44 replies to this topic

[Helene]

There's a 1 minute+ video on the PNB Facebook site of the Montegues rehearsing.

[sandik]

Casting is up here for the first week.

(I like much of the new website, but this format for casting makes it very hard to compare performances)

Not many total surprises, but some interesting choices.

Carrie Imler gets a chance at the Nurse as well as Lady Capulet.  Bakthurel Bold is Tybalt for all but one show. As is often the case, the Saturday matinee is full of 'first chance' performances: Barry Kerollis gets a go at Mercutio.  Leslie Rausch gets to swan around in Rosaline's gown, Seth Orza is Tybalt, Josh Spell is Benvolio, and Mara Vinson does Lady C in the same performance.  Olivier Wevers does most of the Friar Lawrences (with Karel Cruz on Saturday night).

[Helene]

I guess I tried too early!

The new format is impossible to use without transcribing the choices to paper.

I think this casting is great.  I wish I didn't have to miss Carrie Imler's Lady Capulet, but I'm looking forward to seeing her Nurse.

[sandik]

Helene, on Sep 16 2009, 03:12 AM, said:

The new format is impossible to use without transcribing the choices to paper.

Indeed, she says, looking at her little hand-drawn chart...

[Helene]

There is an amazing 3+ minute video of Korbes and Postlewaite, and Nakamura and Moore speaking and rehearsing on the PNB Facebook fans page:

http://www.facebook....v=1123972461386

I don't see it on the PNB website itself yet, but if it appears, I think it would be listed here:

http://www.pnb.org/S...Juliette/#Media

Just watch what Postlewaite does with his eyes.  And Nakamura has an amazing haircut.

[pirouetta27]

I'm really glad that PNB is posting more of these videos.  It reminds me of several years ago when NYCB dancer Kristin Sloan produced a podcast series for Peter Martins' Romeo + Juliet, with rehearsal footage and interviews with the dancers...really brings the audience down to a more personal level with the ballet.

I agree, Postlewaite's use of the eyes is just fantastic.  Does anyone plan on going to see both casts perform?  Last time, I had the opportunity to see it twice; I think that the second viewing forever changed my perspective on dancing.  The ending (shown in the video, too) where Moore is dead on the ground and the music is building brought me to tears.  I also thought that Karel Cruz did a particularly good job with his role in that cast.  He and Wevers presented completely different Friars but both of them fit with the storyline.

PNB seems to have a great marketing strategy going with this ballet and I hope that it pays off.

[SandyMcKean]

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Does anyone plan on going to see both casts perform?

I'm sure many of us will.  I saw 5 performances last year (yes, there is no hope for me ).....and that's with only 1 Juliette.  I can't imagine what I'm going to do with 2 (maybe 3???) to choose from.  Does anyone think there will be a 3rd Juliette?  It was mentioned in this thread that Mara Vinson was rehearsing the part.

It's going to be fun to post all our reactions here as these performances unfold.  I feel like a little kid the night before Christmas when ballet season starts again!

[Helene]

Just a note that on the "Director's Choice" section of the PNB website is an announcement that ticket buyers for "Romeo et Juliette", both online and by phone, are eligible for a 20% discount on "Director's Choice" tickets.  This program, which runs 5-7 and 12-15 November, includes Kylian's "Petite Mort", Robbins' "West Side Story Suite", Goerke's "Mopey", and Caniparoli's "Four Seasons".

According to the website, "Online orders will be emailed a discount code; phone orders will have discount taken at the time of purchase."

http://www.pnb.org/S...e/#EventsOffers

[Helene]

According to this preview in The Seattle Times,

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Currently, five company dancers are rehearsing the role of Juliette and four for Roméo, but most of them likely will not perform; both roles are so massive in choreography and acting, Boal said, it's a challenge to have just one or two casts fully prepared.

[sandik]

I'm going Thursday, and both performances on Saturday, and I'm still missing Carrie Imler as Lady C.  

I just checked again, and the second week casting is up (same web address as above).  No additions except for Rachel Foster as Nurse, Thursday night and Saturday matinee.  (but it doesn't overlap with Imler as Lady C.... grumble)

[SandyMcKean]

DRESS REHEARSAL

I went last night with anticipation and some "fear and trembling" .  Why "fear and trembling"??  Would I be disappointed because maybe, just maybe, I burned myself out on this piece last year since I basically flipped out over it?  What would it be like without Noelani Pantastico?  Would Carla Korbes blow me away, or not measure up to the stratospheric performances that Noe pulled out of infinity last year?

Well, it was sort of "all of the above".  First off, I typically don't like dress rehearsals.  There is something missing in a dress rehearsal -- I suspect: the magical communication and inspiration btwn audience and cast.  But I couldn't resist going to this one, and I kept my expectations low.  Act I did not thrill me.  It was nice, but it did not reach inside my soul.  Carla was good (very, very good), and Lucien Postlewaite was his 110% full out, actor par excellence self, but no one can do the "sweet innocent" Juliette like Noelani did.  In addition, having seen this ballet 5 times last year, the fight scenes etc were too familiar by now.

Then came the "Balcony" scene.  The bar rose.  The tension mounted.  Carla and Lucien "found" each other.  I started to get excited.  Then BAM....Act III.  I am still shaking.  What Carla and Lucien created on that stage in Act III, in a rehearsal no less, transcended.  This was theater at its best.  Carla simply owns ACT III.  This is a must see.

As I think back on this piece, as done by PNB (and most importantly as done by these PNB dancers), the inherent drama of the choreography, which depends on acting skill as much (or more) than on dancing skill, makes the personalities of the dancers vital to what you will see (Balanchine must be rolling over in his grave ).  For those that know Noelani Pantastico, she comes across as just about the sweetest person you could imagine.  Aurora fits her like a glove.  She is a maiden.  OTOH, Carla Korbes is powerful, feisty, and sensual.  She is a woman.  So for me, the 1st half (up to the bedroom scene) of PNB's R&J belongs to Noe, but the 2nd half belongs to Carla.  Both, of course, are wonderful, but it is an exquisite treat to have had two such accomplished actor/dancers at PNB for this piece.  How lucky we are!

This says nothing about Kaori Nakamora and her James Moore Romeo.  I'll have to wait until Friday night to see that.  I hope Noe and Carla have left room for yet another magnificent performance.  Frankly, I expect Kaori to blow us all away yet again.  Her precise dancing, her stamina, her dedication has to produce something superb.  But will she triumph as this iconic character? Will she have the emotional range to create yet another superb Maillot Juliette?  I think she will.  I suspect that when Kaori breaks out of her crystalline shell of perfect dancing and finds the actor in herself....LOOK OUT!  As I've said before, I think we got a taste of that possibility in her performance in Tharp's "Afternoon Ball" PNB commissioned last year.  I noted that Kaori was in the audience last night, and up on stage every time the cast took notes.  I think she knows the challenge she has set for herself.  I, for one, am planning to be wow-ed once again.

Fall weather and ballet in Seattle.......about as close to paradise as it gets!

P.S. The heart of this piece, as in all forms of R&J, is Juliette, but I must tip my hat to Lucien Postlewaite.  Does the guy ever have a bad minute?  In some sense it is he who has created these Juliettes.  What an amazing performer.  And as long as I'm crediting the men: Olivier Wevers! World Class!  Last night, for the first time really, I understood how the dancer playing the Friar drives this entire production.  Not just for the fact that Maillot sets the entire ballet as a sort of remembrance by the Friar as he is racked with guilt for his role in this tragedy, but for the competence of the dancer playing this part since this dancer sets the tone for the entire work.  I can't imagine how anyone, anywhere, can compete with Olivier's Friar.

[Juliet]

I am so disappointed at not being able to see PNB do this.....please, lots of reports!

[pirouetta27]

Please also let those of us who aren't in town know who got promoted on opening night...It's such an exciting season for the company!

[Chocomel]

I was blessed to be able to see both Friday night and Sat night performances.  I loved being able to compare them.  Such a treat!

[SandyMcKean]

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I loved being able to compare them.

AND.......................??