cobweb

I absolutely love A Midsummer Night's Dream so I couldn't resist going again yesterday to see some different casting. Another wonderful performance. I especially loved the quarreling-lover foursome of LaFreniere, Walker, Laracey, and Sanz. It was great to see Ashley Laracey back in the final days of the season, she is looking fluid and lovely. Peter Walker and Aaron Sanz were both wonderfully comic. I was giggling at their goofy facial expressions as they keeled over after sniffing the magic flower. It has been heartening to see the development of these two tall men over the past few years, with Walker especially growing into a very dynamic presence onstage. Isabella LaFreniere dances so large that Helena made an impact like I've never noticed before. Megan Fairchild and Tyler Angle did the divertissement. Megan Fairchild is looking beautiful. She radiates the maturity of her years, and the years have been very kind to her. She has polish, control, and authority. I admire her for persevering despite much criticism earlier in her career (I may have been one of the naysayers), and coming out with so much grace and elegance. I look forward to her continued presence on the stage. This cast also featured Emilie Gerrity, Daniel Ulbricht, and Troy Schumacher. All very good, but I still have the sublime Huxley-Phelan-Ball cast on my mind. Ashley Hod was a large, strong Hippolyta but I hope she can develop a more interesting presence, besides just looking like Ashley Hod. Also, minor note, Bottom left a piece of hay (or whatever) on the stage as he was led off by Titania, alarming me as the next scene has a ton of people crisscrossing the stage in heavy fog, but it was retrieved, in a movement of astonishing precision and quickness, by one of HIppolyta's hounds. Finally, the music is just so beautiful. My partner, a musician, said that the French horn player had some issues, but I was blissfully unaware and left the theatre on a cloud of heavenly singing.

Agree with this, and the dancers you singled out. I would add Davide Riccardo to the list of dancers who have that hard-to-define "it."

In last night's performance, Sterling Hyltin and Jovani Furlan did the divertissement. I also saw them on Saturday night. Very beautiful both times, last night even more so, maybe a little more comfortable with each other. Sterling Hyltin hasn't always been my favorite dancer, but I've enjoyed her a lot this season and will miss her. Furlan is looking wonderful. I prefer the Huxley-Phelan-Ball cast to the Ulbricht-Miller-Mejia cast. Miriam Miller and Aaron Sanz, as Titania and her Cavalier, did not look nearly as comfortable together as Unity Phelan and Peter Walker did. It simply didn't have the same flow and naturalness, where Unity with Walker just seemed to be floating around on the air. Also Miller's phrasing and positions were not as clear as they could be. More generally, while Miller is a beautiful dancer having a great season, I often find her lacking in depth or interest. I hope they are suitably cautious about moving her up to principal, when there are other tall soloists who are more interesting (notably LaFreniere and Kikta). Ulbricht is a wonderful dancer, but Huxley is a hard act to follow; his brilliance and precision are hard to get out of my mind. And no complaints whatsoever about Mejia, but I really love Harrison Ball's Puck, who has a more foreign, non-human quality that is fascinating. Still, overall another wonderful performance. I find the moment when the rustics reunite, joyfully dancing around with their restored Bottom, to be very moving. It makes me teary!

Scordato performed last night, and he is still listed for Saturday night Lysander.

Lobby casting sheet updated again as of today’s date. Adrian Danchig-Waring is out of his divertissement assignments, replaced by Tyler Angle.

I will be there again tomorrow night and will check for casting sheet updates. Will try to get a pic with better lighting next time 😄 Tonight’s performance another absolute beauty, bringing much joy to an appreciative and expressive audience. Phelan and Huxley could not be more beautiful, and Harrison Ball has found the role of a lifetime IMHO. Tiler Peck also resplendent in the divert with Tyler Angle’s attentive partnering. And the music is just sublime. I look forward to the other casts… sort of, sorta not!

Yes for Sunday. Yay!! Replaced by Furlan on Wednesday. Also for those interested Megan Fairchild still scheduled for her assignments this week. If I can figure out how I will post a pic of casting sheet tomorrow.

Oberon — Lobby casting sheet dated 5/24 Tuesday - Huxley wednesday - Ulbricht replaces Gordon Thursday- Mejia (debut) replaces Gordon friday - Huxley sat mat - Ulbricht sat eve - Huxley replaces Gordon sunday mat - Ulbricht, also Phelan replaces Mearns

Great idea bellawood... and hopefully already under consideration. But let's put someone besides Veyette in there. When I saw him in Fall in Four Seasons, not looking so great. Maybe Furlan, he was beautiful with Sterling Hyltin last night.

A question about the costumes for Demetrius and Lysander. I seem to recall that in the past, the men wore comically silly pageboy wigs. Now it's a little cap similar to the one worn by the man in the divertissement. Does anyone know about this change? I look forward to reports from today's matinee.

I would love to see Taylor Stanley's Puck. Disappointed he will not be doing it next week - Puck next week is a rotating cast of Ball, Mejia, and Schumacher. Given all the changes, wouldn't be surprised if he might be put in at the last minute. If anyone notices this, please post (since they have abandoned updating the casting sheets). And I agree - the children looked beautifully prepared and rehearsed, I find that so heartening to see. Meanwhile, the beautiful music and singing from yesterday linger in my mind, along with the beauty of Unity Phelan's Titania and her retinue of long-legged, gracious, flowy maidens.

Tonight's performance of Midsummer Night's Dream was absolutely wonderful. Never has Unity Phelan looked more beautiful, and that's saying something. I also don't think I've ever seen Harrison Ball dance better; he is perfect as Puck. The music is so beautiful. I was tearing up throughout, I was so glad to be there and it was all so beautiful. Thanks to all.

Just in - I couldn't resist another performance of this fun program. I'm enjoying Piano Pieces, but I'm really loving Four Seasons and I wish that it, rather than Piano Pieces, was returning in the fall. Beautiful performances all around - the company is looking great and young talent is blooming everywhere. Just to name a few of many wonderful performances -- Mira Nadon was absolutely riveting in Summer - not only is she totally beautiful, but her dancing is so special - soaring high arabesque, huge huge presence, and some ineffable quality to her dancing that makes it magnetic. Just wow. Anthony Huxley - always amazed at the clarity and precision of his movement, the other guys dancing behind him looked mushed and blurry by comparison with his brilliance. Emma Von Enck - also huge presence, and somehow to me she always aims for excellence, it's as if she's shouting "Whatever you give me to do, I'm going to give it 100%, I'm going to make the company proud." Aaron Sanz seems to be gaining in confidence this season, he looked wonderful with Nadon in Piano Pieces earlier in the week, and with her again in Summer. I love Roman Mejia as much as the next person, but I have some quibbles with his performance. It was huge, but it gets sloppy. Tiler Peck, and young KJ Takahashi, are also huge but never, ever look sloppy, they don't compromise form. Oh, and also I love the tall willowy regalness of Christina Clark and Naomi Corti, as the stewards (stewardesses?) of Spring and Summer.

I received an email from NYCB yesterday about the run of Midsummer Night's Dream, urging me to "Check out the principal casting," with a link to the casting sheet that still shows Sara Mearns as Titania. If she is definitely not going to perform and they know that, they should not be urging people to check out the casting and buy based on that! If they don't yet know who's going to cover her shows, put TBD.

Much deserved for Chun Wei Chan. He is a star. But who knows if he will be dancing Spring tonight? Last night it was Huxley and Hyltin despite Chan and Woodward being listed on the casting sheet. For tonight both Mearns and Laracey are still listed, but as far as we know they're both still out. They have completely abandoned any effort to keep the casting sheet updated.

Furlan's insta story also says he is having a surprise debut in the divertissement Saturday night.. meaning Amar Ramasar is out?? What will this mean for his retirement performance the following weekend?

Just in from a fun second viewing of the Piano Pieces-Four Seasons program. Surprise, Hyltin and Huxley did Spring, and Mira Nadon did Summer. All excellent. KJ Takahashi had a terrific debut in Fall. Beautiful form! I am prepared to see multiple performances of Midsummer Night’s Dream, but with all the casting changes I am holding off till the last minute. If anyone sees official casting news please post … and if anyone has private intel, you are welcome to PM me!

If anyone is there tonight, I'm curious to hear reports and also who actually danced!! They still have not updated casting, it's very frustrating.

I imagine Phelan and Gerrity will take up some of those slots. Also I vote for Isabella LaFreniere.

Agree with all of this - that would have made more sense. I was a little worried about Phelan on that diagonal of piques and chaines.

Mostly agree with abatt about last night's performance. I have never seen Piano Pieces either, but it is a worthy return to the rep. I enjoyed the series of pas de deux and solos more than the ensemble pieces, and I guess I'm particularly not a fan of the polka. Mira Nadon and Aaron Sanz were hauntingly beautiful in their pdd, Emilie Gerrity and Jovani Furlan were outstanding, and Tiler was as usual stunning in her solo. For Four Seasons, the announcement was that Andres Zuniga would replace Harrison Coll in Winter, but that was wrong; instead Devin Alberda replaced Sebastian Villarini-Velez, presumably because he replaced Gordon in Piano Pieces. I could do without the cutesy elements of Four Seasons, but it does provide the opportunity for lots of great dancing. Chan and Woodward (replacing Hyltin and Huxley) knocked it out of the park. Gerrity and Ramasar were great - wishing Ramasar would rescind his retirement; or come back next year for a guest year? I don't have clear memories of Four Seasons, except for Mearns in Spring, so my mind wasn't doing any comparing of Unity Phelan with Bouder or anyone else. She lacks attack in general (I was super surprised when she was cast to lead Macdonald of Sleat in Union Jack), but she was so beautiful I was blown away. I didn't think the barely-there costume did Andrew Veyette any favors, and his dancing looked pretty ragged to me. Overall a fun program. I will be back to see at least one, and maybe two, more performances. I am torn between which casting! Also I wish they would do a better job of updating the casting online. They still haven't updated last week's casting to indicate Georgina Pazcoguin debuted in Apollo, or will that never be updated? There are many evenings when I could go to a performance, and might depending on the casting, but they aren't updating it and I can never be sure who will be dancing.

I was there last night for the Apollo-Orpheus-Agon program. I was excited to see the Apollo debuts of two underused soloists, Sara Adams and Georgina Pazcoguin. (I had been even more excited to see the debut of a much-used soloist, Ashley Laracey, but maybe next time. Get well soon, Ashley!). Adams was assured, expressive, and projected far beyond her tiny size. Pazcoguin was also assured, especially for what was a last-minute substitution, and danced very large as always. I didn't think her style really meshed with the other muses who were more refined and delicate, but maybe like Kathleen O'Connell said upthread, a few more performances together would smooth things out. Sterling Hyltin was marvelous, with a presence and maturity I don't usually associate with her. Adrian Danchig-Waring's physique etched every single position with utmost clarity and commitment. I don't love Orpheus, but Aaron Sanz made a great impression with his elegant lines, Amar Ramasar has the commanding presence needed for the Dark Angel, and Sterling Hyltin again was lovely. As throughout this season, I enjoyed Miriam Miller a lot in Agon. She has really grown in confidence and stage presence. Isabella LaFreniere also looked excellent, and I can't wait to see these two in the grand ballerina roles. Davide Riccardo stood out also. The company is looking terrific.

Thanks for the report and welcome springnemesia! I look forward to hearing your report on tomorrow's performance. Did anyone see Erica Pereira last night in her debut in Rubies?

Still no casting updates for the week. They must be struggling to figure out how to juggle the available dancers. Like others, I have been attending fewer performances than I used to. Partly that's because although I might want to see an individual ballet (Stravinsky Violin Concerto, most recently), I'm not keen on the overall program. Also, the subway ride home has become dicey enough to be a factor I have to consider. I am at my office in midtown, near Lincoln Center, every day, but most days I decide I just want to get on home while it's still light. I wonder if they've considered an earlier curtain time, like 7:00pm. I liked the intermission-less programs during the fall season, but I know not everyone was a fan and also intermissions are needed for set and costume changes. But maybe an earlier curtain could be an option.

Argggghhhhh! I was so looking forward to Apollo! She has been having a breakout season... if a nearly 20-year veteran can be said to have a breakout season.