Franklin Tribute?

[Amy Reusch]

In my calendar, on June 23rd, I have marked down that there is to be a Freddie Franklin tribute by ABT at 9:30pm.

It's been ages since I made that note, and now I can't find my source for the info, or anything else mentioning it at the ABT site. (Perhaps it's hidden in some corner of the site I didn't think to look?) I see they are doing Coppelia that day, and I assume that would be Mr. Franklin's staging. I noticed that the calendar had asterixs on that Saturday's Coppelia performance, but couldn't find out what they referred to.

Anyone know anything about a planned Franklin tribute?

[Dale]

This was is ABT's spring season announcement:

Celebration in Honor of Frederic Franklin

Eight performances of Coppélia, staged by Frederic Franklin, will be highlighted by a special celebration of Franklin’s 90th birthday on Monday evening, June 21. A distinguished ballet master and choreographer, Franklin was one of the original members of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and has appeared with American Ballet Theatre in recent years. Coppélia is set to the music of Léo Delibes and features scenery by Tony Straiges, costumes by Patricia Zipprodt and lighting by Brad Fields. Franklin’s staging of Coppélia, which will be performed June 21-26, received its Company Premiere in February 1997. Leading the opening night cast of Coppélia will be Ashley Tuttle as Swanilda and Angel Corella as Franz.