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SFB 2017 - Program 8: Cinderella


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Casting for opening night has been posted (https://www.sfballet.org/season/casting - Casting for upcoming performances will be updated on this page as the information becomes available. In the event of injury or illness, casting is subject to change.)

 

PROGRAM 08 - CINDERELLA©


Friday, April 28, 2017 - 8 pm

Composer: Sergei Prokofiev
Choreographer: Christopher Wheeldon
Conductor: Martin West

Cinderella: Frances Chung
Prince Guillaume: Joseph Walsh
Stepmother: Jennifer Stahl
Stepsister Edwina: Sasha De Sola
Stepsister Clementine: Dores André
Benjamine: Taras Domitro

Program Notes

Synopsis

View Trailer

 

 

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Interesting to note that it was Luke Ingham on the casting page as the prince on Fri pm. I guess that happens. No complaints; I look forward to seeing Joseph Walsh in the role. He seems made for the part.

 

They are certainly having a slow time of posting more of the cast list for this program. Or is the 8th program always like this? I'll be attending the Sat 2p performance as well as opening night, and can't wait to see what that cast looks like. Guess I'll have to wait some more... I'm hoping to see Lauren Strongin as a stepsister, perhaps?

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Oh, yay, more casting just posted, and a surprise: Dores André is no longer dancing as a stepsister on opening night (replaced by Ellen Rose Hummel), but as Cinderella on Sat 2p. And with Carlo Di Lanno. Wow - I didn't see that coming. Should be fun! I'm quite fond of all the dancers in that cast.

 

And here is more casting...

 

Saturday, April 29, 2017 - 2 pm

 

 

Cinderella: Dores André
Prince Guillaume: Carlo Di Lanno*^
Stepmother: Lauren Strongin*
Stepsister Edwina: Jahna Frantziskonis*
Stepsister Clementine: Julia Rowe
Benjamin: Angelo Greco*

 

 

Saturday, April 29, 2017 - 8 pm

 

 

Cinderella: Yuan Yuan Tan
Prince Guillaume: Luke Ingham
Stepmother: Ludmila Bizalion*
Stepsister Edwina: Elizabeth Powell
Stepsister Clementine: Ellen Rose Hummel
Benjamin: Hansuke Yamamoto

 

 

Sunday, April 30, 2017 - 2 pm

 

 

Cinderella: Frances Chung
Prince Guillaume: Joseph Walsh
Stepmother: Jennifer Stahl
Stepsister Edwina: Sasha De Sola
Stepsister Clementine: Dores André
Benjamin: Taras Domitro

 

 

Tuesday, May 2, 2017 - 7:30 pm

 

Cinderella: Maria Kochetkova
Prince Guillaume: Joseph Walsh
Stepmother: Jennifer Stahl
Stepsister Edwina: Sasha De Sola
Stepsister Clementine: Ellen Rose Hummel
Benjamin: Taras Domitro

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3 minutes ago, PeggyTulle said:

No Sarah Van Patten. Bummer!

Peggy - I know she's been rehearsing it w/Tiit Helimets and I'm inclined to think we'll see their names in the run. (Hope this passes speculation etiquette rules...)

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New video from SFB about the costumes for Wheeldon's Cinderella -

"Hear from Julian Crouch and Oliver Haller about the challenges of designing Christopher Wheeldon’s Cinderella©."

I'm not sure how it is possible to copyright the name "Cinderella", in fact, I have to think it would not hold up in court. Perhaps the copywriter was being overzealous.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkLvsa7ygnw

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52 minutes ago, pherank said:

"Hear from Julian Crouch and Oliver Haller about the challenges of designing Christopher Wheeldon’s Cinderella©."

I'm not sure how it is possible to copyright the name "Cinderella", in fact, I have to think it would not hold up in court. Perhaps the copywriter was being overzealous.

 

I have a feeling it's not "Cinderella" that's the copyright-able term, but "Christopher Wheeldon's Cinderella©," in the same way that we are supposed to refer to "George Balanchine's The Nutcracker®." 

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1 hour ago, sandik said:

 

I have a feeling it's not "Cinderella" that's the copyright-able term, but "Christopher Wheeldon's Cinderella©," in the same way that we are supposed to refer to "George Balanchine's The Nutcracker®." 

 

I'm sure you're right, Sandik.  ;)

 

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SVP and Tiit Helimets are currently listed for these remaining dates:

Sunday, April 30, 2017 - 2 pm
May 4, 2017 - 7:30 pm
Sunday, May 7, 2017 - 2 pm

 

Frances Chung and Joseph Walsh were having to dance two nights in a row, so something unplanned for must have occurred.

Edited by pherank
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On 4/29/2017 at 10:09 PM, yodasan said:

Casting tonight apparently was changed to be Chung/Walsh in place of YYT/Ingham.

Yikes. I feel for the people who went specifically to see YYT/Ingham. Then again, that's the nature of any casting. I always steel myself when the announcer speaks before the production to announce a casting change.

 

I saw Frances/Joseph on Fri pm and Dores/Carlo on Sat matinee. Of the two, I'd name the former as more successful, although there was no bad dancing in any of the two performances. Initially thought I liked Jennifer Stahl the most as the stepmother, but then grew to really appreciate how Lauren Strongin offered a subtler, more nuanced interpretation that better fit Wheeldon's ideas that she wasn't "evil" so much as vaguely unlikeable, narcissistic, needy, etc. Fun to observe, too, how mother-daughter fed off each other (the older, more evil daughter, who still managed to be pretty evil). Sasha De Sola was a pitch-perfect Edwina on Fri pm. Both nights, Benjamin was brilliantly depicted (Taras Domitro, Fri; Angelo Greco, Sat 2p). And I was crazy about the four Fates throughout, in both productions. I'm surprised they don't draw unequivocal and universal praise. They never felt like too much to me. 

 

And, well, the opening of Act III is so hilarious and brilliant, it easily outshone the rest of Act III. 

 

Great production, just loved the music, and for the most part, found Wheeldon's choreography to be fresh, inventive, ever-changing. Although, strangely, the pas de deux seemed to be the least inventive part of the choreography. The final Act III closing pas de deux was devoid of any dramatic tension and felt oddly surplus. I guess happy endings are a challenge to choreograph to, LOL!

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45 minutes ago, Terez said:

but then grew to really appreciate how Lauren Strongin offered a subtler, more nuanced interpretation that better fit Wheeldon's ideas that she wasn't "evil" so much as vaguely unlikeable, narcissistic, needy, etc.

That's exactly what I felt about Lesley Rausch's performance of the Stepmother in the Maillot "Cendrillon" that PNB did earlier this year. It really drilled home even more how wrong the cheap shot that Maillot gives the Father at the end is, when the Father should be looking at himself in the mirror.

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1 hour ago, Helene said:

That's exactly what I felt about Lesley Rausch's performance of the Stepmother in the Maillot "Cendrillon" that PNB did earlier this year. It really drilled home even more how wrong the cheap shot that Maillot gives the Father at the end is, when the Father should be looking at himself in the mirror.

 

Agree with this -- Maillot was making a point about artifice and authenticity, but he could have done it in a much more thoughtful way. 

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On 4/28/2017 at 10:40 PM, sandik said:

 

I have a feeling it's not "Cinderella" that's the copyright-able term, but "Christopher Wheeldon's Cinderella©," in the same way that we are supposed to refer to "George Balanchine's The Nutcracker®." 

 

Imagine how excited I was to be able to post the copyrighted phrase, "George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®"! Not only that, but the advertisement is for the new George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®.

"The Music Center brings back a holiday tradition to Los Angeles with a world premiere of the new George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® by Miami City Ballet. The holiday classic, with Balanchine’s iconic choreography, features all-new sets and costumes by Cuban-American artist/designer power couple Isabel and Ruben Toledo."

 

Chris Wheeldon can only dream of "the new" Christopher Wheeldon’s Cinderella©...

 

 

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2 hours ago, pherank said:

 

Imagine how excited I was to be able to post the copyrighted phrase, "George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®"! Not only that, but the advertisement is for the new George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®.

"The Music Center brings back a holiday tradition to Los Angeles with a world premiere of the new George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® by Miami City Ballet. The holiday classic, with Balanchine’s iconic choreography, features all-new sets and costumes by Cuban-American artist/designer power couple Isabel and Ruben Toledo."

 

 

While I'd be very curious to see the new designs, I agree that the restrictions on language are really annoying.  We are supposed to refer to the work as "George Balanchine's The Nutcracker®" and while I can generally work that into a review or a feature once, it's just too awkward for multiple uses.

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Well, I am disappointed, as the Saturday YYT matinee is recast.  It will be the fifth time that I have seen this Cinderella, and the third time with Frances Chung, who is a wonderful dancer, but I was looking forward to YYT.  

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