My First Trip to the Washington Ballet

[cinnamonswirl]

I think the whole production could use a good editor. The choreography is repetitive, and there is too much emphasis on the stepsisters.

Which cast did you see? I saw Ellis/Jordan on Friday evening. Emily Ellis has excellent technique but she seems like quite a limited actress. (I did like her in the Corsaire pd3 a few weeks ago though.) Jonathan Jordan isn't a great actor either, but he can dance with a lot of flair. Unfortunately last night he was a complete blank. Not wooden, blank. No smile, nothing. There's not much character development in this production, which doesn't help.

I've been told that the school keeps the company afloat financially, so it's not surprising that Webre choreographs a lot for the children. I don't mind it -- I'll take more of those adorable wiggling bumblebees any day!

[YouOverThere]

I think the whole production could use a good editor. The choreography is repetitive, and there is too much emphasis on the stepsisters.

Which cast did you see? I saw Ellis/Jordan on Friday evening. Emily Ellis has excellent technique but she seems like quite a limited actress. (I did like her in the Corsaire pd3 a few weeks ago though.) Jonathan Jordan isn't a great actor either, but he can dance with a lot of flair. Unfortunately last night he was a complete blank. Not wooden, blank. No smile, nothing. There's not much character development in this production, which doesn't help.

I've been told that the school keeps the company afloat financially, so it's not surprising that Webre choreographs a lot for the children. I don't mind it -- I'll take more of those adorable wiggling bumblebees any day!

I saw Ellis/Jordan in the Saturday matinee after seeing Onuki/Nelson in the opener. I was under the impression that Jared Nelson is the star of this company, so I was disappointed that there wasn't a better solo opportunity for the prince. The jester had a bigger role than the prince. What I still don't get is why the characters included Cinderella's father but not the evil stepmother. Cinderella's father added nothing to the production. I much prefer Martin Fredmann's choreography, which is what the Colorado Ballet uses, but it might not fit on the stage in the Ike.

The extremely bright lighting coupled with the white floor and mostly white costumes and wigs in Act 2 may have also played a role, as I am highly light-sensitive and at times the brightness made it almost feel like someone was reflecting a bright light into my eyes.

[cinnamonswirl]

I don't think Washington Ballet really has a "star." Sonia Jimenez is the closest they've come, and she left for greener pastures a while ago (maybe 10 years?!)

Onuki, Sona Kharatian, Nelson and Jordan tend to be cast in the lead roles, but Washington Ballet is really more of an ensemble company. Ellis is new this season, but I would classify her with those 4, as well as Brooklyn Mack and Andile Ndlovu.

[Lawrence]

YouOverThere, sometimes it takes an hour to go 8 miles in DC. Welcome to the Nation's Capital!

I'd like to point out that the ticketing problems are not the fault of the Washington Ballet's, but the Kennedy Center's. The KC website has been a bit dodgy lately and when there are problems getting tix for one show, everything else on the website is affected. So please don't blame the WB for the KC ticketing.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/huge-demand-for-book-of-mormon-tickets-crashes-kennedy-center-website-again/2013/03/14/3228998a-8cb6-11e2-adca-74ab31da3399_story.html

Would also like to point out that getting down to the Harmon Center by car is indeed a hassle as others have stated, especially when there is a basketball/hockey/DisneyOn Ice event at the Verizon Center, which was the case when I attended the WB performance. I made myself a parking space in one of the garages and ran to the theater with my daughter in order to be on time for the show! The WB only uses the Harmon Center occasionally; it is not the "home" of the WB. A majority of the WB season performances are at KC, with the Nutcracker at the Warner Theater.

[California]

I'd like to point out that the ticketing problems are not the fault of the Washington Ballet's, but the Kennedy Center's. The KC website has been a bit dodgy lately and when there are problems getting tix for one show, everything else on the website is affected. So please don't blame the WB for the KC ticketing.

http://www.washingto...3399_story.html

Thanks for the link! I see we can blame those problems on The Book of Mormon. The same thing happened last year when tickets went on sale in Denver. The web site and phone were disasters and they still sold out in five hours!

And it's not just the Book of Mormon. The Met site for ABT Sunday was a disaster - constantly crashing, making it impossible to check-out, etc. (but fine on Monday morning). And I noticed that the Royal Ballet apologized that their site wasn't working for several days because their credit card processor was overwhelmed. Apparently, many theaters are overwhelmed by on-line sales to popular events.

[YouOverThere]

A friend went, well actually tried to attend, tonight's performance at the Sidney Harman Theater. She somehow managed to get there shortly after the 6:30 showtime, only to find that the box office was closed. To add insult to injury, she had to pay the normal $22 parking garage fee rather than the $7 fee for theater goers. I thought that this was a little strange. In Denver, I once bought a ticket for The Nutcracker shortly before the intermission.

[Drew]

How disappointing for your friend. I do think that in a lot of theaters the box office closes once the performance is underway. (Usually box office hours are indicated somewhere on the theater's website, but I understand that one might just head for theater assuming one had enough time to purchase the tickets...)

[YouOverThere]

How disappointing for your friend. I do think that in a lot of theaters the box office closes once the performance is underway. (Usually box office hours are indicated somewhere on the theater's website, but I understand that one might just head for theater assuming one had enough time to purchase the tickets...)

Unfortunately, she has a Ph.D. so she is very spacey and sometimes loses track of time. I emailed someone at the Washington Ballet and received a very gracious response, though because the theater rather than the Washington Ballet ran the ticket office he was not sure exactly what the policy is.

I guess that it's a little different in Denver, where both the Colorado Ballet and Colorado Symphony perform in the main downtown area so that people who want to attend a future performance might be in the area for some other reason and will stop by to purchase tickets. The Kennedy Center has a rigid policy of not selling tickets after the starting time for a show even though the box office is normally open until (IIRC) 9:00.