New Stroman - Double Feature

[The Uncrossed Fifth]

Contrary to popular belief, Susan Stroman can not choreograph EVERYTHING. Her vocabulary of four ballet steps is not suffient to choreograph a full legnth story ballet. She is much too relient on props and sight gags than actuall dancing in order to further the plot. However, the only thing more offensive than the standing ovation at the ballet's conclusion, was what Alexandra Assanelli was relegated to in Making Whoopee. It hurts my soul to have to see her do fouettes under a shower of fake money, while Tom Gold scampers about. The only success of the evening was that Ashley Bouder could take the horrible excuse for choreography and make something of it. Damien Woetzel did make something of his part, pulling off a quite virtuousic :angry: turn, but one quadruple turn cannot make up for a total waste of my evening. It pains me to think that City Ballet spent $750,000 on that pile of garbage, while they could have spent that money to rehearse the the dancers or restore something that's worthwhile to celebrate Balanchine's legacy. It pains my heart that so many nights of fabulous repertoire are lost to Double Feature. The true highlight of the evening was not the dancers, but the wonderfully trained puppy and the supurb orchestral arrangments of Glen Kelly.

Balanchine is rolling in his grave tonight, the night after his 100th birthday. Please, can't we celebrate his legacy rather than destroy it? :angry:

[bobbi]

Well, I'll add my two cents. I enjoyed the evening more than Uncrossed Fifth, mainly because I wasn't expecting much and was relieved that no dancers were dragged across the floor (my particular bug-a-boo these days).

First off, the costumes were absolutely wonderful -- both in design and execution. See this ballet for them alone. The scenery was clever and utilitarian. As far as the choreography itself goes, it was Broadway, and I agree that the vocabulary was indeed limited. (You secretly longed for Mr. B himself to do something original.) But all the dancers made the most of what they were given and turned pedestrian steps into a charming and, I thought, relatively involving evening.

I agree that the standouts were Damian Woetzel and Ashley Bouder. At the very end of evening Ashley was actually given some meaty steps to work with and things came alive. Now, you all know I am a big Bouder fan, but I can see that Janie Taylor (who was originally cast in this role) would have looked especially stunning in this type of choreography because of its heavy emphasis on posing and plastique (not much in the way of space-eating movement). The corps, however, was given some lovely work, and they were delightful.

The other standouts were Kyra (who ever would have "thunk" she could be wicked?), Megan Fairchild (pretending and pulling off being an awkward dancer), Tom Gold (just outstanding as a Broadway man), Carla Korbes (as a great vamp who still managed to be charming), Dana Hanson (being her expansive self even while posing as a prim young lady with eye glasses), Jessica Flynn (as an under-aged potential bride), both Albert Evans and Seth Orza. Oh, I thoroughly enjoyed all of Ansanelli's performance; she totally held your attention. Oh dear, I forgot to mention Maria K., who turns out to be a good little actress.

Try to see it yourself, and you may be won over. Certainly it showed off the acting abilities of NYCB dancers, and gives them a chance to expand their horizons. And, yes, the dog was great fun!!

[Farrell Fan]

I enjoyed the evening, too -- very much -- and I'd gone expecting to hate it. I'd thought that to honor the Broadway Balanchine NYCB should have tried to reconstruct some of Balanchine's Broadway choreography. I still think so, but Stroman's "Double Feature" won me over. If anybody was rolling over in a grave last night it would have been Irving Berlin, who was more the grave roll-over type and would have been distressed at the uses to which some of his greatest songs were put. (I agree the orchestrations were great.)

"The Blue Necklace," the melodramatic first part of "Double Feature" was overlong and if the evening had ended after it, I wouldn't have been as pleased as I eventually was. It's certainly true that Stroman's ballet vocabulary is limited and it showed in this much more than in the knock-about "Makin' Whoopee," the second feature, where it didn't matter as much. Bobbi has mentioned all the wonderful dancers. There were also two girls from SAB, Tara Sorine and Isabella Tobias, who as the young Florence (Megan Fairchild) and young Mabel (Ashley Bouder) were outstanding in "The Blue Necklace." "Makin' Whoopee," was absolutely hilarious and I loved every minute of it. Alexandra Ansanelli revealed a flair for comedy in addition to her other great attributes, and, at the risk of demonstrating irrational exhuberance, I'd say the Buster Keatonish performance of Tom Gold was among the funniest ever seen on the New York State Theater stage.

[Michael]

I think it's the best new work I've seen on the State Theater stage in quite some time -- Compare it, for example, to Thou Swell? I was entertained, then charmed, and then quite frankly delighted about the time that Ashley Bouder took over the performance (which is no overstatement) in the Blue Necklace.

Stroman and her team clearly have stage professionalism and craft to burn. It's interesting to see because it gives one an otherwise lacking frame of reference to judge thing such as, say, the Diamond Project against. The sets and costumes, props and dramatic details all worked exceedingly well. The orchestral scores for both pieces, composed of the orchestration of Irving Berlin (first piece) and Walter Donaldson (second piece) songs was rich and "sewed together" as it were without showing a single seam -- a work of musical adaptation of a very high order. And it was played very well by Andrea Quinn and the City Ballet orchestra. Is this more or less worthy of this stage than Minkus or Drigo? Interesting question. Yes there were bits, and more than bits, of hackneyed dramatic tripe at moments in each piece, but the whole was so very much more than the sum of its parts.

The entire trope of Making Whoopee, of advertising for a bride (the plot being that Tom Gold is a lawyer about to be arrested, along with his partners, for some vague kind of fraud, and must come up with seven million dollars to save himself and his partners [seth Orza and and Albert Evans] from jail, when he is informed by the charming Arch Higgins that he has inherited precisely seven million dollars from a dear uncle who died last night, but only on the condition imposed by the uncle's Will that he is married by midnight that very night! -- Gold first tries to find a bride by hitting on and proposing to girls in Central Park, which action carries the second third of the drama in a hilarious sequence of encounters [Gold and a prim Dana Hanson, Gold and the Russian speaking Rebecca Krohn, Gold and an elegant and hilarious Amanda Hankes, Gold and the young and fetching Jessica Flynn, Gold and the sultry Carla Korbes], but this doesn't work and Higgins then hits upon the idea of advertising for brides in the NY Times by presenting a front page picture of Gold with the headline that this man will inherit millions if he finds a bride by nightfall, and that interested brides should report to "such and such" church at 4:00 p.m. ...) -- reminded me very much of the sort of "Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire" or "Joe Millionaire" reality TV show we've been seeing much of lately. To the point where the drama really perhaps had some redeeming social value as a very comic balletic (or Broadway) spoof of that genre, in which Stroman's work far surpassed its originals in entertainment and farce value and in much needed irony. (For the readers, not one but a dozen or more brides fill the church, some in drag, all bearing copies of the NY times and eyeing each other with comic mistrust, and predictable and unpredictable mayhem ensues -- the action is very well blocked and choreographed by Stroman, who clearly knows what she's doing in orchestrating a pas d'action).

The performances by Ashley Bouder and Tom Gold were indeed superb, as everyone has mentioned -- in the case of Gold, a career performance, I had no idea he had this in him, one I'll certainly think of when thinking of him.

And my Gosh, didn't Bouder make something dramatically compelling out of that bit of melodramatic fluff in the first piece? (The Blue Necklace -- the plot here being a variation of Cindarella, i.e., -- Maria Kowroski wants to be a movie star and abandons her baby on the steps of a church in the opening scene, only to have the baby found and raised by a wicked step mother [Kyra Nichols] who forces the foundling to clean the house and to wait upon her and her birth daughter [Megan Fairchild]; the foundling grows up [Ashley Bouder] to be have her mother's star power, first dances a dreamy pas de deux with a dream Damien Woetzel, then crashes Kowroski [Cinderella's] Ball, is recognized and reuinited with her mother, and dances a pas de deux with a real Damien Woetzel, thereby defeating a plot by Kyra Nichols to pass off her birth daughter, Megan Fairchild, as the foundling and to cheat Bouder of her inheritance).

City Ballet does, as Leigh once said, indeed have a Ballerina on its hands in Ashley Bouder -- a riveting performance far transcending the material she had to work with, one with star quality to burn, visible at the very back of the house, and a perfect if somewhat accidental bit of casting (as indeed, the role was first intended for Taylor), because you cannot mistake Bouder's innate dramatic traits and dance talent, Truth will Out -- that ability as it were to stop movement in mid phrase and accentuate and form the dance phrase, the deep and full way she forms every step, and how effortlessly she does it all -- and the wonderful dramatic use of her face and eyes yesterday. I was quite surprised she did not get a solo curtain call at the conclusion. She certainly deserved it.

[AmandaNYC]

I come out of the shadows to post about Bouder. I have only seen the first ballet so far (I see the full program today). As such, I am reserving full judgment on the ballet until tonight...

But, I, of course, need to post about Bouder. The ballet is worth seeing (and I stood for all of it and it was still worth it) for her performance. She had me in tears-- I think it was a combination of how beautiful she was (and how beautiful she could make whatever she was dancing) and that she was in such a star-making rolem which showed off that she is a true ballerina in the making (if not already!). Sure, there were chances for her to display her incredible jumping prowess, but it was in the dream sequence with Woetzel and at the party scene where she shined for other reasons. She was no longer a young girl. There was such great maturity there-- not that this is anything new to us about her. But here she was doing a romantic pas de deux, which is not, I believe, something in which we have had a chance to see her-- before now, we have seen in her pas de deux where it's been more about two independent people dancing together (symphony in c, tarantella, etc) or solos (nutcracker, la source). Here I had a glimpse of the years to come of seeing her in the meaty ballerina roles. THis was a fully-realized performance-- musical, luxurious articulation of every movement, charm when needed, quiet passion when needed.

I can see Taylor doing some of this role, for sure. But, I think many layers would have been missing in the pas de deux. In her Nutcracker performances, I still don't feel Taylor's awareness of her partner and passion for that relationship. And, as you well know, I often think Taylor rushes to get from one grand movement to another, without attending to the movement in between (that's not to say that approach doesn't work, at times, esp. for Dewdrop).

Nichols was fabulous. And, coming from me that certainly says a lot, since I have not been a fan of hers (that's not to say I haven't appreciated her). And, Fairchild is a great comic talent. With those great eyes of her, she doesn't even need to do much. But her entire being was that awkward, spoiled girl. In the party scene, she was a true hoot.

As I said, i reserve judgment on the ballet until later. But, first impression is that there's not much there. Typical Stroman gimmickiness (is that a word?). Months ago I dealt with my issues over the company having her choreograph a piece, in the first place.

-amanda

[Thalictum]

I found Double Feature dismaying. I will write more about it later.

Stroman is incapable of investigating any movement genre in depth -- I find her an indictment of our culture today. She takes no risks, and her homogenized product reaps her fame and fortune.

[fandeballet]

We have to remember that this project was put together as a homage to Balachine's career with Broadway. Stroman is a Broadway choreographer. I was not overly impressed by the steps. But taken as theater-dance, rather than as a

dance-theater, it worked for me. I liken it more to ABT's "Merry Widow". The dancers get to act more than with the regular NYCB faire. Great costumes and the

overall production was well done.

[Leigh Witchel]

We have to remember that this project was put together as a homage to Balanchine's career with Broadway.

Was the ballet actually commissioned for the festival? I'm not sure that the Stroman commission and the Balanchine celebration were not two completely separate events which ended up being reverse engineered together.

[E Johnson]

I have to agree that Stroman has a limited ballet vocabulary, and I also think she is a much better choreographer for men than women. This piece did show some strengths, though. The costumes and visuals in general were very good, although, especially in "the Blue Necklace," I thought she used too many "captions" -- they indicated, to me, a lack of trust in the dancers' abilities to get the plot across. I also think her ensemble scenes were pretty good; she knows how to move groups around (I'm thinking of the racing brides and the crowd in front of the church particularly).

The main thing I noticed was her ability to create roles that dancers can run with and turn into something special. I say the dancers have to run with them because I found the leading performances very uneven. Woetzel, Bouder, Gold, and especially Nichols took what they were given and made wonderful star turns out of them. I was particularly amazed by Nichols' first solo, when she convinces us that she is, indeed, quite happy to have sent her husband out to abandon her baby. Woetzel was terrific but I have to say I don’t think it is a big dramatic reach for him to play a matinee idol --not that I mean to take anything away from his performance, but Nichols was showing us something I don’t think we've seen from her before whereas Woetzel seemed to be just giving us more and better of what we have seen.

Kowroski disappointed me. She seemed tentative and just sort of "there." I got little feeling for her character, but I am not sure that's her fault as opposed to the choreography’s. She really got very few chances to cut loose, or at least that was how it felt.

Bouder did a lovely job, but it bothered me that the “gift of the dance” her mother had given her was so burlesk-y, especially when the dancing was being done by an SAB student.

Was it worth $750,000? No.

[justafan]

To Leigh's point about Double Feature just having been scheduled for the Balanchine program by accident -- Martins said as much in one of the previews I read. (Can't find it now.) He said he wanted to commission a full-length ballet by Stroman several years ago, after she choreographed "Blossom" for NYCB, and that this was the first time she was available. So it was a happy accident or something.

That got me to thinking: what else was "reverse-engineered" for this Heritage season of celebration. It really has seemed to be a hodge-podge of lots of things, with Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty, etc. ...

On the other hand, it seems to have turned into a success at the box office. I haven't seen so many crowds in the theater and on the lines ever. (I started to subscribe after the ballet boom of the 70s.)

[flipsy]

I got a big kick out of "Double Feature," though I'll agree in retrospect that Stroman's ballet vocabulary is limited. I thought it gave some excellent dancers a chance to expand their own vocabularies -- i.e. with dramatic and comic acting. Tom Gold and Maria Kowroski I thought took full advantage. City Ballet has been accused of lacking theatrical personality, dancing like zombies, but that certainly wasn't true here. I think it's a notable addition to the repertory, and I hope they don't drop it.

Worth noting, maybe, is the reaction of the stranger behind me at the sold-out Sunday performance. It was the first time she's been to the ballet in years, she said, and she loved it. She used to go all the time but she got tired of Balanchine's stuff. This was new and exciting! (I don't agree.. I'm not at all tired of Balanchine. But judging from the sold-out house, she's hardly alone.)

[Alexandra]

Welcome, flipsy -- thanks for joining in the fray I hope we'll hear more from you.

[fandeballet]

Dear Ms. Witchel, Thanks for the info..........I still have to see "Making

Whoopie"!!!!!!!!!!1