joyce Theater

Joyce Theater

April 17, 2019

By Mark Kappel

To celebrate the Merce Cunningham Centennial, the Joyce Theater is presenting a Merce Cunningham Celebration from April 17-21, 2019 making it possible for three dance companies to perform three of Cunningham’s significant works.

Cunningham, even after his passing in 2009, remains an icon in the dance world with his major contributions not only in choreography but also in the visual arts. He involved himself in collaborations with other iconic artists including Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Charles Atlas, Elliot Kaplan and John Cage, and those collaborations were noted in the dance pieces that were presented as part of this Cunningham tribute.

Although Cunningham is most famous for the works he created for his own company, several of his pieces have been acquired by major ballet companies as well. As Cunningham’s own company has been disbanded, his works are now finding homes in the repertoire of other dance companies.

The closest direct association with Cunningham on this program was represented by the participation of Compagnie CNDC-Angers/Robert Swinston, which was founded in 1978 and has contributed to the legacy of contemporary dance in France. Robert Swinston, a former member of Cunningham’s dance company, is Angers’ director and Swinston has added Cunningham’s works to this company’s repertoire.

For its participation in this Festival, Compagnie CNDC-Angers/Robert Swinston performed Cunningham’s Suite for Five, a work that Cunningham created for his own company in 1956, choreographed to music composed by John Cage.

Suite for Five had been revised by Cunningham several times during his lifetime and in its final version only two of the solos were retained. The piece, in fact, opens with one of the male solos with the choreography as a whole reflecting Cunningham’s angular and calculated movement – slow and deliberate – in conjunction with Cage’s dissonant music.

Suite for Five was danced with great reverence by the cast of Anna Chirescu, Gianni Joseph, Catarina Pernao, Carlo Schiavo, Claire Seigle-Goujon.

Becoming a more frequent participant in the New York dance scene Ballet West, directed by Adam Sklute, and based in Salt Lake City, Utah, performed Cunningham’s Summerspace, a work that Cunningham created for his own company in 1958 and was added to Ballet West’s repertoire only in the last year.

Summerspace is choreographed to music by Morton Feldman and is danced in front of a scene scape that was created by Robert Rauschenberg -- an abstract pointillist back drop with matching costumes.

In Summerspace Cunningham included his randomness of movement and filling stage space, and one feels that the participants in the piece are meant to experience the joy of being within the scenic environment that Rauschenberg had created.

That enthusiasm was communicated by the cast of Katlyn Addison, Katie Critchlow, Kyle Davis, Jenna Rae Herrera, Chelsea Keefer, and Joshua Shutkind.

The third company to participate in this celebration was the Washington Ballet, an infrequent visitor to New York, now directed by former principal of American Ballet Theatre, Julie Kent.

The Washington Ballet performed Cunningham’s Duets which Cunningham's company premiered in 1980, and a work only recently added to the Washington Ballet’s repertoire.

Duets is another collaboration between Cunningham and John Cage and primarily consists of a series of duets which are interrupted or interspersed by brief appearances of an additional couple on the stage appearing at the beginning, during or at the end of each duet. Duets ultimately ends with a tableau of all of the dancers in the piece. The dancers are costumed simply but in different colors which do create significant and “colorful” images during this piece.

The cast of Ayano Kimura, Corey Landolt, Sona Kharatian & Tamas Krizsa, Victoria Arrea, Stephen Nakagawa, Sarah Steele, Daniel Roberge, Tamaka Miyazaki, Gilles Deleillio, Brittany Stone and Nicholas Cowden took up the challenges of Cunningham’s choreography in a sophisticated manner.

What was significant about this tribute was that all of these works were performed either with live music or appropriate recorded music which enhanced this performance considerably.

This was definitely a thought-provoking evening of dance.

Dance Theatre of Harlem Celebrates Its 50th Anniversary

City Center

April 13, 2019

By Mark Kappel

From April 12-13, 2019 the Dance Theatre of Harlem celebrated its 50th Anniversary, and the life of one of its founders, Arthur Mitchell, during an engagement at City Center. Mitchell passed away only in the last year and during his tenure as artistic director he made an indelible mark on the company.

Included in this program was a film tribute to Mitchell presenting the back story of his roots in dance, and his accomplishments, but primarily focused on his founding of the Dance Theatre of Harlem and how his spirit influences the Dance Theatre of Harlem now and will do so in the future.

In particular, two works on this mixed-bill program that were danced by the Dance Theatre of Harlem, had strong associations with Mitchell.

The first of which was one of his choreographic compositions, Tones II, which he choreographed for the Dance Theatre of Harlem in 1970. This was a piece that he was reconstructing and revising just before his passing and this new version received its world premiere in March of this year. Also significant that Tania Leon composed the score for this work.

With choreography that was Balanchine inspired and also inspired by Leon’s music, Tones II is structured in the neo-classic mode with ensembles dances to open and close the piece, with a pas de deux in the middle section. But in all aspects Mitchell’s choreography is inspired by the music and also the Dance Theatre of Harlem dancers that danced this piece including Crystal Serrano, Amanda Smith, Alicia Mae Holloway, Alexandra Hutchinson, Lindsey Croop, Ingrid Silva, and Stephanie Rae Williams, Dylan Santos, Christopher Charles McDaniel, Anthony Santos, Dustin James, Derek Brockington, Kouadio Davis, and Choong Hoon Lee.

During his tenure Arthur Mitchell asked Geoffrey Holder to create one of his most enduring works, Dougla, for the Dance Theatre of Harlem in 1974 which had become a signature work for the company. In Dougla Holder celebrated the rituals of a wedding in Trinidad. Holder’s choreography reflected pride and nobility in the piece, the processions and the rituals. This spectacular and extravagant piece – and the excitement it generated on the stage and among audience members -- was the appropriate closing work of this program. Particularly notable in the cast were Ingrid Silva and Da’Von Doane as the Bride and Bridegroom.

Also on the program were two recent commissions by the company. The first of which was Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Balamouk which was commissioned by the City Center Fall for Dance Festival in 2018. This ensemble work, choreographed to music by Les Yeux Noir, Rene Aubry, and Lisa Gerrado, employed both contemporary ballet and modern dance in its vocabulary. The choreography responded to the pulse of the music.

Balamouk is primarily an ensemble piece and was danced with commitment by Ingrid Silva, Alexandra Hutchinson, Yinet Fernandez, Daphne Lee, Lindsey Croop, Dustin James, Dylan Santos, Anthony Santos, Christopher Charles McDaniel, and Choong Hoon Lee.

Opening the program was the New York premiere or Robert Garland’s Nyman String Quartet #2. Performed on an exposed stage Garland’s choreography was notable for emphasizing its moments through repetition and the thoughtful movement of groups of dancers. Although dancers led sections in this piece it was primarily an ensemble work which featured Da’Von Doane, Derek Brockington, Christopher Charles McDaniel, Anthony Santos, Dylan Santos, Lindsey Croop, Amanda Smith, Alicia Mae Holloway, Alexandra Hutchinson, and Stephanie Rae Williams.

This City Center engagement marked how the Dance Theatre of Harlem is evolving artistically and also the level of the dancers.

Classic Stage Company Presents The Cradle Will Rock

Classic Stage Company

March 30, 2019

By Mark Kappel

The Classic Stage Company has recently garnered an excellent reputation for producing small-scale and re-thought revivals of musicals – musicals that might not have been otherwise produced – and also showcasing them in intimate surroundings. From March 21-May 12, 2019, CSC is presenting The Cradle Will Rock, an iconic musical that dates back to the time of the Great Depression.

The Cradle Will Rock is described as a “play in music in ten scenes” and is presented by the CSC in 90 minutes with no intermission. Representing a benchmark period in American history – The Cradle Will Rock is a bold expression of resistance against corruption, wealth and political power, and how those empowered threatened unionized labor and the poor. A message that still has resonance in the 21st century.

The Cradle Will Rock created such controversy when it was first performed for the Federal Theater Project in 1937 – with direction by Orson Welles and produced by John Houseman – that the production was temporarily shut down. An alternative venue was found, and the actors played their parts among the audience members.

This piece of political theatre with music, lyrics and book by Marc Blitzstein focuses on Larry Foreman (played by Tony Yazbeck), a labor activist who unionizes steel workers against the wishes of a greedy industrialist, Mr. Mister (played by David Garrison).

The Cradle Will Rock takes place in Steeltown USA in 1937 and opens as the citizens of Steeltown are arrested for having demonstrated against the powers that be in the town. It appears that the town is under the thumb of Mr. Mister -- even the local man of the cloth Reverend Salvation. Mr. Mister throws money at Steeltown citizens to persuade them to support Mr. Mister’s politics and the local economy.

Mr. Mister’s particular target is union organizer Larry Foreman, but one can see that Mr. Mister is trying to exert control over everyone in Steeltown – a company town – even his own disreputable children and other citizens in Steeltown. Mr. Mister and other influential citizens plot against the union organizing but Larry Foreman is undeterred.

Besides the basic plot elements The Cradle Will Rock encompasses the plight of the poor, the working class, immigrants, and the challenges to the American spirit – albeit timely because history repeats itself.

Blitzstein’s score is mostly sung through and has jazz influences, parodies of classical music and pop tunes performed with only piano accompaniment. And all encapsulating the story-telling and the Brechtian influences in The Cradle Will Rock’s fable.

Although The Cradle Will Rock focuses on the character of Larry Foreman, The Cradle Will Rock is an ensemble piece with several members of the cast playing multiple roles. Therefore it is to the credit of the cast that all are standouts. Besides the aforementioned Tony Yazbeck as Larry Foreman, notable were Rema Webb as Ella, Sally Ann Triplett as Mrs. Mister, Lara Pulver as Moll, Kara Mikula as Sister Mister, Ken Barnett as Editor Daily, Eddie Cooper as Junior Mister, Benjamin Eakeley as Reverend Salvation, David Garrison as Mr. Mister and Ian Lowe as Yasha. All of these cast members play their parts with great intensity and commitment.

Although The Cradle Will Rock premiered in 1937, it is still a timely and engrossing piece of musical theatre, and director John Doyle has faithfully presented the spirit of this fascinating and relevant theatrical masterwork.

The Royal Ballet’s Don Quixote

March 27, 2019

By Mark Kappel

The Royal Opera House continues its cinema screenings of the Royal Ballet with Carlos Acosta’s production of Don Quixote which will be shown in the United States during the coming month.

Acosta’s production was given its Royal Ballet premiere in 2013 and although Acosta has danced in many different productions of Don Quixote he seems to have gone back to his Cuban roots in his staging and theatrical choices in his production of Don Quixote.

Unlike many other 19th century full-length classical ballets, Don Quixote is a comedy. Although the ballet is also based on Cervantes’ novel the ballet focuses only on a short adventure from that novel while providing a great deal of dancing, comedy, and more dancing of the virtuoso kind.

Marius Petipa staged Don Quixote for the Bolshoi Ballet in 1869 but the ballet has been primarily handed down through the revisions made by Alexander Gorsky who restaged Don Quixote for the Bolshoi Ballet in the early part of the 20th century. The ballet had also been in the domain of Russian ballet companies until Rudolf Nureyev began staging his production for Western European ballet companies in the 1960’s. Since that time Don Quixote has become a standard work in the repertoire of many ballet companies all over the world.

Carlos Acosta’s production is the not the first production of Don Quixote that the Royal Ballet has danced. In previous years the Royal Ballet has also danced productions by Mikhail Baryshnikov and Rudolf Nureyev.

In seeing this cinema screening this was a great opportunity to see Acosta’s slant on this well-known ballet – all the more knowing that Acosta has recently been appointed the new artistic director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet and will undoubtedly stage more productions of the classics for that company in the future.

Don Quixote is often perceived as a suite of dances with the narrative being presented in a flimsy manner. It is noteworthy in Acosta’s version of Don Quixote that he includes narrative elements which help to establish the characters in the story and puts the characters and the story all in context.

Among Acosta’s most significant contributions to this production of Don Quixote is his new choreography for the Act II Gypsy Scene – which also includes on-stage musicians enhancing the atmosphere of the scene. Also the townspeople are portrayed in a naturalistic manner and are involved in every aspect of the story being told, and Tim Hatley’s designs give the proper hint of exotic Spain.

The focus of the ballet is the relationship of Kitri, the daughter of the local tavern keeper, and Basilio, the local barber, their romance, and Kitri’s father’s plans to marry her off to a local aristocrat, Gamache. Kitri and Basilio recruit Don Quixote and his companion Sancho Panza to encourage their romance and persuade Kitri’s father to choose Basilio over Gamache to be Kitri’s husband. The antics begin, the adventures begin, and the virtuoso dancing takes the audience through the spectacular wedding divertissement in the last act of the ballet.

Any performance of Don Quixote rests on the shoulders of the principal dancers dancing the roles of Kitri and Basilio. Akane Takada as Kitri gives an exacting performance with lots of flair and a natural comic ability – as does Alexander Campbell in the role of Basilio. They are a pair with a great deal of chemistry.

Also notable were Fumi Kaneko as the Queen of the Dryads, Valentino Zuchetti as The Toreador, Mayra Magri as Mercedes, and the wonderful character dancers, Thomas Whitehead as Gamache, Philip Mosley as Sancho Panza and Christopher Saunders as Don Quixote.

This is a production of Don Quixote that exploits the talents of the Royal Ballet’s dancers.

Awards Ceremony/Gala for the Valentina Kozlova International Ballet Competition

Symphony Space

March 23, 2019

By Mark Kappel

This year’s Valentina Kozlova International Ballet Competition held at Symphony Space showcased a new generation of soon-to-be professional dancers – classical ballet and modern dancers – and also choreographers.

The mission of this Competition is to award further studies and dance company contracts to award winners which prepares these young dancers for the dance world that is before them.

Among the members of this year’s Jury were:

Anderson Santa (Belgium)

Ricardo Scheir (Brazil)

Nina M. Buisson (France)

Charles Jude (France)

Aivars Leimanis (Latvia)

Patricia Aulestia De Alba (Mexico)

Olga Guardia De Smoak (Panama)

Nikolai Tsiskaridze (Russia)

Sergei Soloviev (Russia)

Sun Hee Kim (South Korea)

Mi Sook Jeon (South Korea)

Radenko Pavlovich (USA)Paul McRae (USA)

Michael Pink (USA)

Anthony Randazzo (USA)

Gyorgy Szakaly (Hungary)

Peter Breuer (Austria)

It was on March 23, 2019 that the Awards Ceremony for the Competition took place and the award winners included:

Classical Youth Female:

Gold – Isabela Cabral Saqueti (Brazil)

Silver – Ana Clara Barboza (Brazil) & Zaira Meza (Mexico)

Bronze – Nikita Corin (USA)

Classical Youth Male:

Silver – Seongmo Koo (South Korea)

Classical Student Female:

Gold – Chaeyeon Kang (South Korea)

Silver – Michaela Fairon (UK)

Bronze – Mariana Areas (Brazil) & Victoria Sist (Paraguay)

Classical Junior Female:

Gold – Daltrey Schmidt (USA)

Silver – Jillian Schubert (USA) & Ana Carolina Ventura (Brazil)

Bronze – Barbara Dias (Brazil) & Debanhi Garza (Mexico)

Classical Junior Male:

Gold – Gabriel Barbosa (Brazil)

Classical Senior 1 Female:

Gold – Juliette Itou (France & Park Ha Eun (South Korea)

Silver – Choi Mokrin (South Korea)

Bronze – Gwak Ji Oh (South Korea) and Ariadna Herzig (Poland)

Classical Senior 1 Male:

Gold – Ryu Seong Woo (South Korea)

Classical Senior 2 Male:

Silver – Germans Sevchenko (Latvia)Bronze – Niccolo Balossini (France)

Contemporary Solo Division 1:

Gold – Tenika Rush (UK)

Silver – Maria Carolina Gaspar (Brazil)

Bronze – Zaira Meza (Mexico)

Contemporary Solo Division 2 Female:

Gold – Sadie Weintraub (Ireland)

Silver – Jessica Magali Alfonzo Ramos (Brazil)

Bronze – Oh Yu Min (South Korea) and Adriana Gonzalez Maidana (Brazil)

Contemporary Solo Division 3 Female:

Gold – Kim Jungyoon (South Korea), Goh You Jean (South Korea) & Jose Ridgway (UK)

Silver – Cho Minkyoung (South Korea) & Magali Monserrat Parades Perez (Brazil)

Bronze – Lee Ju-Yeong (South Korea) & Lee Hyo Joung (South Korea)

Contemporary Solo Division 3 Male:

Gold – Jang Junyeong (South Korea)

Silver – Moon Daegyu (South Korea)

Contemporary Solo Division 4 Female:

Gold – Jeon Hee Won (South Korea) & Suh Yejin (South Korea)

Silver – Sohn Seung Ri (South Korea)

Bronze – Stella Carvalho (Brazil) & Helen Jihea Kim (South Korea)

Contemporary Solo Division 4 Male:

Gold – Rickirley Costa (Brazil)

Silver – Choi Hyeong Gyu (South Korea) & Kim Jigong (South Korea)

Bronze – Abel Rivarola (Paraguay)

Best Interpretation Compulsory Classical Female – Rajna Removic (Hungary)

Best Interpretation Compulsory Classical Male – Ryu Seong Woo (South Korea)

There were many notable performances in the gala that followed the awards ceremony. Among the highlights were Germans Sevchenko dancing the solo variation from The Talisman, Jillian Schubert dancing a variation from Raymonda, Gabriel Barbosa dancing a variation from Le Corsaire, Juliette Itou dancing a variation from La Bayadere, Rajna Removic dancing the Cigarette Variation from Serge Lifar’s Suite en Blanc, and guest artists Mari Bell and Justin Valentine dancing The Calvary Halt Pas de Deux.

Now to look forward to next year’s Competition.

City Center Encores Presents I Married An Angel

City Center

March 21, 2019

By Mark Kappel

The City Center Encores’ second offering this season is I Married An Angel – being presented from March 20-24, 2019 – with a score and book by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart.

I Married An Angel was also Rodgers and Hart’s third major collaboration with choreographer, George Balanchine, and having been given its Broadway world premiere in the 1930’s combined light musical comedy with extended dance sequences.

I Married An Angel’s light comedy roots comes from its adaption from a play by Janos Vaszary and opened on Broadway in 1938 when people were looking for entertaining diversions from the problems of the time.

The core of the story is that of an angel who descends from heaven to save an unhappy and somewhat corrupt banker from his sins. Count Willie Palaffi (played by Mark Evans) has never married – and doesn’t want to take on a mistress as conventions of the age would allow and expect. He is seeking a life partner who is beautiful and virtuous.

Brigitta – referred to as Angel – flies through the Count’s window, Palaffi falls in love and wants to marry her, and then the complications begin. Palaffi finds that having an angel as a wife has its positives and negatives, and it is not until the Count’s sister, Countess Palaffi (played by Nikki M. James) educates the angel about the real world that this marriage is saved.

In I Married An Angel’s original Broadway production, Balanchine had cast his then wife Vera Zorina as the Angel and in this Encores presentation, director/choreographer Joshua Bergasse has casted his wife, New York City Ballet principal dancer Sara Mearns.

I Married An Angel has a tuneful score which includes the title song and “Spring Is Here” which have become part of the American Songbook. “Angels Without Wings” and its patter and poetry is extremely witty even by today’s standards. But the plot is a bit thin. Even with the newly adapted book by Sandy Rustin and Sarah Saltzberg, I Married An Angel reflects a very different age, different fashions, and an attitude about life and love that is different from today.

As a director I am not certain what Joshua Bergasse was going for as to whether he was approaching I Married An Angel as a period piece or whether he was aiming to direct a light comedy with tongue-in-cheek humor.

However Bergasse did offer many interesting and entertaining dance sequences including that of a tap number, “How To Win Friends and Influence People” led by Hayley Podschun and Phillip Attmore, and his best and most imaginative choreographic work was in the fantasy pieces within “At The Roxy Music Hall”. These dance pieces added the most oxygen to this presentation of I Married An Angel.

Much credit goes to Sara Mearns in taking on the challenge of the acting requirements in this musical, and also noteworthy are the superb performances by Mark Evans as the Count, Nikki M. James as the Countess – and most notable Ann Harada as the Duchess of Holstein-Kuloff whose reading of several lines were priceless.

With certainty, the City Center Encores presentation of I Married An Angel represents Encores’ mission and the score is worth a listen with the songs in their original orchestrations.

Be More Chill Arrives on Broadway

Lyceum Theatre

March 12, 2019

By Mark Kappel

Celebrated for its off-Broadway production, Be More Chill, a musical based on the cult novel by Ned Vizzini, and being shared on online platforms, has become a musical phenomenon of a our teenage generation that thrives on its presence on social media.

With a score by Joe Iconis and a book by Joe Tracz, Be More Chill traces the relationships of present day teenagers in New Jersey -- and the ups and down of their social lives – and simply fitting in with their high school’s peers. All of the antics and surprises in Be More Chill are cleverly controlled by director Stephen Brackett.

Be More Chill speaks to a particular generation of Americans, but the themes are universal and break age barriers. The theme of Be More Chill is the alienated teenager seeking acceptance in society – a subject matter that has been examined through the ages – but Be More Chill looks at this conundrum from our current generation’s point of view with a few science fiction elements – and a magical pill that may or may not solve this problem. This is a coming of age story in an age when a generation has been brought up on smart phones, social media, and video games, and can’t seem to disconnect from each other.

In Be More Chill we follow the character Jeremy (played by Will Roland) who is the persistent teenager trying to find himself – a nerd trying to fit in with the popular high school crowd – and getting prepared for life’s disappointments. In order to increase his popularity quotient, he signs up for the school play to impress his long-time crush Christine (played by Stephanie Hsu) – the school play turns out to be a version of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream – complete with zombies.

Jeremy’s daily journey in high school is facing a series of disappointments and bullying, and when bullied by Rich, a tormenter who has achieved a modicum of popularity, Rich explains how he rose to his popularity – taking a pill called a “super quantum unit intel processor” a “SQUIP” containing a computer that plants itself inside each person’s brain – guiding the person about the do’s and don’ts that results in becoming cooler.

Jeremy takes the chance of purchasing a squip from a questionable sales person at the local Payless Shoe Store, and is unfortunately not informed that this experience has as many negatives as it does its positives. The Squip takes over Jeremy’s life and the lives of other students in his high school creating havoc. But as Jeremy finds and accepts himself so do the other students – and ultimately achieves hero status when he diminishes the Squip’s power over his fellow students. The moral is that popularity comes with a price – and clearly popularity doesn’t come in a pill!

This fable is told with references to current video games, science fiction movies, and animated images that enhance Be More Chill’s story, as well as a pulsing score that is of this generation. There are elements of Grease and The Rocky Horror Show as well – and then there is the Squip appearing in the image of Keanu Reeves in his role in The Matrix, and referencing roles in other science fiction movies.

There are many other musicals currently being performed on Broadway that also grapple with this same subject matter. However in Be More Chill the communication is in a tongue in cheek manner coupled with a wide-eyed innocence that seems odd and endearing in the 21st century.

The score is relevant and witty, and performed by an excellent cast including Will Roland as Jeremy, George Salazar as Michael, Stephanie Hsu as Christine, Gerard Canonico as Rich, Katlyn Carlson as Chloe, Tiffany Mann as Jenna, Lauren Marcus as Brooke, Britton Smith as Jake, Jason Sweet Tooth Williams as Mr. Heere, and Jason Tam as The Squip. This is a cast that is energized and energy driven – underscored by their sincerity.

If you want to know what the teenagers of this generation are thinking, and want to have a thought-provoking and entertaining evening in the theatre, Be More Chill is a must.

Fiddler on the Roof, In Yiddish

Stage 42

March 1, 2019

By Mark Kappel

Last year, the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene produced a unique production of Fiddler on the Roof at the Museum of Jewish Heritage. Directed by Broadway luminary Joel Grey, this production was performed in Yiddish, in a translation by Shraga Friedman, a translation that had first been performed in Israel in 1965.

The success of this revival inspired a move to the larger off-Broadway theatre, Stage 42, which has made it possible for a wider audience to experience this extraordinary and imaginative production of Fiddler on the Roof.

Based on the stories of Shalom Aleichem, Fiddler on the Roof tells the story of poor villagers in Russia facing pogroms and who seem to be surviving in spite of the challenges of poverty and anti-Semitism. Their greatest challenge was observing religious and social traditions during this difficult time – in a world that was changing around them – a universal theme.

With music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and a book by Joseph Stein, and original choreography and direction by Jerome Robbins, Fiddler on the Roof arrived on Broadway in 1964 and has been frequently revived on Broadway. The last two Broadway revivals attempted to re-invent this musical of Broadway’s golden age but somehow neither of them seemed to capture the essence of Fiddler’s themes.

What is curious about this particular revival is that it goes back to the text and is performed in a language that isn’t widely spoken in this part of the world. Yet the essence and traditions explored in Fiddler are framed in a unique manner.

Fiddler’s story focuses on Tevye, a dairy man, and his daughters, and the “characters” that populate the village of Anatevka including Yente the Matchmaker, the suitors for Tevye’s daughters, and the challenges of surviving in difficult times -- coping with wit and comic elements.

Two of Tevye’s daughters yearn for a love match rather than having their marriages arranged, -- for which Tevye reasons that a matchmaker isn’t necessary but God may be the best matchmaker -- and another seeks to marry out of the faith. These breaks with tradition during these troubled times dominate Fiddler on the Roof.

This wonderful story is told through the humorous and witty book by Joseph Stein, and the nostalgic and emotional score by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick. Also Joel Grey’s reverential direction draws these characters well.

All of the cast members speak the words and sing their songs with confidence in a language that is not their native language and express the emotions, fears, and hopes in this musical. The audience is never left out as an English translation is projected on each side of the stage.

Steven Skybell’s Tevye is compelling as he brings tears and joy in how he copes with the changes in his world – fearing for the future of himself, his wife, and his children – and also how he expresses his fears in his personal conversations with God. God doesn’t seem to provide him with answers, but at least he asks the questions.

Jackie Hoffman is a bit of scenery chewer as Yente but expresses the underlying compassion that the character seems to have in the acceptance of what her life is and what it will be. Just as impressive is Jennifer Babiak as Golde, Tevye’s wife, who admits to loving Tevye after so many years of marriage, and supports her family as its members transition to a new life.

Every cast member of this outstanding revival of Fiddler on the Roof contributes greatly to its success and how it communicates to today’s audience. There is a universality in this revival that overcomes what language the words are spoken in.

Stas Kmiec has contributed the musical staging and choreography for this production with reverence to Jerome Robbins’ original concept and, in particular, in the Wedding Scene, the dancing is natural and realistic. There are also minimal but inspired scenery designs by Beowulf Boritt, and costumes designed by Ann Hould-Ward.

This revival brings new life to this extraordinary musical – a revival for our times and respectful of the past – making it a unique and involving theatrical experience.

York Theatre Company’s Musicals in Mufti Presents Lolita, My Love!

Theater at Saint Peter’s

February 24, 2017

By Mark Kappel

For its third in its series of Musicals in Mufti, the York Theatre Company continues its tribute to Alan Jay Lerner with an unusual musical, Lolita My Love, being presented from February 23 through March 3, 2019. Lolita My Love never made it to Broadway – closing in Boston in 1971 – and this concert version is a bit of an archeological dig with editing of the score, a new script and other changes for this concert version.

For Lolita My Love, Lerner collaborated with John Barry – best known for his James Bond film themes – and was based on the 1955 novel Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is the story of a college professor, Humbert Humbert, who becomes enraptured by and attempts to seduce his landlady’s young daughter, Dolores “Lolita” Haze. The story of Lolita focuses on Humbert’s obsession for and chasing after Lolita.

Framing this version of Lolita, My Love is a psychiatrist who is trying to separate Humbert’s fantasies and truths after he was safely put away in a prison for murdering a man whom Humbert perceived as a rival for Lolita’s affections. However in separating the fact from fantasy, one tries to find the truth of the matter and also a third point of view, that of Lolita herself and what she experienced.

With this convention the story unravels like a criminal mystery, exhibiting dark comedy, and more than an allusion to the plays of John Osborne and Harold Pinter. Also the tale is told in a structure that might be appropriate for operatic treatment rather for a musical comedy.

Alan Jay Lerner was on top of his game in regard to providing acerbic wit in telling this story and John Barry’s score is a combination of a typical Broadway musical comedy but yet also operatic in nature.

For this concert version Erik Haagensen has created a new script editing together Lerner’s assorted drafts, with the score adroitly pieced together by music director, Deniz Cordell, and guided through the fantasy and truth by director Emily Maltby.

The York Theatre Company has put together a superlative cast for Lolita, My Love, in particular, Robert Sella in the thankless and creepy role of Humbert Humbert, Caitlin Cohen commanding the stage as Dolores “Lolita” Haze, and Jessica Tyler Wright as the sometimes comic and desperate Charlotte Haze.

One cannot equivocally state that Lolita, My Love is a neglected gem but the score and story should be heard, and also see this excellent cast exhibit their craft in making these difficult roles come alive.

Lincoln Center Theater’s My Fair Lady

Vivian Beaumont Theater

February 23, 2019

By Mark Kappel

In recent years the Lincoln Center Theater has been staging lavish revivals of some of the most revered and classic Broadway musicals. Running for the past year has been a revival of My Fair Lady – which is also distinguished by the direction of Bartlett Sher, who directed the company’s revivals of South Pacific, and The King and I.

My Fair Lady is a musical stage version of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion as adapted by Gabriel Pascal for a movie version of this play. Distinguished for its score with music by Frederick Loewe and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, with Lerner also writing the book, My Fair Lady is a classic musical. For this Lincoln Center Theater revival of My Fair Lady, Sher has incorporated his own thoughts about this musical.

Shaw’s story is that of Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl, who takes speech lessons from Professor Henry Higgins, a phoneticist, making a bet with Colonel Pickering that Eliza could be passed off as a duchess.

Based on the social morays of Edwardian England, Eliza’s transformation may have harmed her as well as help her in becoming upwardly mobile, and that element contributes to the contentious relationship between Eliza and Henry.

What makes My Fair Lady a classic Broadway musical is the fact that there are so many familiar songs in its score. Besides “I Could Have Danced All Night” and “I’ve Grown Accustomed To Her Face”, there is also “On The Street Where You Live” and the song in which Eliza declares her independence, “Show Me”. Also this production is performed with the Robert Russell Bennett and Phil Lang orchestrations – played by a full orchestra – a luxury in these times.

Sher has worked with a particular team of production people including Michael Yeargen as scenery designer, and Catherine Zuber as costume designer with Yeargen’s designs – on a turntable – moving this revival from scene to scene with ease. There is never a stagnant moment. Christopher Gatelli has also contributed choreography that is appropriate for the tone of this revival – especially so in “Get Me To The Church On Time”.

At this time, there is a team of actors – most of them replacements for original cast members – who are performing in this timely revival of My Fair Lady.

Notable are the performances of Laura Benanti as Eliza Doolittle whose crystalline voice and comic timing makes for an endearing and special characterization – her Eliza is magnificent -- and there is the meticulous performance of Harry Hadden-Paton (one of the original cast members) as Professor Henry Higgins. He brings a great deal of self-deprecating humor to the role of Higgins as well.

Danny Burstein brings a lot of swash to his portrayal of Alfred P. Doolittle while Allan Corduner (another one of the original cast members) brings a stability and certainness to the character of Colonel Pickering. Christina Dante White brings an innocence and excellent voice to the role of Freddy Eynsford-Hill, a character that is not very complicated. Particularly notable is the aristocratic and scene-stealing performance of Rosemary Harris as Mrs. Higgins.

Much has been speculated about Sher’s decision to end My Fair Lady in a manner that would be more acceptable in the 21st century, and Sher leaves crumpet crumbs along the way as hints of what is to come. For that reason among many there is reason to see this revival and to experience Sher’s thoughts for oneself. But Shaw’s story takes place in another time and takes up the social and economic issues that contribute to the development of the relationship between Eliza and Henry. Frankly I prefer the ambiguous ending leaving the audience to speculate what will happen to these interesting and frustrating characters in the future – together or on their own.

In all the Lincoln Center Theater’s revival of My Fair Lady is reverential, entertaining, beautifully produced, and performed by an excellent cast.

Royal Ballet – La Bayadere

Landmark 57

February 19, 2019

By Mark Kappel

The Royal Opera House has been a pioneer in developing the technology and presenting cinema screenings of both opera and ballet on a worldwide basis. However not all cities are privileged to have venues that participate in showing these cinema screenings.

On February 19, 2019 there was a national cinema screening release of the Royal Ballet’s production of Natalia Makarova’s La Bayadere which was presented at Landmark 57 in New York City.

Created for American Ballet Theatre, Makarova’s production of La Bayadere has been restaged for many ballet companies all over the world and the Royal Ballet has been performing this production since 1989.

In her production Makarova re-created the lost final act of the ballet, John Lanchbery orchestrated the music of Ludwig Minkus, and Pier Luigi Samartani designed spectacular scenery – because La Bayadere is from the era of opera house ballets – big and grand – and an exotic story.

La Bayadere tells the tale of temple dancer, Nikiya, who falls in love with the warrior, Solor, a relationship that is interfered with by the High Brahmin, and Solor’s betrothed, Gamzatti, creating a Romantic tragedy that brings into conflict the human and spiritual worlds.

Also this ballet offers showcases for exceptional classical ballet companies because of the inclusion of the legendary Shades Act in which a corps de ballet creates a hypnotic illusion as the ghosts of Nikya’s after life world make their way down the Himalayan Mountains in India. A treat for the armchair traveler.

Makarova’s production of La Bayadere for the Royal Ballet has slight differences from the American Ballet Theatre version. Yolanda Sonnabend’s darkly hued costumes are in contrast to the pastel colors used by Theoni Aldredge for American Ballet Theatre’s version.

There are also a few mime details that are different. The most notable is rather than exiting with Gamzatti after Nikiya’s death scene, Solor remains to mourn Nikiya’s passing. This detail is much closer to a similar mime sequence in Act I of Giselle and indicative of the period during which La Bayadere was created.

The Royal Ballet is adept in making this 19th century ballet come to life with an excellent corps de ballet to make the Shades Act of La Bayadere wondrous, and in this performance, there was an excellent cast to portray and dance the leading characters.

Vadim Muntagirov has appeared as a guest artist with American Ballet Theatre dancing the role of Solor and therefore he was not a stranger to the role and the ballet. His performance was one of the highlights of this production of La Bayadere.

Unique was the juxtaposition of the two ballerinas, Marianela Nunez as Nikiya and Natalia Osipova as Gamzatti, as rivals for Solor’s affections. Osipova danced the role of Gamzatti in the grand manner, and Nunez played up Nikiya’s virtue and being naive making Solor’s betrayal that much more of a tragedy. Both dancers offered classic classical ballet dancing and characterization in these two important principal roles.

Alexander Campbell was also notable as the Golden Idol.

In the years that the Royal Ballet has danced Makarova’s production of La Bayadere, the Royal Ballet has made it their own.

Chicago at the State Theatre

State Theatre

February 17, 2019

By Mark Kappel

As a presentation of its Broadway series, the State Theatre in New Brunswick, New Jersey presented the national touring company of Chicago from February 15-17, 2019.

The musical, Chicago, originally premiered on Broadway in 1975 – the same season as A Chorus Line – and it has received a second look after the many celebrity trials – in the age of celebrity – and examines how the court of public opinion can be seduced to enshrine a criminal’s fame. That second look, which started its life at the City Center Encores opened on Broadway in 1996 and has been running on Broadway and on national tours in the United States and internationally, ever since.

Chicago, based on Maurine Dallas Watkins’ 1926 play, tells the story of Roxie Hart, who finds herself on trial for murder, and embraces Hart’s ability to survive as she makes her way through the maze of the legal system, gains fame, reveals herself to be a bit of a con artist, and re-invents herself to create the opportunity to pursue her dreams as a vaudeville entertainer.

Watkins was a crime reporter in Chicago and her play was based on an actual murder trial that took place in the city of Chicago during the Jazz Age.

Chicago, the musical, already had the tuneful music and biting lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb to provide a vaudeville style entertainment in presenting this story aided by the clever book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse. Director Walter Bobbie has honed Chicago into being a major piece of musical theatre that resonates with targeted social commentary. All of which is enhanced by the choreography by Ann Reinking, in the style of Bob Fosse.

The atmosphere for this fable is a simple design of a jury box (which is inhabited by the musicians), ladders, and platforms, with the actors costumed in simple black costumes designed by William Ivey Long – which tests the audience’s imagination and gives this revival of Chicago the Brechtian feel that is intended.

It is up to the cast to play with the biting humor, irony, and a bit of a sensuousness to make Chicago come alive and this performance of Chicago was in capable hands. Dylis Croman’s Roxie Hart was more than a floozy and channeled Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot while Terra C. MacLeod presented Velma Kelly as a straight arrow but nevertheless an opportunist. Both Croman and MacLeod are also both accomplished singers and dancers and created the alchemy that sparked both characters. Peter Lockyer was the slimy Billy Flynn whose voice and demeanor exuded Flynn’s signature razzle dazzle. Also notable were Paul Vogt’s compassionate portrayal of Amos Art and Jennifer Fouche’s knowing performance as Mama Morton. These were all powerhouse performances.

This production of Chicago is biting and sharp – and electric with its energy, and tongue and cheek humor.

My Very Own British Invasion

Paper Mill Playhouse

February 16, 2019

By Mark Kappel

The Paper Mill Playhouse has been the launching pad for many new musicals and during this current season, the Paper Mill Playhouse will be continuing that tradition.

One of this season’s new musicals is My Very Own British Invasion which is being presented from January 31-March 3, 2019.

Inspired by the life of Herman’s Hermits lead singer, Peter Noone, book writer Rick Elice has fashioned a jukebox musical in which the British music invasion of the 1960’s is examined as well as the back stories of the giants in the British music industry, and three aspiring artists who are making music and love during this era.

Directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, My Very Own British Invasion spins the lives of Peter (played by Jonny Amies), Pamela (played by Erika Olson), and Trip (played by Connor Ryan) as they sing their way through the catalogue of music of the era – singing songs made popular by Herman’s Hermits, The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones, and vocalists of the day – including British and American recording artists.

The leading characters of Peter, Trip and Pamela start their musical journey at a London club, The Bag O’Nails, the showcase for the best of musicians in the 1960’s. Peter is an up and coming talent and Trip is a rock star with a large ego – and both are rivals for Pamela’s affections. Their relationships develop into long distance relationships as they tour separately in the UK and the United States. It is during these long tours – together and separate -- that the rivals for Pamela’s affections are tested as they develop their careers -- and the story line underscores that the good guy doesn’t always get the bad girl.

My Very Own British Invasion includes a song list with titles of familiar and obscure but recognizable songs including, “I’m Into Something Good”, “Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying”, “House of the Rising Sun”, “I’m Henry the Eighth, I Am”, “Born To Be Wild”, “There’s A Kind of Hush (All Over The World)”, and “She’s Not There” which are not always skillfully woven in telling this musical’s story.

Director/choreographer Jerry Mitchell is skilled in creating exciting musical numbers and does so throughout My Very Own British Invasion. However the story being told is not always clear or compelling.

Coming over from the UK Jonny Amies makes a splash as Peter as do Erika Olson as Pamela, and Connor Ryan as the rogue, Trip. This is a talented cast that works hard to please, and perhaps with a little more focus and trimming My Very Own British Invasion will be able to find an audience that will make it possible for its Broadway ambitions to be fulfilled.

York Theatre Company's Musicals in Mufti Presents The Day Before Spring

Theater at Saint Peter’s

February 10, 2019

By Mark Kappel

Continuing its series of concert versions of Alan Jay Lerner musicals, the York Theatre Company’s Musicals in Mufti is presenting its concert version of the little known Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe collaboration, The Day Before Spring from February 9-17, 2019.

The Day Before Spring was an early collaboration of Lerner and Loewe which premiered on Broadway in 1945. And an interesting footnote is that Antony Tudor created choreography for two ballet sequences in this musical – not included in this Musicals in Mufti presentation.

The original book was a throwback to Alan Jay Lerner’s experiences as a student at Harvard and focuses on a group of elite Ivy Leaguers who return to their alma mater, Harvardale University, tucked away in New England.

The plot focuses on a married woman who attends a college reunion and renews a relationship with a writer with whom she almost eloped with. Their romance is rekindled upon finding out that the writer has penned a novel about her. In so doing she considers leaving her husband and beginning her new life with her old flame.

For this 90-minute concise adaptation of words and music, Marc Acito, has changed the timing of this plot from the 1940’s to 1958 which comfortably fits in with the plot of this amusing and tuneful musical – and the social morays of the time.

Throughout the score there are references to future Lerner and Loewe collaborations including My Fair Lady and Gigi, and this concert version is based on an MGM archived movie adaptation for this musical that wasn’t put into production.

There are two additions to the original score, “The Ill-Tempered Clavichord” and “You’ll Wash and I’ll Dry” from an earlier Lerner and Loewe musical, What’s Up, but also notable for the original songs for this musical including the title song and the show-stopping “My Love Is A Married Man”.

Marc Acito has directed a superlative cast who bring the characters to life and also sing this wonderful score so well. Although the entire cast was excellent one had to single out Madison Claire Parks as Katherine Talbot, Jesse Manocherian as Alex Maitland, Will Reynolds as Peter Talbot, Alyse Alan Louis as Christopher Randolph, Michelle Liu as Mary Packard and Nicolas Dromard as Bill Packard.

Also credit goes to David Hancock Turner as musical director and at the piano, George Farmer playing the double bass and Buddy Williams playing the drums that enhanced the music and brought an immediate intimacy to the performance.

The York Theatre Company’s Musicals in Mufti series has brought us another newly discovered gem. The Day Before Spring is a wonderful entertainment – even in the winter!

York Theatre Company’s Musicals in Mufti Presents Carmelina

Theater at Saint Peter’s

January 27, 2019

By Mark Kappel

The York Theatre Company’s Musicals in Mufti series will have a theme this year in that it will be presenting concert versions of musicals that all have books and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. Lerner best known for his musicals in collaboration with Frederick Loewe – including My Fair Lady, Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon, and Camelot – also collaborated with other composers, book writers and lyricists, and Musicals in Mufti will be focusing on those lesser known gems.

The first of the musicals is Carmelina, being presented from January 26-February 3, 2019, for which Lerner collaborated with composer Burton Lane, with additional book contributions by Joseph Stein and additional lyrics by Barry Harman. Premiering on Broadway in 1979 with Georgia Brown and Cesare Siepi in the leads of Mrs. Campbell and Vittorio, the original Broadway production only ran for 17 performances but the score received a Tony Award nomination.

During the intervening years, Carmelina has been revised for previous concert productions for Musicals in Mufti and also for a proposed London production, and the musical has now evolved into a coherent musical theatre piece that is indicative of the time when musicals were musical comedies.

Carmelina, the musical, is based on the movie, Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell in which Carmelina has raised a daughter whose father is an American soldier who was stationed in the Italian village of San Forino during World War II. To protect her reputation Mrs. Campbell invented a marriage to an American soldier and even took on an assumed name gaining respectability as a widow.

In reality Carmelina doesn’t know which one of three American soldiers is her daughter’s father and she has been collecting child support checks from all three of the American soldiers giving them the impression that they are the father of Carmelina’s daughter.

A local restaurant owner has also expressed his love for Carmelina who has refused his attentions in order to keep up the image of a mournful widow.

The plot becomes complicated when the three American soldiers arrive in San Forino for a reunion and seek out Carmelina and their daughter. Carmelina’s pretense unravels quickly. Although Carmelina’s daughter, Gia, feels betrayed – as well as the American soldiers – the revelation of what has been happening for all of those years has been liberating. Carmelina can then pursue her relationship with Vittorio, the local restaurant owner.

In its present revision, there are now framing devices that tell this tale and put all of the mishaps and mistaken identities into context. The fourth wall is broken occasionally in telling the story – and it is notable that the story is close to that of Mamma Mia! And in fact the phrase “Mamma Mia!” is inserted on several occasions as the comic aspects of this story unfold. The portrait of Carmelina is that of a confident woman who deals with life’s problems in an unabashed manner.

Carmelina is also graced by its score with touching and charming songs such as “It’s Time For a Love Song”, “Someone in April”, and “One More Walk Around The Garden.” All presented and played by music director David Hancock Turner on the piano and Joseph Wallace on bass, and enhanced by Michael Leeds’ intelligent and caring direction.

The York Theatre Company has pulled together an excellent cast to reveal this rare musical gem with Andrea Burns in the title role, Mary Joanna Grisso as Gia Campbell, Joey Sorge as Vittorio Dela Marta (the restaurant owner), and the three American soldiers Evan Harrington as Walter Braddock, Timothy John Smith as Steve Karzinski, and Jim Stanek as Carleton Smith, and Antonio Cipriano as Roberto, Gia's young boyfriend, and Anne L. Nathan as the devoted Rosa.

One should visit Carmelina, the people who live in the village of San Forino, and the village’s surprise visitors, and enjoy this human and nostalgic story, and the wonderful score.

National Theatre Live – Antony and Cleopatra

Skirball NYU Arts Center

January 24, 2019

By Mark Kappel

As part of its NT Live season, the National Theatre is presenting its live cinema screening of its new revival of William Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra starring Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okonedo in the title roles – a production that played at the National Theatre from September 26, 2018 through January 19, 2019.

Antony and Cleopatra is a challenging play to produce, and interpret, and in this instance this three and a half hour long version has defined its identity through the unique efforts of director Simon Godwin who has presented Antony and Cleopatra in a highly accessible modern dress production.

Antony and Cleopatra takes place during the time period when the Roman Empire was defending its outlying borders. Mark Antony has survived the political intrigues in Rome and is seeking out his own military conquests in acquiring Egypt for the Roman Empire. But having fallen in love with the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra, Mark Antony now has divided loyalties. And in this play, Shakespeare creates a major dilemma for Mark Antony as his personal and political issues influence his decisions. This is where the passions of the principal characters take the story to extremes.

Seeking out his own personal adventures Mark Antony neglects his military duties to spend time with Cleopatra at her court in Alexandria. Reluctantly Mark Antony returns to Rome when the Roman rulers are threatened. While in Rome Mark Antony marries Octavia, sister of Caesar, one of the Machiavellian Roman rulers. Feeling betrayed by Mark Antony, it is Caesar who declares war on Cleopatra and Mark Antony, after Mark Antony has returned to Alexandria.

With Mark Antony blaming Cleopatra for his military defeat, Cleopatra sends out a false report that she is dead. Upon hearing of this news Mark Antony attempts suicide, and is brought to Cleopatra’s monument to die in her arms. Faced with the choice of being captured and enslaved by the Romans, Cleopatra kills herself.

In this modern dress production of Antony and Cleopatra, Cleopatra is depicted as a Hollywood diva costumed in haute couture, and Mark Antony looks like an affluent player in designer suits and Gucci loafers – although at times Mark Antony seems to have one foot in Rome and his other foot in Egypt and he is portrayed as a man going through a mid-life crisis and acts like a washed up Rambo.

Both Mark Antony and Cleopatra expose themselves emotionally and with those emotions on display, each is able to manipulate the other. There is also the hint of modern day Middle Eastern conflicts brewing in the background. By placing the story in a modern day context when all is said and done Antony and Cleopatra is a political thriller.

Although Antony and Cleopatra is described as one of Shakespeare’s tragedies it is mostly a display of manipulation, and sexual and political power. In this production some of the tongue and cheek humor in the text is emphasized – yet the ending of the play with both Antony and Cleopatra committing suicide mirrors a similar ending in one of Shakespeare’s earlier plays, Romeo and Juliet.

The title roles in this stunning revival are in the capable hands of Ralph Fiennes as a vain, reckless and shallow Mark Antony, and Sophie Okonedo as an alluring, imperious and obsessed Cleopatra – with both making rash decisions. The audience can only be transfixed on Fiennes and Okonedo as they take command of the stage whenever they appear in this play.

But there is also the luxury of wonderful casting in other roles including that of Tunji Kasim as Caesar, Fisayo Akinade as Eros, Tim McMullan as Enobarbus, and Nicholas Le Prevost as Lepidus.

Director Simon Godwin guides these fine actors through the myriad of scenes in the play and his direction is lucid which makes the plot crystal clear as well as the motivations and emotions of the title characters. The actors and the director transform a difficult play into a compelling evening in the theatre.

Also set designer Hildegard Bechtler has used the Olivier Theatre’s resources effectively with the enhancement of Evie Gurney’s costumes.

This is an Antony and Cleopatra not to be missed.

Works & Process – Houston Ballet – Sylvia

Guggenheim Museum

January 19, 2019

By Mark Kappel

The Guggenheim Museum’s Work & Process gives New Yorkers an opportunity to see up close the many aspects of the creative process of arts projects that are presented here in New York, and in other parts of the United States.

Presented on January 19, 2019, was a Works & Process program focusing on the Houston Ballet’s upcoming world premiere production of Stanton Welch’s Sylvia which will have costume and scenic designs by Jerome Kaplan and projections by Wendall K. Harrington. This new production is be given its premiere in Houston from February 21-March 5, 2019.

Moderator Marina Harss questioned Stanton Welch in regard to how his production of Sylvia will differ from others and present excerpts from sections of the ballet that were danced members of the Houston Ballet.

Sylvia was premiered by the Paris Opera Ballet in 1876, with a score by Leo Delibes, which has been purported to be the inspiration for Tchaikovsky composing his ballet scores. The original production of Sylvia, choreographed by Louis Merante , was based on characters in Greek mythology, included in a 1573 play by Tasso.

As explained by Welch, in his production, he has added extra characters and he explored each character’s back story and he has incorporated this information into his own libretto for his version of the ballet. This Works and Process program revealed Welch’s deliberations about how he came to artistic decisions and how he will be incorporating these decisions into his choreography.

Welch’s concept was also supported by the designs conceived by Jerome Kaplan and Wendall K. Harrington.

Only a handful of productions of Sylvia have been created – including the traditional version at the Paris Opera Ballet – and versions by John Neumeier, Mark Morris, Frederick Ashton – and not as familiar in this part of the world, a production by Laszlo Seregi.

The Houston Ballet dancers presented Welch’s choreography as a work in progress and included Karina Gonzalez as Sylvia, Connor Walsh as The Shepherd, Melody Mennite as Psyche, Charles-Louis Yoshiyama as Eros, Jessica Collado, and Chun Wei-Chan as Orion.

The Houston Ballet hasn’t performed all that many times in New York and hopefully there will be opportunities for New Yorkers to see the full company and more of its repertoire in the future.

The King and I At State Theatre in New Brunswick, New Jersey

State Theatre

December 15, 2018

By Mark Kappel

Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein’s collaboration, The King and I, has had renewed interest after its recent revival by the Lincoln Center Theater Company, a revival which was directed by Bartlett Sher and has his personal imprint.

One of the many magical aspects of The King and I is seeing different actors and actresses assume the principal roles in this musical and bring their own interpretations to them. Appearing in national touring companies provides showcases for these actors and actresses, and the current national touring company of the Lincoln Center Theater Company’s revival opened for a short engagement at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, New Jersey on December 14 and 15, 2018.

The King and I is based on the life of Anna Leonowens, and among the many pursuits in her life was being the governess to the children and wives of the King of Siam in the mid-19th century.

In real life Anna Leonowens was an Anglo-Indian born of an Indian army solder and was a travel writer, educator and social activist. She was engaged as a teacher for the children and wives of King Mongklat of Siam, and her experiences were fictionalized in Margaret Landon’s novel, Anna & The King of Siam, which became of the basis for The King and I.

A bit romanticized, a bit of fiction and an effort to reconcile the cultural clashes that are described in this musical, there are captivating musical moments and artful moments in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s adaptation of this story. Not to mention a rich score which includes Shall We Dance?, I Whistle A Happy Tune, Getting To Know You, Hello Young Lovers, We Kiss In A Shadow, and I Have Dreamed. In experiencing this revival of The King and I the audience is consumed with nostalgia and familiarity.

Set in 1860’s Bangkok, The King and I focuses on the unconventional relationship that Anna had with the King of Siam, and also presenting the conflicts that the King had in trying to modernize Siam as it was facing political and economic exploitation by colonial powers.

Director Bartlett Sher has leaned on textual references in Oscar Hammerstein II’s book to explore the frank, combative, and often humorous relationship between Anna and the King. There is a great deal of humanity innate in The King and I but Sher has further focused on the story that is being told.

It is unfortunate that this revival doesn’t include Jerome Robbins’ original choreography – especially for The Small House of Uncle Thomas ballet. It is a weak link in this revival. However this revival of The King and I still has much to offer.

There was an outstanding cast leading this production including understudy Annie Sherman as a touching and confident Anna, and Pedro Ka’awaloa as the King who ably conveyed the King’s grappling with the many new ideas that Anna presented to him.

Also notable were DeAnna Choi as a regal and proud Lady Thiang, Paulina Yeung as Tuptim, Dongwoo Kang as Lun Tha, Timothy Matthew Flores as Prince Chulalongkorn, and Hayden Bercy as Louis.

Also the costume designs by Catherine Zuber and the scenery designs by Michael Yeargan enhanced this revival of The King and I.

Seeing this production only reconfirms why The King and I takes its place in the cannon of great American musicals, and even if Bartlett Sher’s changes and new touches aren’t always consistent and satisfying, this is a revival that can confirms why The King and I is speaking to the audiences of today and will do so in the future.

King Kong Arrives on Broadway

Broadway Theatre

November 6, 2018

By Mark Kappel

Making its way to Broadway via Australia the new musical King Kong has finally arrived on Broadway and has done so in an amazing production. This new musical, based on the legendary film of the same name, has been cleverly and carefully adapted to the stage. King Kong is a musical that is involving, with a score that is composed with the intention of telling the story but also providing the heartbeat within the musical, includes state of the art stage craft, and is also a valentine to New York.

The epic story of King Kong is a variation on the story of Beauty and the Beast, and rather than relying on the nostalgia of the original 1933 film, this new musical stage version of King Kong is a musical for the 21st century.

This musical adaptation of King Kong is the result of the collaboration of Marius de Vries (music), Eddie Perfect (music and lyrics), Jack Thorne (book), with direction and choreography by Drew McOnie. And, of course, much credit goes to Sonny Tilders of Global Creatures who has designed the King Kong puppet that dominates this new musical.

The plot of King Kong has been fashioned in such way to be sympathetic to this huge and sensitive beast, and also exposing the best and the worst in the people who have been involved in the beast’s captivity and exploitation.

The story begins with a young actress, who is attempting to take New York by storm, Ann Darrow (played by Christiani Pitts) and her chance meeting with a manipulative film director, Carl Denham (played by Eric William Morris).

Even before encountering Denham, Darrow reflects on being in New York, in the Prologue and Darrow’s song, Queen of New York, as a struggling actress finding her way through New York’s jungle in the 1930’s, and also depicting the dynamics of a large city which even includes the construction of the Empire State Building that would later dominate New York’s skyline and have an important role to play in this musical.

Darrow’s chance meeting with Denham begins Darrow’s journey as she is swept away on a voyage to mysterious Skull Island, where Darrow is to make her mark as a film actress. By accident they come upon the beast, King Kong, who steals Darrow away from the film crew and the ship’s crew. Rather than a certain death at the hands of King Kong, Darrow befriends the beast while Denham, in a P.T. Barnum scheme, wishes to capture King Kong and put him on exhibit in New York.

Upon their return to New York Darrow has doubts about her role in the exploitation of King Kong, and then there is Lumpy (played by Erik Lochtefeld), Denham’s long-term employee, who evolves as Denham’s enterprise becomes more and more exploitative and sinister – he becomes the story’s moral compass. Both Darrow and Denham are forced to focus on what is important to them and what they are willing to give up for success.

King Kong, a giant puppet, dominates the stage as it is manipulated by a crew of 14 handlers, who move about the stage as if in a choreographed ballet, and scenic and projection designer, Peter England, creates the locales that King Kong inhabits. It is an amazing theatrical and technical achievement. It is all wondrous and compelling theatre.

Christiani Pitts as Ann Darrow gives a break-out performance as does Eric William Morris as Carl Denham – and Erik Lochtefeld gives the character of Lumpy the sensitivity that the role requires. The hard-working and talented ensemble takes on many different roles through this musical showing their versatility.

The score by Marius De Vries and Eddie Perfect provides the pulse of this musical, and Jack Thorne’s forthright – and sometimes self-deprecating book – effectively tells the story and illuminates the relationship between King Kong and Darrow. Also one must credit Drew McOnie for his direction and choreography keeping the pace of King Kong equal to that of a Hollywood adventure film.

King Kong gives us a large and welcome dose of Hollywood fantasy on the Broadway stage.

Balanchine: The City Center Years

City Center

November 3, 2018

By Mark Kappel

As part of its 75th anniversary celebration the City Center is noting, in particular, the period of time when the New York City Ballet was in residence at the City Center, and the many premieres created by George Balanchine.

At this performance four ballet companies performed full ballets and excerpts from ballets that Balanchine created during the 1950’s which were performed on the City Center stage. Although these ballets didn’t represent Balanchine’s range or consistent performances of these ballets, accompanied by the New York City Ballet Orchestra, and under the guidance of conductors, the combination thereof culminated in a unique performance.

When Balanchine’s ballets are performed today there is always debate about authenticity – as in the case with past works by Marius Petipa and Auguste Bournonville – and what is most interesting about these ballets’ performances today are their interpretations.

To open the program, the Joffrey Ballet, a company that also was in residence at the City Center for many years, danced The Four Temperaments, a ballet choreographed to a commissioned score by Paul Hindemith, and was danced by the New York City Ballet on the City Center stage from 1948 and onwards.

The ballet is one of Balanchine’s classics and an example of Balanchine’s modernism dominated by angular movement. The ballet expresses the basic human temperaments, and begins with three stated musical themes and followed by Melancholic, Sanguinic, Phlegmatic and Choleric variations.

The Joffrey Ballet is not known for its performances of the Balanchine repertoire and there seemed to be a lack of speed and inconsistency of style in this performance of The Four Temperaments. However it was Rory Hohenstein’s performance in the Phlegmatic Variation that seemed most consistent with performances of The Four Temperaments in the past.

Miami City Ballet was represented on this program with a lesser known Balanchine piece, Glinka Pas de Trois, created in 1955and choreographed to ballet music from Mikhail Glinka’s Ruslan & Ludmila. This charming divertissement in Balanchine’s signature neo-classic style is technically challenging and was well danced by the cast of Nathalia Arja, Ashley Knox, and Kleber Rebello.

Sae-Eun Park and Hugo Marchand of the Paris Opera Ballet danced the Pas de Deux from one of Balanchine’s most notable works, Agon, a work choreographed to commissioned music by Igor Stravinsky and was created for the New York City Ballet in 1957. Agon’s choreography exhibits the modernism and angular movement that influenced Balanchine’s choreography during that time period.

Park and Marchand danced the Pas de Deux from Agon with sophistication and technical prowess.

This performance came to a conclusion with the San Francisco Ballet dancing Divertimento No. 15, one of the few works that Balanchine choreographed to Mozart’s music, and was premiered by the New York City Ballet in 1956. In this ballet, Balanchine literally created a tapestry of filigree variations and ensemble dances that reflected the same qualities in Mozart’s music.

In some aspects this neoclassic piece is academic ballet in nature and Balanchine captured Mozart’s music in his musical and challenging choreography.

Divertimento No. 15 was beautifully danced by Dores André, Sasha De Sola, Koto Ishihara, Wona Park, Ana Sophia Scheller, Benjamin Freemantle, Angelo Graco, and Lonnie Weeks.

Coordinating these performances at the City Center certainly was a challenge and I hope similar performances will be produced at the City Center in the future.

American Ballet Theatre Presents Two Premieres

David Koch Theater

October 27, 2018

By Mark Kappel

During American Ballet Theatre’s fall season at the David Koch Theater, a theme had been fashioned with all of the premieres created by female choreographers. Two of these choreographers were represented on the triple bill program presented on October 27, 2018, as well as a work by a female master choreographer resulting in a program that was comprised of the work of only female choreographers. What the choreographers had in common were their explorations in many different dance forms – but with the least emphasis being on ballet.

The first of the premieres was Jessica Lang’s Garden Blue, a collaboration between Lang and American artist Sarah Crowner, who designed the costumes and scenery. The piece was an ensemble work with a modern dance/contemporary style choreographed to excerpts from Antonin Dvorak’s Piano Trio No. 4.

With the assistance of Crowner, Lang created a stage scape of a blue sky and random objects resembling propellers which are manipulated by the dancers or hung above the dancers similarly to Alexander Calder’s sculptural images. Three couples and one solo dancer are moved about this space imitating sculptural shapes – in some instances appearing as sea creatures on this beach.

The second premiere, Dream Within A Dream (deferred), was created by Michelle Dorrance, known for her work as a contemporary tapper -- both as performer and choreographer – in an attempt to make a challenging match between herself and American Ballet Theatre’s dancers.

This piece was also an ensemble work integrating many dance styles of the 1940’s including ballroom, jazz, lindy-hop, swing, a bit of ballet, and the more interesting of the sections where Dorrance’s signature style of tap emerged. Although choreographed to music by Duke Ellington, Dorrance included another signature aspect of her work which is the dancers making percussive sounds.

Dream Within A Dream (deferred) was a learning experience for choreographer Michelle Dorrance and American Ballet Theatre’s dancers. One can decide who learned the most from this collaboration.

The evening concluded with a work created by master choreographer, Twyla Tharp, In The Upper Room, choreographed to pulsing music by Philip Glass. This non-stop dance piece combines contemporary dance, a bit of ballet, and Tharp’s own choreographic sensibility. The parade of dancers – sometimes costumed in Norma Kamali’s pajamas – as well as red shoes and sneakers – build up to cathartic moment – and one can now come to the conclusion whether this important Tharp work is a work of its time or whether it still has something to say right now.

American Ballet Theatre’s dancers were absolutely committed to the purposes and goals of these female choreographers amping up the energy level.

American Ballet Theatre Presents Triple Bill of Recently New and Vintage Revivals

David Koch Theater

October 21, 2018

By Mark Kappel

On October 21, 2018, American Ballet Theatre presented a triple bill of ballets that included relatively new and vintage revivals at the David Koch Theater as part of the company’s fall season.

Although not a premiere but a recent new work was Alexei Ratmansky’s creation for American Ballet Theatre, Songs of Bukovina, which was given its world premiere in 2017. Reuniting Ratmansky with composer, Leonid Desyatnikov, Songs of Bukovina is a plotless work with choreography which reflected folk influences. Desyatnikov’s music was interpreted in a Jerome Robbins’ style with solos, ensembles and pas de deux – the principal pas de deux danced by Isabella Boylston and Blaine Hoven. As well as the folk dance influences there was an examination of the inner self and was well danced by the principal couple and the ensemble that was in support.

There were two vintage works on the program. The first of which was George Balanchine’s Symphonie Concertante, which Balanchine had created for the students of the School of American Ballet in 1945 and later remounted for New York City Ballet’s predecessor Ballet Society in 1947. It was American Ballet Theatre that revived Symphonic Concerte in 1983 and revealed one of Balanchine’s intricate works choreographed to Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante in E Flat Major for Violin and Viola.

Structurally Symphonie Concertante is striking in its similarity to the choreographic structure of and themes in one of Balanchine’s iconic works, Concerto Barocco, and also references to other neo-classic works that Balanchine choreographed during the same period of time such as Theme and Variations and Symphony in C. And as in Symphonic Concertante Balanchine’s choreography is a technical challenge for the dancers dancing the ballet and the ballet received a stellar performance by Stella Abrera, Gillian Murphy, and Alexandre Hammoudi.

The program ended with another vintage work, Jerome Robbins’ Fancy Free, which was created for American Ballet in 1944 with a commissioned score composed by Leonard Bernstein. This performance celebrated the 100th birthdays of both Robbins and Bernstein, and was a showcase for Robbins’ Americana-themed style of ballet. The ballet became the inspiration for the Broadway musical, On The Town.

This particular slice of American life takes place during World War II with three sailors seeking out female companionship during their short shore leave in New York. Although the ballet’s story is universal, Fancy Free is a period piece with its own social morays.

What enhances this conception by Robbins and Bernstein is the chemistry of the dancers who play the sailors. At this performance Herman Cornejo, Cory Stearns, and James Whiteside had that chemistry – a chemistry that was infectious. Also enjoyed the diffident performances by Gillian Murphy, Luciana Paris and Lauren Post as the ladies that were being pursued by these sailors on leave.

This was an enjoyable afternoon of dance – a balanced triple bill including repertoire for every audience member’s taste.

K-Arts Ballet of Korea Presents the New York Premiere of Song of the Mermaid

City Center

October 20, 2018

By Mark Kappel

Although New York plays host to many foreign ballet companies, New York audiences have not seen many ballet companies that are based in Asia. Therefore the performance of the K-Arts Ballet of Korea at the City Center on October 20, 2018 was a unique opportunity to become familiar with a company that has not performed in New York frequently – and also from that part of the world.

The K-Arts Ballet of Korea, established in 1997 and directed by SunHee Kim, presented the New York premiere of SunHee Kim’s Song of the Mermaid, a full-length ballet inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s story, The Little Mermaid.

Most would be familiar with the screen and stage adaptations of The Little Mermaid by Walt Disney, and John Neumeier’s ballet version of The Little Mermaid which has been danced by the San Francisco Ballet, telling what is a cautionary tale.

In Song of the Mermaid, after saving his life during a storm, the Little Mermaid falls in love with the Prince. To pursue her love, she seeks out the help from the sinister Blanket Octopus. She agrees to exchange her voice for legs, and in human form the Little Mermaid meets the Prince again. As the Prince is about to confess his love for her, the Blanket Octopus intervenes and uses his magical powers to force the Prince into a marriage with a princess from a neighboring country.

Having failed to persuade the Prince to fall in love with her, the Blanket Octopus demands the Little Mermaid’s life. In order to save her life her fellow mermaids provide The Little Mermaid with a magical knife that she can use to kill the Prince. Rather than commit that heinous act, The Little Mermaid resigns herself to her death.

Kim’s choreographic structure is that of a 19th century narrative ballet. There are many influences from those ballets that are components in the story-telling in this ballet. The original score, composed by Hana Ryou, includes many sounds, special effects, and speech that underscore the plot twists in this ballet.

Soobin Lee, dancing the role of The Little Mermaid, dominates this ballet not only in the story but also with her charm. The role of the Prince is somewhat of a cipher in this ballet by design. The role doesn’t make an impact until Act II. However guest artist, Kimin Kim, principal dancer of the Mariinsky Ballet, makes the most of his moments – with his partnering skills and as a virtuoso dancing. Lee and Kim combine their talents well in telling the story and in the clean classical lines in their dancing.

Also notable performances were given by Eunsoo Lee as the Sea Turtle, and Hoiwoong Ryu as the villainous Blanket Octopus.

There are also court scenes in both acts of The Song of the Mermaid which gives the entire company their moments to exhibit their fine dancing. Choreographer SunHee Kim has made sure that all of the company’s dancers are shown off in this ballet.

This was an opportunity to see this company of well-trained dancers presenting this universal story.

The Play That Goes Wrong – Again With A New Cast

Lyceum Theatre

October 16, 2018

By Mark Kappel

The Play That Goes Wrong has a unique place in Broadway history as a comedy that has had an extended Broadway engagement – having opened in April 2017. It can now claim to be the longest running play currently on Broadway. However The Play That Goes Wrong will be closing early next year and with a new cast, one must get over to the Lyceum Theatre to experience the craziness and hilarity before The Play That Goes Wrong ends its Broadway engagement.

The concoction of three actor/writers, Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, The Play That Goes Wrong follows the utterly disastrous attempt by a local drama society in England, the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society, to put on a 1920’s pot-boiler mystery play, The Murder at Haversham Manor.

The inept community theater actors stumble through this play until its ironic and catastrophic conclusion. And it is the journey with these actors that is the core of this extraordinarily funny play. And one feels the anticipation before this comedy of errors begins as one enters the Lyceum Theatre to see the actors already at play in their roles interacting with audience members.

Everything or anything that can go wrong – goes wrong – the imaginative and ingenious scenery (designed by Nigel Hook) becomes a character in the play – and one cannot count the laughs as it is now performed by an excellent replacement cast executing Mark Bell’s quicksilver and expert direction.

Usually an actor’s success can be defined simply as remembering his or her lines and not bumping into the furniture. However in The Play That Goes Wrong the actors bumping into the furniture – and other inanimate objects and fellow actors – misplacing props and forgetting lines are the elements that make the play a hilarious success.

In spite of the bumbling the murder mystery is solved culminating in a surprise ending.

The superb cast of Jason Bowen as Trevor, Alex Mandell as Max, Preston Truman Boyd as Robert, Mara Davi as Sandra, Harrison Unger as Dennis, Mark Evans as Chris, Jonathan Fielding as Jonathan, and Toccarra Cash as Annie are expert farceurs and stumble their way through the mine field of The Play That Goes Wrong’s manufactured disasters taking the audience on an incredibly entertaining ride.

Balanchine and Kirstein’s American Enterprise

By Mark Kappel

James Steichen’s book, Balanchine and Kirstein’s American Enterprise, published by Oxford University Press, has arrived at a time when the mission of the most important enterprise that they founded, the New York City Ballet, has come into question.

Steichen’s book tracks the early history of the founding of the School of American Ballet and the planting of the seeds for what became the New York City Ballet in the early years from 1933 to 1940, examining this key time period. A time period when George Balanchine arrived in America at Lincoln Kirstein’s invitation and how they planned for a ballet school in New York, and forged plans to establish an “American Ballet Company” that would perform in New York City with Balanchine at its artistic helm.

There were many predecessors to the New York City Ballet including Ballet Caravan and the American Ballet. As described in Steichen’s book both of those organizations had their own in-fighting in regard to financial support, management, and artistic vision. These organizations were experiments to learn from and would not be long-lasting. The School of the American Ballet managed to keep its independence even though it was revealed that Balanchine was not always enthusiastically involved with the School, and Balanchine’s teaching methods and dancer training were questioned and criticized by his peers.

What was interesting reading in Steichen’s book were the descriptions of the divergent artistic missions of two of the Balanchine/Kirstein enterprises. That of the American Ballet, which had its residency at the Metropolitan Opera House performing in opera ballets and having a European vision for repertoire. While Kirstein’s more independent Ballet Caravan was closer in vision to Kirstein’s mission of establishing an American ballet company performing ballets with American themes, choreographed by American choreographers, and where possible, to have the ballets choreographed to music by American composers.

During this time period Balanchine was also distracted by his Broadway and film projects. He was criticized for the modernism in his artistic vision, and his inability to program ballets for the American Ballet. There were artistic successes but in comparison to Balanchine’s peer at the time, Leonide Massine, Balanchine’s work was not as well received. Not to mention his criticism of his own dancers and slighting comments even in regard to a dancer’s weight.

The Balanchine/Kirstein Enterprises ended their day in 1940, or shortly thereafter, several years before they had a meeting of the minds to establish the New York City Ballet which was their greatest achievement. Steichen’s book fills a gap in regard to providing information and insights into those earlier enterprises which influenced the founding and the future of the New York City Ballet.

Midnight At The Never Get

York Theatre Company at Saint Peter’s

October 9, 2018

By Mark Kappel

The York Theatre Company is opening its 2018-19 season with the presentation of a new musical, Midnight At The Never Get, which is being performed from October 2 through November 4, 2018.

This 90-minute musical is the work of Mark Sonnenblock who has contributed the music, lyrics and book with the participation of Sam Bolen as co-conceiver.

The story is set in 1965 and focuses on the pair of singer Trevor Copeland and songwriter Arthur Brightman, who are in a relationship at a time when such a relationship was illegal. In the back room of The Never Get, an illegal Greenwich Village gay bar, they develop a show, Midnight, in which Trevor sings Arthur’s songs with their male pronouns intact.

Midnight At The Never Get follows the course of this bitter sweet liaison and the changing social and political landscape from the 1960’s to the present and how those changes intruded into this tale of artistic and emotional bonding.

Trevor Copeland and Arthur Brightman find common goals with one as a singer of songs and the other, the composer. And as their musical relationship flourishes so does their personal relationship as they create their successful cabaret act.

The story is told in flashbacks through the eyes of Trevor as he suffers through his relationship with Arthur, examining how their conflicting interests worked against each other as well as their ambitions, and tests their love. In the end Trevor does achieve some self-realization and acceptance even as his feelings are justified that he had been victimized by Arthur.

The journey is expressed in song which is inspired by the Great American Songbook – nostalgic and revealing -- songs which are set up in a cabaret style – serving as both entertainment and narrative.

It is Sam Bolen as Trevor Copeland, and Jeremy Cohen as Arthur Brightman who effectively tell the story with Jon. J. Peterson presenting Trevor’s final self-realization he portrays Trevor in his later years.

Midnight At The Never Get has its moments of sentimentality – and even nostalgia – but presents its story in an entertaining manner.

Paper Mill Playhouse Presents The Color Purple

Paper Mill Playhouse

October 6, 2018

By Mark Kappel

From September 27 – October 28, 2018 the Paper Mill Playhouse in Milburn, New Jersey is presenting John Doyle’s remarkable revival of the musical, The Color Purple, which had originated at the Meunier Chocolate Factory in London, and made a triumphant debut on Broadway in 2015. This production has been touring the United States for the last year and it is this production that is being presented at the Paper Mill Playhouse.

Based on Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel – and being better known from the movie version of that novel by Steven Spielberg in 1986 – this stage musical version of The Color Purple is the work of Stephan Bray, Allee Willis, and Brenda Russell as collaborators on the score, and Marsha Norman as the book writer which premiered on Broadway in 2005. The score utilizes the musical styles of gospel and blues in telling this compelling story.

The Color Purple’s beating heart is the character of Celie – following her 40-year journey fighting poverty and abuse – and finding self-acceptance. She is an ugly duckling who matures into a special creature and her story is worth telling.

After seeing this production of The Color Purple, its adaptation for the musical stage is justified. The score captured the cadence of the speech patterns of the locale and time, and enhances the story-telling. Celie’s triumph over racism, sexism, abuse, a loveless marriage, her desperation to find her sister and her own children is what is the basis of Alice Walker’s story. It is a tapestry of life with the music as an enhancement to this tale expressing the emotions and poetry in Walker’s novel – with an ending that is encouraging and uplifting.

Doyle’s direction emphasizes each character’s direct connection with the audience in their account and participation in the narrative allowing the story and the music to take center stage.

Doyle has removed extraneous cluttering. Less is more in this stirring and uplifting revival. Doyle’s re-thinking of The Color Purple is scaled down to a minimal setting – dominated by hanging chairs -- which allows the audience to focus on Celie’s journey, the characters, and the powerful performances by this production’s cast members.

Doyle’s simple staging and designs puts the task of telling this tale in the capable hands of the actors giving moving and honest performances.

The role of Celie is a star-making role and Adrianna Hicks’ performance is a star-making performance. However Carla R. Stewart as Shug Avery, and Carrie Compere as Sofia with Gavin Gregory as Mister, N’Jamet Camara as Nettie, and Jay Donnell as Harpo all give virtuoso and compelling performances.

If you haven’t seen this production of The Color Purple this is a reason to see the Paper Mill Playhouse’s production during this limited engagement.

City Center Fall for Dance Festival –

Program 3

City Center

October5, 2018

By Mark Kappel

The City Center Fall for Dance Festival’s Third Program included a hybrid of dance styles performed by dancers from three internationally recognized dance companies, and a company that is seeking international recognition. All of them having a distinctive style and all were on display in the Third Program’s performance on October 5, 2018.

Opening the program was Tayeh Dance’s world premiere of Reclamation Map with choreography by Sonya Tayeh, and music and vocals by Heather Christian – with musicians, Jo Lampert and Onyie Nwachukwu. In this City Center Fall for Dance commission, created was a dark and peaceful atmosphere enhanced with gospel-tinged music, establishing a mood and also reflected a journey.

Tayeh’s vocabulary reflected the basics in modern dance but nevertheless conveyed its message with the assistance of the dancers Peiju Chien-Pott, Austin Goodwin, Reed Luplau, and Ida Saki.

The Dance Theatre of Harlem then took center stage in another City Center commissioned work choreographed by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa entitled Balamouk, employing music by Les Yeux Noirs, Rene Aubry, and Lisa Gerrado.

Dancers Daphne Lee, Crystal Serrano, Ingrid Silva, Amanda Smith, Lindsey Croop, Da’Von Doane, Christopher McDaniel, Anthony Santos, Dylan Santos and Choong Hoon Lee participated in Ochoa’s rhythmic group movements randomly stepping out on their own in a ritualistic manner.

The Nederlands Dans Theater 2 danced the United States premiere of Marco Goecke’s Midnight Raga, a duet danced by Surimi Fukushi and Adam Russell Jones, which interpreted the music of Ravi Shankar mixed with the music of Etta James, and reflected Goecke’s contemporary and modern dance style. Goecke, a Nederlands Dans Theater associate choreographer since 2013, choreographed this piece in a style that seems to be the epitome of most of the work coming out of Nederlands Dans Theater these days with mostly quick movement that is in a constant and high pitch. Fukushi and Russell-Jones gave virtuoso performances in this piece which might have too much to take in in one performance.

Also on the program was the National Ballet of China dancing the United States premiere of an excerpt from The Crane Calling, co-choreographed by Ma Cong and Zhang Zhenxin. In context the story is that of an ordinary girl who cares for a group of black-crowned cranes. She ultimately gives her up own life in protecting these unique creatures.

In this excerpt the dancers present an ensemble sequence that is similar to Act II of Swan Lake with a corps de ballet of male and female dancers representing cranes and how they interact with the human beings who come upon them. There is little narrative to speak of in this excerpt but the piece seemed to reflect the innocence of the dancers very well, and the dancers’ high standard.

Janis Brenner Creates and Performs in a World Premiere Solo for the 2018 United Solo Theatre Festival

Theatre Row on 42nd Street

October 4, 2018

By Mark Kappel

The United Solo Theatre Festival is unique as it presents the work of solo artists, solo dance pieces, comedy, and theatre pieces, this year with performances taking place from September 13 through November 11, 2018.

As a participant in this year’s 2018 United Solo Theatre Festival, dancer/choreographer Janis Brenner has created a 40-minute piece, Inheritance: A Litany, which was given its world premiere on October 4, 2018 at the Theater Row on 42nd Street, and is to be given a repeat performances on October 11, and November 3, 2018.

With music by Jerome Begin, and imaginative lighting designs by Mitchell Bogard, Brenner reveals herself and displays her talents as a dancer, choreographer, singer – and most important story teller – all in an intimate performing space.

Brenner is sharing here her intimate thoughts about her late parents and literally unpacks her parents DNA and history while also revealing the cathartic experience of remembrance. Somehow we grow into our parents’ DNA as we mature. And as what would be appropriate in this solo piece Brenner reveals and communicates emotions, thoughts and remembrances in words, music, dance and movement – and tugs at the heartstrings. These elements combine for what is a very personal work.

Brenner gives a multi-dimensional performance in Inheritance: A Litany which has all of the essentials of a compelling piece of art.

Brenner’s reputation as a choreographer and solo performer is of the great artistic honesty that comes across and communicates with an audience. Brenner’s Inheritance: A Litany does so and more.

City Center Fall for Dance Festival – Program 1

City Center

October 2, 2018

By Mark Kappel

Every year the City Center Fall for Dance Festival lives up to its reputation as a presenter of a variety of dance companies – with a variety of dance styles – and combining them into programs fashioned to be samplers. Added to the mix for this Festival was the commissioning of six new works as well as United States and New York premieres.

The Fall for Dance Festival’s first program included a New York premiere danced by the Boston Ballet and choreographed by the Boston Ballet’s resident choreographer, Jorma Elo, Bach Cello Suites. This piece for 10 dancers with cellist Sergey Antonov on stage performing excerpts from Bach’s Cello Suite s Nos. 1 & 2, featured costume designs by Charles Heightchew and lighting designs by John Cuff – all important elements in this piece which the Boston Ballet premiered in 2015.

Bach Cello Suites began with the cellist on stage alone, and thereafter through this dance piece Elo assembles and moves these dancers through space reflecting simplicity and musicality while also channeling a bit of George Balanchine and William Forsythe.

Elo knows the Boston Ballet dancers well and uses them well. Bach Cello Suites is a demanding piece and was well danced by the cast of Maria Baranova, Irlan Silva, Lia Cirio, Patrick Yocum, Kathleen Breen Combes, Derek Dunn, Misa Kuranaga, John Lam, Addie Tapp and Lasha Khozashvili representing the wide range and abilities of the company’s dancers.

Sara Mearns made an appearance in this program dancing Lori Belilove’s Dances of Isadora Duncan – A Solo Tribute with Duncan’s essence recreated including Isadora’s well known works to music by Chopin, Brahms and Liszt. In dancing this homage to one of the world’s most innovative dancers – and choreographers – Mearns made an earnest stab at the Duncan style exhibiting musicality and a commitment to the music played exquisitely by Cameron Grant.

Also featured on this program was Caleb Teicher & Company dancing to a self-choreographed world premiere by Teicher, Bzzz. Teicher’s fusion of sound and tap, with the sound provided by Chris Celiz’s beat box vocals, were interpreted with humor and entering into a conversation with the tapping skills of the excellent tappers, Brittany DeStefano, Naomi Funaki, Jabu Graybeal, Luke Hickey, Demi Remick, Byron Tittle and Teicher himself.

Keeping up with the momentum of this program the Cie Herve Koubi danced excerpts from Koubi’s The Barbarian Nights. Koubi’s ritual dance of warriors was danced to music by Maxime Dodson, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – with the choreography including tumbling and break dancing by an all-male ensemble of dancers. This was a dance of warriors which resulted in an exciting climax.

Overall this was a rewarding and well-balanced program of dance and just the beginning for this year’s City Center Fall for Dance Festival.

Sarasota Ballet Presents Ashton Celebration

Joyce Theatre

August 18, 2018

By Mark Kappel

On August 18th, 2018, the Sarasota Ballet presented a variation on its triple bill programming which included a tribute to Frederick Ashton. Repeated from performances earlier in the engagement were Ashton’s Monotones No. 1 & 2, and Christopher Wheeldon’s There Where She Loved, both danced here by the same casts who danced these ballets on August 14th -- also performed were excerpts from Ashton’s longer works and a solo that was less familiar.

Featured were the Pas de Trois from Les Patineurs danced stylishly by Asia Bui, Ivan Duarte, and Samantha Benoit, and the finale Pas de Deux from The Two Pigeons danced sensitively by Victoria Hulland and guest artist, Marcelo Gomes. Even in these excerpts one could see Ashton’s gift for simplicity and his musical gifts. So much is said in such subtlety and the casts for both of these excerpts were outstanding in their performances.

More exotic – and La Bayadere-inspired -- was Meditation from Thais, a romantic pas de deux, danced to Massenet’s hypnotic music and danced here by Katelyn May and Ricardo Rhodes. Here again Ashton exhibited his talents for responding to music and also theatrical effect. As the dancers did, Ashton captured the exoticism and the romanticism of the piece.

The less familiar piece was La Chatte (metamorphosee en femme), a solo from Offenbach’s opera, which was created for Merle Park for a gala performance she participated in Vienna in 1985. In this solo La Chatte is spread over a chaise lounge and responds to the music as a cat would with suibtabley self-deprecating and physical humor. The climax of the piece is the appearance of an electric mouse that La Chatte goes after with Kate Honea as La Chatte ending this humorous solo with a cat-like shriek.

During this Joyce Theater engagement the Sarasota Ballet has shown its strengths in the Frederick Ashton repertoire – a repertoire rarely danced in New York City -- but when a return engagement is planned, it would be just as enjoyable and revealing to see other examples of the Sarasota Ballet’s large repertoire of ballets and dance pieces.

Sarasota Ballet Returns to the Joyce Theater

Joyce Theater

August 14, 2018

By Mark Kappel

The Sarasota Ballet has now become a frequent New York visitor and seems to be following a snowbird existence with visits during our New York summers.

The Sarasota Ballet has returned to the Joyce Theater from August 14 through 19, 2018 performing two varied triple-bill programs including several Ashton ballets which have now become the company’s signature. Since Iain Webb took over the Sarasota Ballet, the company has made to acquire many of Frederick Ashton’s iconic works and also lesser known or rarely performed works.

On August 14th, the program included Ashton’s well-known Monotones I & II, danced to Erik Satie’s Trois Gnossiennes and Trois Gymnopedies, played live by pianist Cameron Grant, which had been given their Sarasota Ballet’s company premieres in 2012.

Monotones I & II were created for the Royal Ballet but premiered about a year apart with Monotones II premiering in 1965 and Monotones I in 1966. But clearly they are companion pieces and also reflect the times in which they were created. There is a space other worldliness in the atmosphere of the pieces yet fluid, and remarkable how expert stillness and simplicity can be employed for utmost effect.

Monotones I was danced by Ryoko Sadoshima, Thomas Giugovaz, and Samantha Benoit, and Monotones II was danced by Ricardo Graziano, Victoria Hulland, and Ricardo Rhodes, with the Sarasota Ballet dancers creating the allusion of floating over the stage.

Also on the program was Christopher Wheeldon’s There Where She Loved, a suite of dances set to alternating songs by Frederic Chopin and Kurt Weill which was created for the Royal Ballet in 2000 -- and was danced in New York by Christopher Wheeldon’s company, Morphoses, in 2007. The Sarasota Ballet’s company premiere of this ballet was given in 2010.

In many respects Wheeldon was channeling Jerome Robbins in this piece in an effort to interpret the lyrics of these composers’ songs. Each song expressed a tale although some were clearly narrative and others were presented in an abstract form.

The cast of Christine Windsor, Jamie Carter, Daniel Pratt, Weslley Carvalho, Ricardo Rhodes, Kate Honea, Katelyn May, Ellen Overstreet, Samantha Benoit, Ivan Duarte, and Amy Wood gave intelligent interpretations of Wheeldon’s interpretations of the songs that were sung live by sopranos Michelle Giglio and Stella Zambalis with Cameron Grant at the piano.

The Sarasota Ballet is also commissioning new work and that aspect of the company’s artistic profile was presented in Symphony of Sorrows, choreographed by the company’s resident choreographer, Ricardo Graziano.
Premiered in 2012 and choreographed to the Third Movement of Henryk Gorecki’s Symphony No. 3, Symphony of Sorrows is dark, haunting and eerie with a tinge of William Forsythe-style choreography – exploring relationships.

The choreography’s intentions were well-expressed by the cast of Elizabeth Sykes, Ricki Bertoni, Kate Honea, Nicolas Moreno, Amy Wood, Weslley Carvalho, Christine Windsor, Ricardo Rhodes, Victoria Hulland, and Jamie Carter.

Mark Morris Dance Group at Mostly Mozart Festival

Rose Theatre at Jazz At Lincoln Center

August 10, 2018

By Mark Kappel

Although liberated from the Lincoln Center Festival, Lincoln Center continues to incorporate dance presentations into its Mostly Mozart Festival. A regular at the Mostly Mozart Festival has been the Mark Morris Dance Group which performed at the Rose Theatre Jazz At Lincoln Center in a program inspired by chamber music and presenting a world premiere from August 9-12, 2018.

This performance, on August 10, 2018, was truly a collaboration of the Mostly Mozart Festival and the Mark Morris Dance Group as each piece was particularly notable for its musical integrity – and all played by live musicians. Musicality has been a trademark of Morris’ style of choreography – and remarkable in its simplicity, Morris’ style was exemplified in all three pieces presented on this triple bill program.

The first of the two familiar pieces on this triple bill program was Morris’ Love Song Waltzes, choreographed to Johannes Brahms’ Liebeslieder-Walzer, here presented for four voices and piano for four hands. Mark Morris’ interpretation of this music is different from the music than the familiar ballet to this music choreographed by George Balanchine.

Created in 1989, Love Song Waltzes is a work for 12 dancers. Morris’ interpretation of these waltzes is not sentimental and not particular romantic either. Morris doesn’t choreograph love duets and the dancer groupings tend to be more in trios. However not only male/female couples are waltzing but also male/male couples and female/female couples are waltzing as well yet ending the piece with a male dancer alone on stage.

The second piece on the program was I Don’t Want To Love choreographed to madrigals composed by Claudio Monteverdi, a work for 7 dancers that was created in 1996. Beginning with a joyous parade of dancers the piece changes its pace and ends on a quieter note. And as in his Love Song Waltzes, Morris includes varying couples as they dance in this piece – and also ending with a man alone on stage.

The world premiere was The Trout choreographed to Franz Schubert’s Piano Quintet in A major with Inon Barnatan at the piano, Timothy Cobb on bass, with members of the Ariel Quartet -- Gershon Gerchikov playing the violin, Jan Gruning, playing the viola, and Amit Even-Tov playing the cello.

Choreographed for 11 dancers, Morris' choreography here was more random than in Love Song Waltzes, and I Don’t Want To Love. Dancers dance on stage and quickly leave the stage for the wings – and reappear again. There is also a section depicting dancers in what looks like gestures of throwing bombs at people and the human destruction thereafter, and then the dancing blooms again.

Common in all three pieces presented on the program was spirited dancing with the choreography playing to the dancers’ strengths. It is this collaboration – and the added collaboration of live music – that resulted in the notable moments that were part of the Mark Morris Dance Group’s evening of dance.

Irish Repertory Theatre’s On A Clear Day You Can See Forever

Irish Repertory Theatre

August 1, 2018

By Mark Kappel

The Irish Repertory Theatre, co-founded by Ciaran O’Reilly and Charlotte Moore in 1988, is the only year-round theatre company in New York City with a mission to bring the works of Irish and Irish-Americans to the stage. The Irish Repertory Theatre’s mission has included revivals of musicals and it has added to its body work, from June 15-September 6, 2018, a revival of the Burton Lane/Alan Jay Lerner musical, On A Clear Day You Can See Forever.

On A Clear You Can See Forever premiered on Broadway in 1965 and was last seen on Broadway in 2012 in a somewhat misguided revised version. As directed and adapted by Charlotte Moore, the Irish Repertory Theatre’s revival takes it source from the original Alan Jay Lerner concept in which Daisy Gamble (played by Melissa Errico), a woman with extrasensory talents, seeks out the assistance of psychiatrist Dr. Mark Bruckner (played by Stephen Bogardus) to break her addiction to cigarettes.

In the course of Gamble’s therapy, Bruckner discovers one of Daisy’s former selves, a British aristocrat, Melinda Welles, who tragically died in the 1700’s. Bruckner falls in love with Melinda as she re-lives her love affair with Edward Moncrief (played by John Cudia), a poor portrait painter. Bruckner finds himself participating in a unique love triangle as he contends with the two very different personalities of Daisy and Melinda. When Bruckner decides to publish his findings -- and that is revealed to Daisy – Daisy realizes that she has been betrayed.

Moore’s adaptation has eliminated several characters and has reduced On A Clear Day You Can See Forever down to chamber-size with only a 5-player orchestra. However this adaptation does retain the 1960’s setting enhanced by James Morgan’s projections of New York locales.

On A Clear Day’s score is a significant one with individual songs such as the title song, “Come Back to Me”, and “What Did I Have That I Don’t Have?” becoming standards. But the book has been felt to be problematic which is somewhat hampered by the subject matter – a particular trend in psychology made popular in the 1960’s. Today ESP, and reincarnation seem quaint.

However On A Clear Day focuses on the combination of mystery, fantasy, and reality questioning what love is – and you can’t judge a book by its cover and opposites attract – and then there are the frailties that human beings have – sometimes in abundance at times in their lives.

The Irish Repertory Theatre’s revival allows an audience to examine this neglected musical up close appreciating the wonderful performances of Melissa Errico, Stephen Bogardus, and John Cudia in particular – and Charlotte Moore as adapter and director does succeed in fixing some of this musical’s book problems. On A Clear Day You Can See Forever has a brilliant and memorable score and also offers an optimistic ending. For these reasons alone, it is worth a visit to see this unique and offbeat musical which has been revived with care.

Encores! Off Center – Don’t Bother Me I Can’t Cope

City Center

July 26, 2018

By Mark Kappel

As the final presentation of City Center’s Encores! Off Center is the musical revue, Micki Grant’s and Vinnette Carroll’s Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope which runs from July 25-28, 2018.

Beginning its journey in 1971 and making it to Broadway for an extended engagement in 1972, this concert version has been deftly and meaningful directed and choreographed by Savion Glover. And how fortunate we are that the writers of this insightful and joyful musical are still with us to update the content and sharpen the ideas in this musical as well.

Explored in this revue are the political issues faced by the African American community with a score including gospel, jazz, soul, calypso and rock – mixing song and dance. The journey reflects pain, struggle and persistence but also in hope and joy.

Every song in this musical sends a message but also mixes the message with self-deprecating humor, breaking down stereotypes, and blistering and humorous commentary on our everyday lives – universal experiences. In spite of the fact that Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope dates back to the early 1970’s, the themes still remain with us – progress has been made, but we’re not there yet.

Both Micki Grant and Vinnette Carroll were pioneers and broke with tradition in their careers and thoughts. Grant’s score is particularly meaningful – such as Looking Over from Your Side, My Name is Man, Thank Heaven for You – and the free-wheeling stories told with humor and heart as the performers relate their frustrations and why they “Can’t Cope”.

Director/choreographer Savion Glover enhances the work of Micki Grant and Vinnette Carroll and his dance segments illuminate the words and don’t get in the way. All the more underlined by his family ties to Don’t Bother Me I Can’t Cope as his mother, Yvette Glover, and his “auntie” Jean Cheek toured with this show. Don’t Bother Me I Can’t Cope is a musical with a wide variety of musical styles and Glover provides choreography in many styles as well.

Performed by the wonderful cast of Rheaume Crenshaw, Dayna Dantzler, Aisha de Haas, James T. Lane, and Wayne Pretlow, Don’t Bother Me I Can’t Cope made for a thoughtful and rejuvenating evening’s entertainment.

Without question this musical’s exuberance, joy, and optimism should be experienced by a wider audience, and I hope that this concert version will have a future as a fully produced version.

Mummenschanz Premieres You & Me

Gerald W. Lynch Theatre

July 11, 2018

By Mark Kappel

Mummenschanz, also known as “The Musicians of Silence”, premiered a new show, “You &Me” at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College as part of a return New York engagement after an absence of nearly four years. This limited New York engagement will be from July 4 – 22, 2018.

Mummenschanz was formed in 1972 by Swiss artists, Bernie Schurch and Andres Bossard with Floriana Frassetto. The company’s unique contribution to dance theatre was its presentations of short theatre/dance vignettes using geometric shapes, puppets, visual images and lighting which proved to be revolutionary, visionary, and insightful.

Mummenschanz’s new show, “You & Me” was created by the company’s co-founder, Floriana Frassetto (who also appears in this show) in collaboration with Tina Kronis and Richard Alger featuring new material as well as vignettes from past shows which are aimed at a family audience that includes some audience participation – all presented in about 80 intermissionless minutes.

“You & Me” opens with a short prologue that readies the audience for the fantasy that the audience will experience. The connected vignettes make their points quickly and move on – and revealed is humor that surfaces in every day aspects of our lives.

Dominating the piece are two over-sized hands that make contact with each other and other participants in this piece as well as a surprised audience. Geometric shapes are manipulated to create characters which interact with each other and which are particularly successful in the striking images of the creatures of the sea, and musical instruments that have their own perspective of how they fit into the musical universe.

Besides the unique concepts that crafted by the creators of “You & Me” much credit goes to the cast members who execute and fashion the miraculous images that are part of this very entertaining evening. Those tasks are vested in the expertise of cast members, Floriana Frassetto, Christa Lee-Anne Barrett, Kevin Blaser, Sara Francesca Hermann, and Oliver Pfulg.

In seeing this overview of Mummenschanz’s vignettes and presentations one realizes how much artistic influence the company has in the last few decades. I don’t think we would have had Cirque du Soleil or Philobolus without them.

Mummenschanz’s amazing and unique form of entertainment will make you smile!

Classic Stage Company’s Carmen Jones

Classic Stage Company

June 27, 2018

By Mark Kappel

The Classic Stage Company has premiered its long-awaited revival of Oscar Hammerstein II’s Carmen Jones which will be performed through July 29, 2018.

For Carmen Jones, Oscar Hammerstein brilliantly adapted the familiar and iconic Georges Bizet opera, Carmen, transporting the story to America – in Chicago – at the time of the Second World War. Carmen, known as Carmen Jones (played by Anika Noni Rose) in Hammerstein’s adaptation, is a parachute maker at a factory who has initiated a rocky relationship with Joe, an airman, (played by Clifton Duncan) and is also pursued by a prizefighter, Husky Miller, (played by David Aron Damane) forming a love triangle that is similar to the love triangle that exists in Bizet’s opera.

The plot in this adaptation is crystal clear as Carmen Jones has designs on Joe but he has his eyes on another, Cindy Lou (played by Lindsay Roberts) who Joe is planning to marry. However Carmen picks a fight with another woman resulting in Carmen’s arrest, Joe’s military pass is cancelled, and he is lumbered in having to transport Carmen to the next town’s civilian police.

Along the way Carmen charms him and escapes with Joe being put into the stockade for allowing Carmen to do so. Although Carmen waits for Joe’s release from the stockade, it doesn’t take long before she casts her eyes on Husky Miller, a prizefighter, and she abandons Joe.

In another reckless moment, Carmen demands that Frankie (played by Soara-Joye Ross) read Carmen’s “cards” coming up with the Nine of Spades – the card of Death revealing Carmen’s fate. Joe’s former love, Cindy Lou tries to salvage her relationship with Joe but he is hopelessly in love with Carmen, and Cindy Lou’s efforts to win back Joe are futile. Joe tries to convince Carmen to return to him, but she rejects him – and Joe kills her. Carmen’s fate comes to pass.

Carmen Jones’ passions are unleashed, and creates chaos everywhere she goes although it is a bit of a slow journey getting to this musical’s climax. Yet this interpretation of Bizet’s Carmen is timely and it is as scandalous and sensational as it would have been when the opera was originally premiered.

The story is told in the Classic Stage Company’s small theatre with scenic details consisting of boxes of materials needed to make parachutes – and parachute fabric is also used in one scene where it is suspended overhead. Even with this minimal décor, there is a sense of the locations that this story takes place in. With the original music by Bizet, Hammerstein adapted the book and lyrics, and in re-telling the story of Carmen Jones, it is performed by an all African-American cast – this is a revival that is long-awaited as there haven’t been all that many in New York since Carmen Jones premiered on Broadway in 1945.

The Classic Stage Company’s artistic director, John Doyle, is at the helm of this revival with choreography by Bill T. Jones, costume design by Ann Hould-Ward and set design by Scott Pask. Minimal is the word of the day in terms of the design of this production. However the narrative and images are clear, with the music and Hammerstein’s lyrics well sung and articulated.

Anika Noni Rose gives a virtuoso performance in the title role but just as notable are Lindsay Roberts as Cindy Lou, Clifton Duncan as Joe, David Aron Damane, and Soara-Joye Ross as Frankie. The ensemble players also provide excellent support.

The cast enhances Hammerstein’s adaptation and Doyle’s concept, and brings this updated version of Bizet’s iconic opera into perspective – and reflects its timeliness.

The Classic Stage Company’s Carmen Jones is a musical theatre event that should have a wider audience, and I hope that at least this production’s engagement will be extended, if not moved to a larger off-Broadway theatre or to Broadway – and also a must that this production be recorded for posterity.

American Ballet Theatre – Don Quixote

Metropolitan Opera House

June 26, 2018

By Mark Kappel

As American Ballet Theatre’s Metropolitan Opera House season is soon to come to an end, the company is performing a comic ballet that has become an audience favorite – that of Don Quixote – which for American Ballet Theatre has been co-staged by Kevin McKenzie and Susan Jones, and premiered in 1995.

The story of Don Quixote is taken from a chapter in Miguel Cervantes’ iconic novel and tells the story of Kitri, an innkeeper’s daughter, whose father wants to make the best match he can with one of the town’s noble aristocrats, Gamache. While all of this plotting is in the works it is revealed that Kitri is much more interested in Basilio, a local barber who has little substance to offer Kitri.

Offering his help the Don steps in to encourage these two young lovers, which involves an escape to a gypsy camp, the Don getting hit on the head and imagining he has found his ideal love, Dulcinea, in a romantic dream vision, a comic tavern scene, and the third act of this ballet which celebrates the wedding of Kitri and Basilio – becoming a thrilling tribute to virtuoso dancing.

The farce, the shenanigans, and the visionary beauty in this ballet are supported by the Spanish-flavored score composed by Ludwig Minkus.

This is a comic ballet and not too much to take seriously here, but the structure of Don Quixote mirrors that of other late 19th century ballets that Marius Petipa choreographed including a dream or vision scene which is the heart of this Don Quixote’s second act. The choreography is a true test of the principals down to the soloists and corps de ballet.

On June 26th, 2018 the principal cast members where Christine Shevchenko as Kitri, James Whiteside as Basil, Zhong Jing Fang as Mercedes, and Blaine Hoven as Espada.

There was great chemistry among all of these dancers who gave spirited and secure performances in their roles. Shevchenko is a super turner, and Whiteside is an excellent partner jumping the virtuoso technical hurdles in the choreography. Both Fang and Hoven displayed their flair for the Spanish-flavored choreography and also the comic humor in their parts. In addition Katherine Williams was a regal Queen of the Dryads and Rachel Richardson was suitably childish as the Cupid in this ballet’s Act II Vision Scene. All of these dancers contributed to the animated, and dazzling performance of this ballet.

It should be known that the Don is played by a character dancer and doesn’t play a huge role in the ballet named after him, but was effectively and sympathetically portrayed by Clinton Luckett , along with his compatriot Sancho Panza portrayed by Sean Stewart. These dancers in the totality of this boisterous ballet all play important parts in the humor and vitality that this ballet radiates.

This week American Ballet Theatre will be presenting many debuts in Don Quixote yet another reason to experience the fun taking place at the Metropolitan Opera House.

American Ballet Theatre – Swan Lake

Metropolitan Opera House

June 21, 2018

By Mark Kappel

American Ballet Theatre has been consistently dancing its production of Swan Lake during its Metropolitan Opera House seasons and this season is no exception. The current production that the company dances is credited to Kevin McKenzie and premiered in 2000. It is a production that adheres to the Marius Petipa/Lev Ivanov concept, structure, and storyline, and features opulent designs by Zack Brown.

But there are also unique aspects of this production that make this production of Swan Lake different from others. Among the principal changes is that this production is presented in two parts with one intermission, the role of Von Rothbart is portrayed by two different dancers – one of whom steals Act III in this ballet – and there is also the Prologue in which Odette is transformed into a swan. Not all of these changes are fully integrated into this production of Swan Lake but remain the curiosities that they are.

And it is also notable how the dancers in the principal roles – and also rising stars in supporting roles – contribute to the performances of American Ballet Theatre’s production of Swan Lake.

In the performance on June 21, 2018, a relative newcomer to Swan Lake, Devon Teuscher, danced the dual role of Odette/Odile with Cory Stearns as Prince Siegfried. Although there were times that Teuscher’s Odette lacked royal dignity or softness, in contract her Odile was devilish and evil and was danced confidently – particularly the fouettes in the Black Swan Pas de Deux. Cory Stearns’ Prince Siegfried was aristocratic and dramatically involved, as well as his being an excellent partner, and danced cleanly in his solos and variations. This pairing in many aspects was ideal and true to the themes of the ballet itself.

In this production of Swan Lake, the role of Von Rothbart is danced by two different dancers. Roman Zhurbin portraying the magician/monster alter ego, and Thomas Forster representing Von Rothbart’s art as a seducer. Forster’s Von Rothbart was a bit of a scene stealer in Act III where he seduced the Queen Mother, and Siegfried’s prospective brides dancing a solo choreographed to the ballet’s Russian Dance.

This performance was also notable for the youthful enthusiasm and clean execution of the choreography by Katherine Williams, Catherine Hurlin, and Blaine Hoven in the Act I Pas de Deux, and Rachel Richardson, Betsy McBride, Nicole Graniero and Skylar Brandt as the Cygnettes, and the commanding performances of Zhong-Jing Fang and Stephanie Williams as the Two Big Swans.

Anticipating performances of Swan Lake danced by American Ballet Theatre during its annual Metropolitan Opera House is one of the highlights of the New York dance season.

Paper Mill Playhouse Presents Half Time

Paper Mill Playhouse

June 16, 2018

By Mark Kappel

The Paper Mill Playhouse’s last offering of its 2017-18 season is a new musical, Half Time, which is being given its East Coast premiere from May 31 through July 1, 2018. Half Time had received its world premiere in a tryout engagement in Chicago in 2016, a project that had initially involved Marvin Hamlisch, and is inspired by a documentary, Dori Berinstein’s Gotta Dance, about the New Jersey Nets’ holding an audition for the first ever NBA senior hip-hop squad.

Half Time’s story is about such senior dancers who have auditioned for a cheer leading squad for the New Jersey Cougars -- all are over 60 with something to prove. Besides their age one of the challenges is that they have to learn to dance in the hip-hop style. Their journey is the heart of this entertaining and heart-warming musical. Half Time has the themes of A Chorus Line and also a Cinderella story which keeps the audience involved and heightens the anticipation of what these seniors will produce and how they succeed in the end.

Each one of these veteran performers is a character whose story is expressed in meaningful musical numbers. Notable are Andre De Shields as Ron who reminiscences about the life he had with his wife and what might be in store for him in the future – and what he wanted to prove by being part of this cheering squad. Lillias White’s Bea is squaring a relationship with her granddaughter while also warning her granddaughter about her future with a married basketball player, Donna McKechnie’s Joanne is dealing with a painful divorce and wanting to dance professionally again, and Georgia Engel’s Dorothy is a dedicated kindergarten teacher who sees potential in every student and is also up to date with musical trends.

These stories of these seniors are presented in particular poignant moments as de Shields sings about his relationship with his wife in The Prince of Swing, Lori Tan Chinn as Mae who describes the changes in her husband due to the illness of old age in “The Waters Rise”, Donna McKechnie as Joanne who expresses her need to dance again in “Too Good for This” – reminiscent of The Music and the Mirror from Chorus Line – and Nancy Ticotin as Camilla declaring that age shouldn’t matter in “Como No?”.

But what is most important is the realization that seniors have something to offer to society rather than being written off.

Half Time’s score includes music by Marvin Hamlisch and Ester Dean, but is comprised mainly of the music composed by Matthew Sklar with lyrics by Nell Benjamin, is integral in expressing the feelings and warmth of these seniors, and a book by Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin that includes self-deprecating humor without being preachy. Half Time is directed by Jerry Mitchell – and Mitchell shares co-choreography credit with Nick Kenkel – and deserves much credit for the coherent message in Half Time and also developing the wonderful performances that you see on stage.

In short Half Time is uplifting and inspirational – two words that might be used too often – but you have to admire the characters in this musical and what they achieve.

American Ballet Theatre – Romeo and Juliet

Metropolitan Opera House

June 14, 2018

By Mark Kappel

The ballet, Romeo and Juliet, based on William Shakespeare’s tragic play, has now become a component of the bread and butter repertoire that most ballet companies have been performing through the latter half of the 20th century -- and now in the 21st century. Shakespeare’s play has universal elements and has inspired by many choreographers.

American Ballet Theatre acquired Kenneth MacMillan’s version of Romeo and Juliet in 1984 and has performed this Romeo and Juliet on a consistent basis ever since. MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet was given its world premiere by the Royal Ballet in 1965, and Nicholas Georgiadis designed the costumes and scenery for that production and did the same for American Ballet Theatre’s production. This is a production of Romeo and Juliet created in the opulent and grand opera house manner.

In a sense American Ballet Theatre’s acquisition of MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet re-initiated a relationship between MacMillan and ABT which was further cemented during the time period when MacMillan was one of American Ballet Theatre’s associate artistic directors. His many other ballets that have been acquired by American Ballet Theatre in the past are not consistently performed by American Ballet Theatre in recent seasons, which is unfortunate, as MacMillan was a masterful and provocative choreographer – particularly when it came to story ballets. Over the years American Ballet Theatre has re-minted MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet.

During this current Metropolitan Opera House engagement, American Ballet Theatre is fielding several debuts in this ballet’s principal roles. On June 14, 2018, the roles of the star-crossed lovers were danced by Stella Abrera and James Whiteside.

Abrera’s debut in this role has been late in her dancing career but perhaps that is the reason why she brings her acting and artistic experience to this role. Her Juliet discovers that she can no longer play with dolls and must face an adult life that will be filled with constrictions. Even her moodiness is apparent in her first meeting with Paris, who proves no more than a distraction when she meets Romeo. Whiteside’s Romeo is ardent and impetuous – someone who falls in love too easily. Overall this was an excellent pairing.

American Ballet Theatre also offered outstanding performances in supporting roles including the nimble Mercutio of Arron Scott, the bullying Tybalt of Alexandre Hammoudi, Thomas Forster’s self-confident Paris, and the three comic harlots played by Stephanie Williams, Zhong-Jing Fang, and April Giangeruso – and the corps de ballet giving the crowd scenes spontaneity.

This was a performance of Romeo and Juliet that was action-packed and succeeded well in telling Shakespeare’s tragic tale.

New York Philharmonic Presents Foreign Bodies Featuring The Music of Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Boston Ballet

David Geffen Hall

June 8, 2018

By Mark Kappel

On June 8, 2018 at David Geffen Hall, the New York Philharmonic presented a program of music entitled Foreign Bodies which featured music composed and conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, and also featured the world premiere of a video installation, a violin concerto and a collaborative performance with the Boston Ballet. This one-time concert represented an interdisciplinary format and also marked the end – and a celebration -- of Salonen’s three year relationship with the New York Philharmonic as the orchestra’s Marie-Josee Kravis Composer-in-Residence.

Salonen’s Foreign Bodies, was performed as a collaboration of the New York Philharmonic and video artist Tal Rosner. In Foreign Bodies, Rosner manipulated live-feed images of the New York Philharmonic, reflecting Salonen’s pulsating music which represented visual images including ribbons of light, and even the impressionist representation of icicles.

Also featured was Daniel Bjarnason’s Violin Concerto with Pekka Kuusisto as the violin soloist, written for Kuusisto who co-curated the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s 2017 Reykjavik Festival with Salonen. Bjarnason’s Violin Concerto offered a performance showcase for Kuusisto who played the music aggressively – with physical abandon and even whistling in sections – but bringing the violin concerto to a thought-providing end.

Concluding the performance was Wayne McGregor’s Obsidian Tear, danced by members of the Boston Ballet, and a co-production of the Royal Ballet (given its world premiere in 2016) and the Boston Ballet premiering the ballet in 2017.

Obsidian Tear was choreographed to Salonen’s Lachen verlernt, a solo chaconne for violin, and the tone poem, Nyx, which references the Greek goddess of night.

As resident choreographer for the Royal Ballet and artistic director of his own company, McGregor has drawn on medical studies and legends for his pieces. In this instance, he titled the work after the Native American legend about obsidian, a volcanic rock formed when lava cools rapidly: a tribe of Indian warriors lead to their deaths over a cliff rather than be defeated by the invading U.S. cavalry and their families’ tears become obsidian.

McGregor’s signature choreography is that of modern dance and post modern dance which is compromised of constant and random movement, and tends towards repetition for emphasis.

This work has been choreographed for an ensemble of nine male dancers beginning with a duet and then woven into movement reflecting aspects of warriors, survival, and violence. One of the dancers – the only dancer costumed in red and seems to be established outside of the community -- is ostracized by the group and pushed towards his end. Just as the piece began another pairing of male dancers are in conflict with one of those dancers coming to an abrupt end. Obsidian Tear also includes many references to The Rite of Spring, and generic references to ritual.

This all-male dancer work for nine dancers was danced by Paul Craig, Roddy Doble, Derek Dunn, Lasha Khozashvili, John Lam, Patric Palkens, Lawrence Rines, Matthew Slattery, and Junxiong Zhao, once more showing the high dancing standard of the Boston Ballet.

The New York Philharmonic presented a wonderful collaboration of music, dance, and virtuoso performances.

American Ballet Theatre Dances La Bayadere

Metropolitan Opera House

May 30, 2018

By Mark Kappel

Ever since American Ballet Theatre premiered Natalia Makarova’s full-length production of La Bayadere in 1980, the company has grown into the ballet, and it has become one of the company’s signature ballets. Up until 1980, primarily it was Russian ballet companies that produced and performed full-length productions of La Bayadere, although Rudolf Nureyev brought the Kingdom of the Shades to the West in his production for the Royal Ballet.

The ballet, La Bayadere, has a story that is exotic and also full of passion. Taking place against the exotic atmosphere of India where both the High Brahmin and Solor are competing for the affection of an Indian temple dancer, Nikiya, although as in typical Romantic ballets, Solor also has other romantic obligations – that of Gamzatti, the Rajah’s daughter. When Gamzatti sees competition for Solor’s love in Nikiya, she tries to do whatever she can to dissuade Nikiya from returning Solor’s affections, and when Nikiya refuses to do so, revenge, death and destruction follows.

This story is performed with the support of Ludwig Minkus lilting and dramatic melodies yet there is a sense of the mystical that is India.

La Bayadere’s passion filled plot doesn’t obscure the wonderful dancing that is in the ballet. Besides the well-known Kingdom of the Shades, there is also the Wedding Divertissement of Solor and Gamzatti that is remarkable suite of virtuoso dancing.

Makarova also chose to reconstruct the last act of La Bayadere in which Nikiya’s spirit appears and disrupts the marriage of Gamzatti and Solor bringing the aforementioned death and destruction Also this production of La Bayadere is notable for the opera-like scenery designs by Pier Luigi Samaritani, and the costume designs by Theoni V. Aldredge.

On May 30th, 2018, Sarah Lane assumed the role of Nikiya, with Herman Cornejo portraying the role of Solor, and Skylar Brandt dancing the role of Gamzatti. These roles brought out the best in these dancers both as dancers and also as involved participants in the story-telling inherent in the choreography of this ballet. Lane has carefully etched her portrayal of Nikiya, and as did Cornejo as Solor, who gave a strong virtuoso performance. Lane and Cornejo were well suited to each other. As Gamzatti Brandt brought the necessary grandness.

Also spotlighting the company’s depth of talented dancers, the Shades variations were commandingly danced by Zhong Jing Fang, April Giangeruso, and Catherine Hurlin. Joseph Gorak danced smoothly and precisely as the Golden Idol.

Throughout the performance the entire company was spirited and energized which refreshed Makarova’s production of La Bayadere.

The Beast in the Jungle

Vineyard Theatre

May 23, 2018

By Mark Kappel

The Vineyard Theatre has been a launching pad for new plays and new musicals, and has forged a close artistic association with the composer John Kander. For this reason the Vineyard Theatre’s presentation of John Kander’s The Beast in the Jungle, which is being performed from May 23 – June 17, 2018 is significant.

Described as an original dance play, John Kander has provided the music, David Thompson has provided the libretto, and Susan Stroman has provided the direction and choreography. For Stroman this was not the first time she has created a theatre piece dominated by dance alone – as she is particularly known for her award-winning Contact.

The Beast in the Jungle is based on the Henry James 1903 novella focusing on John Marcher, a man haunted by personal demons – and how he copes with a love affair -- an unconventional love affair with a captivating woman who probably was the love of his life. Marcher’s romance was with May Bartram who he met during his travels in Italy – meeting her and re-meeting her several years later, and they decide to live in London but not together in the same house. They do grow old together and they are companions but Marcher dwells on a secret that May keeps and the mystery is whether that secret will be resolved during their lifetimes. It is only after May passes on that Marcher realizes he might have lived a more fulfilling life if he had been able to love May.

In this version of The Beast in the Jungle, James’ story has been refitted for the 21st century with remembrances of this passionate relationship from the 20th century. Marcher recounts the details of his love affair with May to his young nephew who is going through a break-up with his girlfriend. Marcher (played by Peter Friedman) narrates his own story as the older Marcher weaveing in and out of his own narrative while his younger self (played by Tony Yazbeck – who also plays Marcher’s nephew) is depicted in the many waves of emotion that the story presents.

Marcher meets May in 1960’s Naples and shares a romantic interlude in Pompeii. Their short-lived affair ends as Marcher abandons the relationship due to his demons and he suddenly disappears. Marcher reacts much in the same manner when he re-meets May years later, when as an art dealer, Marcher comes into contact with May’s husband. Although their passion is reignited, Marcher again abandons May, and when they meet again for the last time – years later – May is dying and time has run out on their relationship.

The passionate moments between Marcher and May are expressed in dance sequences in which Marcher’s demons are represented in the visual images of the beast – choreography that moves from one dance style to another which is complimented by Ben Stanton’s lighting designs.

Emotions, and high points and low points might have been expressed in song, but in this instance they are expressed in dance.

Kander’s music is “romantic” in its nature with violin and harp dominating, and a throwback to the 19th century. Somehow moving this story to more recent memory rather than its historical context of the 19th century has lost some of its impact, and the book needs some careful coloration for that reason. As James’ novella reflects the themes of other well-known 19th century romantic tales –Anna Karenina and Eugene Onegin, and the novels of Jane Austen – come to mind, the transposition of James’ story from one century to another loses some of the story’s social sensibility.

There are no songs to be sung in The Beast in the Jungle and this well intended effort by John Kander and Susan Stroman is adventurous in breaking new theatrical ground.

The strength of this production of The Beast in the Jungle comes from the excellent cast of Peter Friedman as John Marcher, Tony Yazbeck as Marcher’s Nephew and as the Young Marcher, former American Ballet Theatre ballerina, Irina Dvorovenko as May Bertram, and Teagle F. Bougere as May’s Husband.

The Beast in the Jungle shows great promise, and represents a unique evening in the theatre.

Paris Opera Ballet – Cinema Screening

Florence Gould Hall

May 20, 2018

By Mark Kappel

The French Institute Alliance Francaise presented a cinema screening of the Paris Opera Ballet at Florence Gould Hall on May 20, 2018 for what is a rare glimpse of this company on American shores. Now that major American presenters are not as active as they had been in the past, foreign tours by major European ballet companies are a rarity.

This particular mixed-bill program was curated by Benjamin Millepied during his first season as artistic director of the Paris Opera Ballet and seemed oddly familiar to a New York audience as it mirrored what one might see the New York City Ballet dance. Since the original screening of this program, Millepied has left the post at the Paris Opera Ballet, and the company has begun a new artistic past with a different artistic director.

The program opened with a new work choreographed by Millepied, Clear, Loud, Bright, Forward with a commissioned score by Nico Muhly. This is a work for sixteen dancers – virtually an ensemble work – which was to showcase the younger dancers of the company. The choreographic vocabulary was classical, but clearly there was a contemporary veneer. The piece was distinguished more by the mobile lighting effects which defined different shapes and segments of the stage with the sections of this dance piece defined by blackouts. In some instances the moving lights were paced much faster than the dancers who were dancing this rather random choreography which was heavily influenced by Jerome Robbins, George Balanchine, and William Forsythe.

Although there was certainly lots of movement – the male dancers rarely had their individual moments and were primarily used to partner the female dancers – it all seemed amorphous and random.

In contrast was Jerome Robbins’ Opus 19/The Dreamer created for the New York City Ballet in 1979 with the cast of Patricia McBride and Mikhail Baryshnikov, and choreographed to Sergei Prokofiev’s first violin concerto. Here the Paris Opera Ballet’s principal cast of Amandine Albisson and Matthias Heymann depicted a man chasing an elusive image of a woman with every dancer helping to create the subtle atmosphere on stage. Represented was Robbins’ personal response to the music and the images which suited the Paris Opera Ballet’s dancers.

The program ended with a rousing finale, George Balanchine’s Theme and Variations, which Balanchine created for American Ballet Theatre in 1947 and choreographed to the finale section of Tchaikovsky’s Third Orchestral Suite. The dancers in the principal roles, Laura Hecquet and Josua Hoffatt, projected the appropriate grandeur and elegance in Balanchine’s ballet with both Hecquet and Hoffatt easily dancing through the technical demands in their solo variations and the pas de deux. It was beautiful to see Theme and Variations danced in the grand manner it deserves.

As this particular cinema screening is about two years old, I hope that the French Institute Alliance will screen more of the Paris Opera Ballet’s recent performances in the future, and give us the chance to see this magnificent company more often.

American Ballet Theatre Opens Its Metropolitan Opera House Season with Giselle

Metropolitan Opera House

May 17, 2018

By Mark Kappel

American Ballet Theatre opened its Metropolitan Opera House season with its production of Giselle, a production staged by Kevin McKenzie, which has been a signature ballet in the company’s repertoire. American Ballet Theatre first performed Giselle in 1940, in a staging by Anton Dolin, and has regularly performed Giselle to this day. American Ballet Theatre’s production of Giselle, based on the choreography by Jules Perrot, Jean Coralli, and Marius Petipa, is straightforward in its story-telling. It makes for an excellent showcase for the dancers, and an opportunity to watch the dancers tackle a work choreographed in the Romantic style.

Among the 19th century classics, Giselle holds a special place as it was created in the earlier half of the 19th century -- in 1841 -- and was premiered at the Paris Opera Ballet. Most stagings of this ballet come down to us from the staging created by Marius Petipa for the Mariinsky Ballet. Unfortunately Giselle is not a ballet that is often performed by ballet companies around the world – and especially not so in the United States. The ballet is a challenge for the dancers to master a particular style of ballet, and also to be accomplished as dance actors.

The familiar story of Giselle is that of a peasant girl who is betrayed by an aristocrat, Count Albrecht, who masquerades as a peasant and seduces her. When this ruse is revealed by Hilarion, a rival suitor, Giselle descends into madness and dies of a broken heart. The second act is filled with mystery and theatrical allusion as Giselle’s spirit is revealed to a remorseful Albrecht, and she forgives him for his betrayal. The story-telling in Giselle is detailed and succinct and offers a great deal of dancing.

What makes any performance of Giselle come alive are the interpretations of the leading characters, and the dancing of the ballet itself. On May 17, 2018, Stella Abrera and Cory Stearns took on the roles of Giselle and Albrecht, and Katherine Williams danced the role of Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis.

Abrera proved herself to be an excellent dance actress, convincingly playing the romantic heroine who is mistreated by men, and her mad scene was emotional, expressive, and detailed. Abrera was also appropriately ethereal as Giselle’s vision and spirit in Act II. Stearns was appropriately cold and arrogant which made his remorse in the second act – and Giselle’s forgiveness – more dramatically effective. Katherine Williams was a commanding Queen of the Wilis – all powerful and the ruler of her kingdom – a worthy rival, and a challenge for Giselle to mollify.

Also notable was Alexei Agoudine as Hilarion who portrayed the character as desperately in love with Giselle and equally devastated by her death. In Giselle, American Ballet Theatre’s corps de ballet, playing the spirits of the jilted brides, is an important element in creating the malevolent and mysterious atmosphere in the second act which was superbly led by Kaho Ogawa as Moyna, and Stephanie Williams as Zulma.

Giselle speaks to American Ballet Theatre’s tradition, and seems to deepen with each season’s performances.

City Center Encores Presents Me and My Girl

City Center

May 11, 2018

By Mark Kappel

City Center Encores rarely presents concert versions of musicals that had their premieres in Europe. From May 9-13, 2018, City Center Encores is presenting such a musical, Me and My Girl, a British musical comedy that premiered in 1937 – aptly referred to as The Lambeth Walk Musical – and was successfully revived in London in 1985 and given its Broadway debut in 1986. Robert Lindsey played the role of the rags to riches Bill Snibson, the focal character in Me and My Girl both in London and on Broadway, and this musical captured the hearts of American audiences.

Me and My Girl is the story of Bill Snibson, who rises from poverty to the position of Earl of Hereford. Presented as a bit of a social misfit – but gifted with street smarts – he wreaks havoc on high society, and realizes what he might be giving up in order to keep his riches, his girlfriend, and self-respect -- a story told in the British music hall tradition and comic farce.

Bill Snibson (played by Christian Borle) stumbles along the way as he tries to fit into upper crust society while also trying to balance the love he has for his girlfriend, Sally Smith (played by Laura Michelle Kelly), who shows her loyalty to Snibson whether he is rich or poor. Snibson finds allies in Lady Jacqueline Carstone (played by Lisa O’Hare) after her efforts of seduction do not succeed, as well as the family solicitor, Douglas Herbert Parchester (played by Don Stephenson), Sir John Tremayne (played by Chuck Cooper), and Maria Duchess of Dene (played by Harriet Harris).

Snibson’s story is a bit like a male Pygmalion – and there are references made to the well known musical, My Fair Lady. And the play on words throughout Me and My Girl is also what makes this musical hilarious as Snibson is finding his way among the stuffy aristocrats.

Me and My Girl includes a score with music by Noel Gay with book and lyrics by L. Arthur Rose and Douglas Furber with additional contributions by Mike Ockrent and a revised book by Stephen Fry. John Weidman has cleverly adapted Me and My Girl for the City Center Encores’ concert version.

Besides the farcical – and sometimes nostalgic and sentimental story -- there is the tuneful score from the well-known “The Lambeth Walk”, “Once You Lose Your Heart”, “Love Makes the World Go Round”, to the title song. There are influences from Gilbert and Sullivan, and the British Music Hall as well.

One’s loses oneself in enjoying the characters antics and seems assured that all will work out in the end.

Me and My Girl is performed by an excellent cast. Christian Borle as Snibson was clownish at times, impish at other times, but his comic timing is impeccable. Similar plaudits for his co-star Laura Michelle Kelly as Sally Smith, as both are triple threats and have combustible chemistry between them.

Harriet Harris channels Margaret Dumont as the Duchess. Her subtle humor and turn of phrase results in her stealing quite a few scenes, and also outstanding are Lisa O’Hare as Lady Carstone, Mark Evans as Bolingbroke, Don Stephenson as Parchester, and Chuck Cooper as Tremayne. But the entire company represented an embarrassment of riches and incredible talent on the stage.

This production of Me and My Girl was skillfully directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle who exploited the talents of this superlative cast – and as often is this case Rob Berman in charge of the orchestra added much to the musical elements of Me and My Girl.

And what joy this musical brings in what is a superb version of Me and My Girl and a welcome return to the New York stage.

Unexpected Joy

York Theatre Company at St. Peter’s

April 29, 2018

By Mark Kappel

The York Theatre Company, in its ongoing mission to develop and present new musicals, is playing host to the New York premiere of Unexpected Joy, with book and lyrics by Bill Russell, and music by Janet Hood from April 24 through May 20, 2018.

Unexpected Joy traces the story of three female singers, spanning three generations, who are coming to terms with conflicting tensions, all set in the liberated atmosphere of Provincetown, Massachusetts.

Joy (played by Luba Mason) has organized a memorial concert for the other half of a musical duo she was a part of, Jump and Joy, and it is the planning for this concert and the interactions of family members that are the focus of Unexpected Joy.

Jump and Joy represented the care free and free love generation of the 1960’s, and that relationship was not only a musical one but also a personal one – with the result being a daughter who had a unique place in the “family” as Jump and Joy decided against the convention of marriage as well as other conventions.

Family conflicts flare up when Joy’s conservative daughter, Rachel (played by Courtney Balan), who is married to a well-known televangelist, and her granddaughter, Tamara (played by Celeste Rose) arrive from Oklahoma for the memorial concert, and old wounds are opened. Needless to say Joy is reluctant to inform her family members she is planning to marry – Lou (played by Allyson Kaye Daniel), a singer who happens to be a woman.

The Bohemian grandmother quarrels with her conservative daughter while prejudices of sorts skip a generation where the grandmother has a nurturing relationship with her granddaughter. That relationship blooms in spite of the fact that her granddaughter is a typical rebellious teenager and through her own self-awareness is trying find out who she is and what she wants from life. Lou’s caustic and pointed sense of humor underscores the family conflicts. However these differences are somehow resolved through music, and doing what these women want to do the most which is to sing and make music. That journey is taken with wit, humor, common sense, and introspection by all its travelers.

It is fortunate that the creative team has made sure that all of these characters are well drawn and are enhanced by Unexpected Joy’s excellent cast.

Bill Russell has written an intelligent and witty book, and in combination with Janet Hood, has written a wonderful score that reflects the musical influences of Laura Nyro and Joni Mitchell. Neither the book nor the lyrics are preachy – and are heartfelt emotionally – and this 90-minute musical gets it all in under Amy Anders Corcoran’s expansive direction.

It should be noted that Unexpected Joy will be finding its way to London’s Southwark Playhouse in September.

But while Unexpected Joy is being performed by the York Theatre Company one should experience this humanistic, insightful, and joyous musical.

Australian Comedian Brings a Bit of Australia to New York

Clurman Theatre

April 23, 2018

By Mark Kappel

Australia’s celebrated non-human comedian, Randy, the creation of Heath McIvor, is making his American debut at the Clurman Theatre in a show entitled Randy Writes A Novel, and will be appearing here in New York for a limited engagement until June 10, 2018.

McIvor is an Australian puppeteer, writer and singer, and he has created a character -- a puppet and alter ego, Randy Feltface – whose comedy persona veers between Kermit the Frog and a witty dinner partner – espousing commentary on the humor in our every day experiences.

The premise of this solo show is that Randy has written a novel and wishes to read portions of it at a book event – with a desk on the stage, old books and pages from books surrounding it – and everything goes wrong. But the journey includes story-telling, banter with audience members, and a free-wheeling 85 minutes that covers diverse subjects – all delivered with a wink and a nod.

By not reading portions of his book Randy turns procrastination into a comedic device being irreverent, a little smutty – seasoned with a bit of profanity -- and a funny story or two, and his own thoughts about his life.

Randy’s meanderings include his description of line rage (describing the frustration of New Yorkers facing lines of people to accomplish every day tasks), his abridged biography of Ernest Hemingway, and his bizarre, comedic, and frightening story about his experience buying a book shelf he found in an advertisement on Craig’s List.

Sometimes stream of consciousness and sometimes rambling, McIvor as Randy presents a thoughtful, satiric, funny, and entertaining performance with his own special slant on everyday life – and is a welcome and unique addition to New York’s theatrical season.

Donna Summer Arrives on Broadway

Lunt-Fontanne Theatre

April 23, 2018

By Mark Kappel

Donna Summer was born in Boston, Massachusetts and at the age of 18 she followed her career to Germany where she performed in a production of Hair. And it was in Europe that Summer pursued her career in the recording studio with producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte -- which led to a series of recording successes with Neil Bogard’s Casablanca Records. The rest is history as these associations initiated an international career, and Summer was anointed the Queen of Disco. Literally Summer’s music has become the soundtrack of the lives of people who lived through the 1970’s and 1980’s. And she hasn’t been forgotten.

Summer had been developing her own bio-musical, Ordinary Girl, in which she planned to star in. Director Des McAnuff had been involved in meetings to direct Ordinary Girl, and now directs here for Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, which has arrived on Broadway injected with high energy and splash.

Summer’s career has been immortalized in this Broadway musical bio epic which traces her career from her beginnings and her life ending in 2012 as a victim of lung cancer. Summer had sung in church, and then escaped what was a rather ordinary life in Boston to perform in theatre productions in Germany, gaining experience, a husband, and a child. The seeds were planted for a major singing career as she was one of the pioneers in the genre of disco music and also asserted herself in her business dealings. She cleverly created the foundation for a career that would outlast musical trends.

Included in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical are the back stories of her major hit recordings, and how she protected her career in an industry dominated by men – particularly white men – retaining her individuality and identity, and along the road to success also having to evaluate the price of her fame.

Although she had a charmed career in which she wrote most of her recorded materials, in the mid-1980’s she became part of a controversy – already a born-again Christian – she made anti-gay remarks and became the target of a boycott. This particular controversy was given some illumination in this musical which included an apology for those remarks.

To say the least Summer’s life had its peaks and valleys. All the while her recordings have become part of the American culture.

Summer: The Donna Summer Musical is a throwback to the era when disco music flourished in the many discotheques that existed all over the world. We can now look back on her career with nostalgia but she took her place as one of the titans in American music.

The high energy – and inspiration – is generated on the stage by the multi-talented principal cast members. Playing Diva Donna – and also sometimes Donna’s mother – LaChanze – who showed remarkable stage presence in breaking the fourth wall to also be this musical’s narrator, and Storm Lever plays Duckling Donna (the younger version of Donna Summer) as well as Donna’s daughter, Mimi, while Ariana DeBose plays Disco Donna. These amazingly talented ladies dominate Summer: The Donna Summer Musical with the power of their voices, and their dancing and acting abilities. These are stunning performances.

Also another notable performance is that of Jared Zirilla as Summer’s second husband, Bruce Sudano. And due credit must go to the members of the supporting cast and members of the ensemble who play multiple roles in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.

Director Des McAnuff has taken up the challenge here as both book writer – collaborating with Colman Domingo and Robert Cary – and director to fashion a biographical musical that depicts Summer’s life and also employs the catalogue of Summer’s recordings to punctuate important moments in her life.

There is also the casting device of having female actors playing male roles – a tradition being practiced by the Takarazuka theatre company in Japan -- which is very effective in accentuating the ironies of Summer’s relationships with both men and women during her career, and the complexities that she had to face during her career – as well as the sacrifices she made for her career and also for her family.

Although Summer: The Donna Summer Musical has the components of a juke box musical, we do learn about Summer’s life through this 1 hour 45 minute musical – which is also amply energized by Sergio Trujillo’s choreography.

If your choice for an entertaining evening is to be taking flight with nostalgia and inspiration, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical fits the bill.

Paper Mill Playhouse Presents The Sting

Paper Mill Playhouse

April 14, 2018

By Mark Kappel

The Paper Mill Playhouse, in Milburn, New Jersey, is presenting its second world premiere musical of the season, The Sting, from March 29 through April 29, 2018, which is reported to be Broadway-bound. This musical based on the Universal Pictures’ Academy Award-winning film, which had an original screenplay by David S. Ward, starred the legendary film actors Paul Newman and Robert Redford.

The Sting tells the tale of a pair of con men – a small town grifter, Johnny Hooker (played by J. Harrison Ghee) and a major league hustler Henry Gondorff (Harry Connick, Jr.) who join forces along with other criminal elements to plot the downfall of Chicago’s corrupt racketeer, Doyle Lonnegan (Tom Hewitt). The trail of the con artists drifts from Joliet, Illinois taking them to Chicago in 1936, where Hooker and Gondorff come up with a con where con men and con women are putting on a play for the benefit of their mark. All to wreak revenge on Lonnegan who has killed Luther, an “associate” of Hooker’s.

From the first musical moments in The Sting with onstage trombone player (Lucien Barbarin, who makes his trombone talk), and Kevyn Morrow as the con artist Luther, the audience is transported to Chicago when gangsters dominated the scene – and the intricate con is woven like a tapestry and unravels like an Agatha Christie mystery.

The story is told with the aid of the clever score with music composed by Mark Hollmann and lyrics by Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis with Harry Connick Jr. also contributing four songs. From “You Can’t Trust Nobody” to “The Thrill of the Con”, this story of two con artists getting back at a gangster who killed a fellow con artist in Joliet moves at a brisk pace. The songs are integrated well into the narrative and Bob Martin’s book adaptation provides smart dialogue with Warren Carlyle providing the crisp choreography, and John Rando the free–flowing but detailed direction.

The Scott Joplin signature music from the film – particularly “The Entertainer” is not forgotten – and there are ten Joplin tunes integrated into the score in bits and pieces.

There is never a dull moment in this stage musical of The Sting as there are enough musical numbers and dance numbers to enhance the story-telling and showcase the talented cast members.

Also spicing up the proceedings are Beowulf Boritt’s clever scenery designs which provide a detailed atmosphere for the con.

Both Harry Connick Jr. and J. Harrison Ghee give star performances as they sing, dance and play instruments in The Sting. But The Sting’s cast is an embarrassment of riches featuring the aforementioned Tom Hewitt as Doyle Lonnegan, Peter Benson as The Erie Kid, Janet Dacal as Loretta, Christopher Gurr as J.J. Singleton, Richard Kline as Kid Twist, Kevyn Morrow as Luther, Kate Shindle as Billie, and Robert Wuhl as Snyder. They all contribute towards telling this droll, humorous, and entertaining story.

If The Sting is Broadway-bound the sooner the better as the efforts of this excellent creative team and cast will be seen by even more enthusiastic audiences.

American Repertory Ballet – New and Old

The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College

April 7, 2018

By Mark Kappel

The American Repertory Ballet, based in Princeton and New Brunswick, New Jersey, made its second appearance in New York this season at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College on April 7, 2018. Themed as “Generations: Influences from the Modern Age”, the company presented a triple bill of works which included those of master choreographers, and a new slant on a ballet chestnut.

Two works on the program had commonality, Jose Limon’s There is a Time, and Douglas Martins’ reinterpretation of The Rite of Spring – both ritualistic – one spiritual and the other a new vision of what had originally been conceived as a pagan ritual.

Representative of works by a master choreographer was Jose Limon’s There is a Time, based on the Bible’s Ecclesiastes 3, and choreographed to the music of Norman Dello Joio. There is a Time was given its world premiere in 1956, and was staged for the American Repertory Ballet by Sarah Stackhouse in 2015.

There is a Time, for the most part, is an ensemble work and reflects a feeling of community with a light touch through most of the work and grounded in spirituality. For ballet dancers, Limon’s choreography seems to be the most accessible and compatible which was exemplified in this performance by American Repertory Ballet.

In commemoration of the 10th anniversary of Gerald Arpino’s passing and the 30th anniversary of Robert Joffrey’s passing, presented was Gerald Arpino’s Sea Shadow not seen in New York since the days when the Joffrey Ballet was resident in New York City. Created in 1962, and choreographed to music by Maurice Ravel, in this duet Arpino made references to the tale of Ondine. Exhibited was a simple, and natural melding of ballet and contemporary dance – creating an atmosphere of quiet tension.

Douglas Martin, American Repertory Ballet’s artistic director, offered a different slant in his concept of and choreography for The Rite of Spring. Although he generally kept the original libretto, he has transferred the story to 1961 corporate America which depicted the rituals of office relations, and relationships that are relevant even today.

An ambitious female office worker becomes the Chosen One making known her ambitious as the steals a business man’s suit jacket in an attempt to crash through the glass ceiling – not succeeding and being ostracized by both the men and the women working for this mythical corporation.

There are choreographic references to Vaslav Nijinsky’s version of The Rite of Spring as well as references to every day work chores – including the women sitting at their desks typing as if their lives depended upon it. Office intrigue and office politics are also represented – and the office workers seem to be crusading against the system of pigeon-holing men and women in defined roles as men are presented as decision-makers and ripe for promotion and success.

Because we rarely see the Joffrey Ballet here in New York these days, it is assuring that Robert Joffrey’s legacy and spirit is remembered with this genre of programming by a ballet company in the New York metropolitan area.—and also that the company is finding the financial wherewithal to appear in New York City on a regular basis.

Dance Theatre of Harlem at the City Center

City Center

April 6, 2018

By Mark Kappel

The Dance Theatre of Harlem’s City Center engagement from April 4-7, 2018 commemorates the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The impact of that tragic event inspired Arthur Mitchell and Karl Shook to found the Dance Theatre of Harlem in 1969.

The program presented for this auspicious occasion referenced the past, as well as performing company premieres, and a New York premiere.

The first of the two company premieres was George Balanchine’s Valse Fantaisie which Balanchine choreographed to Mikhail Glinka’s music. In this instance dancing a version of Valse Fantaisie which dates back to 1953. The choreography is pristine and musical, and deceptive in its simplicity – filled with elegance and no pretense. It is a superb learning experience for the Dance Theatre of Harlem dancers as it would be for any company. This particular work is pure neo-classicism with five women and only one man in its cast which was led by Alison Stroming and Da’Von Doane successfully making their way through this challenging choreography.

The second company premiere was Christopher Wheeldon’s pas de deux, This Bitter Earth, choreographed to a music alchemy of Max Richter’s string-dominated piece, On The Nature of Daylight, and Dinah Washington’s distinguished version of Clyde Otis’ This Bitter Earth, which Wheeldon created for the New York City Ballet in 2012. Influenced by Balanchine neo-classic choreography is inherent in the style of this piece which was wonderfully danced here by Crystal Serrano and Jorge Andres Villarini.

The New York premiere was Darrell Grand Moultrie’s Harlem On My Mind, Moultrie’s third work for the Dance Theatre of Harlem, choreographed to music by Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Wynton Marsalis and others. Moultrie’s choreography was a pastiche of classical ballet and jazz dance forms and Moultrie choreographed to songs from the Great American Songbook. He managed to meld the dance and music together but he was most interesting and inventive in doing so in solos danced by Anthony Santos and Ingrid Silva.

Returning to the Dance Theatre of Harlem’s repertoire is Geoffrey Holder’s iconic, Dougla, a dance piece that presented the marriage ceremony as a pageant and drawn from his own cultural experience in Trinidad. Dougla is a spectacle for the eyes and ears, colorful in its choreography, the music and costume designs – and stylized in its own individual manner. Here you have the nobility of goddesses and warriors being portrayed in what had been – and I hope will be – one of the Dance Theatre of Harlem’s signature works. Dougla’s wedding couple was Ingrid Silva and Anthony Santos. Dance Theatre of Harlem’s ranks were enlarged by additional dancers from College Dance Collective. As one of the Dance Theatre of Harlem’s past successes, it was encouraging to see Holder’s Dougla being performed by the company once again.

After the performance the audience was treated to a talk by Carmen de Lavallade, who provided essential information in regard to this re-staging of her husband’s work, as well as Leo Holder who supervised this magnificent staging of Dougla.

This program was seeing Dance Theatre in all its glory!

Something Wonderful – Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Broadway Revolution

By Mark Kappel

Something Wonderful – Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Broadway Revolution by Todd Purdum and published by Henry Holt and Company, examines the lives and work of the composer/lyricist team that was for the ages – and that much more intriguing because Purdum is much better known as a writer who specializes in politics.

This is a well-researched and descriptive monograph about these giants in their fields. Creators of such classic musicals as Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, Flower Drum Song, The Sound of Music, and the television version of Cinderella, Rodgers and Hammerstein became a phenomenon whose musicals are still enjoyed to this day and will probably be enjoyed by audiences into the distant future. They joined forces after working with other collaborators, self-producing their musicals and took control over the film treatments of their musicals – and also produced musicals by other composers. They were truly men of the theatre – and devoting as much of their time to creation as they did to the business aspects of show business.

They began working together in 1943 with Oklahoma! and created a new show every other year for 14 years. Rodgers and Hammerstein in integrating narrative, song and dance transformed the American musical, and also grappled with controversial subject matter at the time with skill and respect. Also interesting is that they rarely worked in the same room. Rodgers was quick in composing while Hammerstein would take his time in developing suitable lyrics. Also brought up by Purdum in his book is the fact that Rodgers and Hammerstein may not have really liked each other all that much.

Other books have been written about these two amazing men not to mention interviews they gave during their lifetimes. So what is different about Something Wonderful and Purdum’s analysis of their careers that we didn’t know before?

One of the unique narrative techniques used by Purdum is having both Rodgers and Hammerstein quoted often as if this book is being presented to the reader on a first hand basis. Purdum tells the individual stories of Rodgers and Hammerstein in their early days and dramatically sets the stage for them to reach a point in their lives when they were ready to be collaborators.

Of course there are the bits of interesting background information such as the possibility of casting Mary Martin in the role of Laurey in Oklahoma!, and the fact that Larry Hart – with his translating skills – translated Ferenc Molnar’s Liliom, which was used as foundation for Carousel, receiving no public credit for doing so. Also engrossing are the details and history of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s successes and failures – included among the failures, Allegro, Me and Juliet, and Pipe Dream, and successes including Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music.

In Purdum’s description and details of the development of The King and I, mentioned are the number of people who were encouraging Rodgers and Hammerstein to do this musical and how they would exploit the talents of the musical’s star, Gertrude Lawrence. Of particular interest was Richard Rodgers’ advice to Jerome Robbins when Robbins was struggling with the concept and tone for the Uncle Tom’s Cabin Ballet in The King and I – which was to approach the piece from a comic viewpoint but still convey the serious message that was required.

Rodgers and Hammerstein were excellent businessmen getting the best advice they could find. That advice included producing their own work, and also producing the work of others. Their maiden voyage as producers was the Broadway play, I Remember Mama, and another one of their great successes as producers was Irving Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun.

Also unique to their collaboration was their care in getting involved in the film versions of their musicals from producing, to casting, and many other details. In Purdum’s Something Wonderful there are details and facts about how Rodgers and Hammerstein were involved in the casting for the film versions of Oklahoma!, Carousel, The King and I, and South Pacific. In such searches you wonder what might have been if other actors had been chosen to play the principal roles in the film versions of these musicals.

Todd Purdum’s Something Wonderful – Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Broadway Revolution explores and describes the careers of these musical theatre legends which provides a unique slant on these legends’ lives and work.

Melissa Gilbert – My Brilliant Divorce

New Ohio Theatre

March 31, 2018

By Mark Kappel

Child star, now adult star, Melissa Gilbert has been making a measured return to the stage in three plays in New York during the last year. Her latest theatre appearance is in the off-Broadway Fallen Angel Theatre Company’s production of Geraldine Aron’s My Brilliant Divorce being performed at the New Ohio Theatre for a limited engagement from March 20 through April 8, 2018.

Ms. Aron's Olivier Award-nominated play, which had its premiere at Ireland’s Druid Theatre 2001, is a solo piece in which the principal actor played by Melissa Gilbert, also portrays many people who make her life fun, intrude upon her life, and confuse her life.

The principal character is Rachel Lipsky Haringay, a Jewish New Yorker living in London who is abandoned by her British accountant husband – he also abandons their daughter – and relates her series of woes – and highs and lows – in a monologue often breaking the fourth wall with the audience.

A New Yorker living in London, a fish out of water, has suffered through a divorce from her husband after that said husband has been involved in an affair with an Argentinean lover, and was told by her adult daughter that she is only person who didn’t know about her husband’s affair.

Rachel mourns her marriage, and relates her bitterness, her joys, and needed transitions through that journey. Those include the relationship with her daughter’s dog, Axel, being an Airbnb hostess, and simply coming to terms with her divorce, the divorce settlement, but most importantly learning to live with herself.

In spite of the fact that she runs into disappointing moments from bad choices, she begins travelling on her own and even initiates a romantic relationship with a doctor. Although it seems that Rachel has had more hurdles than achievements in her life, there are many comedic moments, and the journey is one that we can all identify with. Every moment and every circumstance that Rachel finds herself in is relatable. In about 90 fast-moving minutes audience members become close friends with Rachel.

Playwright Aron often translates Rachel’s miseries for laughs. Gilbert plays many characters – close family members, friends, and ancillary characters – who are connected to Rachel’s life – all defined by voice and accents. Rachel must learn how to live life alone. It is a journey that we all have to take at some point in our lives, and Gilbert gives that journey a great deal of humanity, emotion – and also some comic moments.

Director Aedin Moloney deftly guides Gilbert through these characters and makes them resonate with the audience.

My Brilliant Divorce is a challenge for any actress and Gilbert must be credited for taking on this challenge, giving a gutsy performance, and succeeding brilliantly. She does command a stage.

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