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ABT 2015 Met season


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Now if only more could have been done about the sight-lines...

True, alas. But I remember a season during which Lilac Garden, T&V and Etudes were presented at City Center in the autumn and at the Met the following spring. While T&V and Etudes obviously looked a lot less cramped on the bigger stage, Garden, which had been so powerful at City Center, fell flat at the Met. Needless to say, I was grateful to have had an opportunity to see the City Center performances.

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I do think that ABT's long season at the Met is one of its challenges. As a theater, the Met is ill-suited to ballet. There is too much stage to fill and too many seats that are fine for listening to grand opera but lousy for watching ballet. (The acoustics at the top of the house are fantastic, but the action looks like it's taking place on a planet far, far away.)

The kind of rep that works best there -- lavishly scaled story ballets -- is expensive to produce and difficult to cast. Not because the company doesn't have good dancers, but because the kind of dancer that can both fill the house and sell it to the back of that house in particular is relatively rare and requires the kind of cultivation ABT can't -- or doesn't -- offer. (How is Isabella Boylston, or any ballerina for that matter, supposed to get her arms around Giselle if she only dances it once a season?)

Three weeks at The Theater Formerly Known as State, three weeks at the Rose Theater (in the Jazz at Lincoln Center complex in the Time Warner Center) and four weeks at the Met might allow the company to adjust its programming mix to give due honor to its "heritage" ballets, present its new commissions in an appropriately scaled venue, and, most important of all, get its most promising dancers front and center more often.

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Supposedly when "Lilac Garden" was first presented by the Ballet Rambert in 1936 it was done on a tiny stage at the Mercury Theater. The later revivals increased the number of guests who observe and drift by. This was brought out during a discussion after a performance of "Jardin aux Lilas" by the New York Theatre Ballet with Diana Byer - the Mercury Theater stage was about the same size as the tiny Florence Gould Hall stage.

I wonder what is going to happen with that Monday night "Giselle" with Julie Kent and Bolle (not Bocca!) on March 25th? Hope Julie recovers in time for her farewell as Juliet!

BTW: since the renovation of City Center the sight lines - especially upstairs - are much better.

Edited by FauxPas
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I wonder what is going to happen with that Monday night "Giselle" with Julie Kent and Bocca on March 25th? Hope Julie recovers in time for her farewell as Juliet!

Bocca? Now that would get some diehard fans to the theater. Bolle is still listed. If Kent cancels, could Murphy finally get to do a Giselle at ABT? I don't recall what she has danced with Bolle.

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Oh If I could go back to the days when Bocca was dancing Albrecht... I would still be a young man! I corrected the mistake. Thank you California! Actually Bolle's most frequent Giselle partner has been Paloma Herrera - and to give her another evening Giselle show would make up for the slights she has suffered recently regarding her farewell.

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Bocca? Now that would get some diehard fans to the theater. Bolle is still listed. If Kent cancels, could Murphy finally get to do a Giselle at ABT? I don't recall what she has danced with Bolle.

If they gave Murphy or Abrera a Giselle, I would buy tickets in a heartbeat. Although Murphy is supposed to dance Myrta that night.

Shame that Kent isn't performing much during her last season, but I'm actually looking forward to seeing Teuscher in Pillar (although I wish I could see the Murphy cast instead).

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Actually even more urgent are Kent's performances as Desdemona in "Othello". The role would fit Hee Seo perfectly but Sarah Lane would be fine too. However, if they are looking for a guest artist, Yuan-Yuan Tan I believe created the part.

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Three weeks at The Theater Formerly Known as State, three weeks at the Rose Theater (in the Jazz at Lincoln Center complex in the Time Warner Center) and four weeks at the Met might allow the company to adjust its programming mix to give due honor to its "heritage" ballets, present its new commissions in an appropriately scaled venue, and, most important of all, get its most promising dancers front and center more often.

Sound advice.

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Actually even more urgent are Kent's performances as Desdemona in "Othello". The role would fit Hee Seo perfectly but Sarah Lane would be fine too. However, if they are looking for a guest artist, Yuan-Yuan Tan I believe created the part.

For god sake, no more Hee Seo......at this rate I will end up quitting ballet after being a very loyal abt fan for more than 15 years ..

Reyes danced Desdemona with Rasta Thomas the last time abt performed it, and she was fab.

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For god sake, no more Hee Seo......at this rate I will end up quitting ballet after being a very loyal abt fan for more than 15 years ..

Reyes danced Desdemona with Rasta Thomas the last time abt performed it, and she was fab.

More Abrera, anyone?

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If Kent is injured, why do these cast changes in dribs and drabs. She did the same thing at the Kennedy Center with last second cancellations, where Murphy had to dance three days in a row to cover her assignments. Personally, I would dream of Ferri coming back to take the Desdemona role. Not going to happen, but I can hope.

Attended today's matinee. What a difference a cast makes. This cast of Sylphides was sublime and ethereal, with a much more convincing mastery of the Romantic style than Monday's cast. The leads were Part, Gorak, Abrera and Lane. Abrera doesn't have Boylston's jumping ability, but she brought so many other details to the role that I didn't care. The second cast of Lilac was pretty good, but not nearly as convincing as the first cast. The weakest link was Shevshenko, who danced all the steps but lacked dramatic impetus. This is the best work I've seen from Tom Forrester, who was passionate and ardent. Didn't stay for Rodeo.

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Attended today's matinee. What a difference a cast makes. This cast of Sylphides was sublime and ethereal, with a much more convincing mastery of the Romantic style than Monday's cast. The leads were Part, Gorak, Abrera and Lane. Abrera doesn't have Boylston's jumping ability, but she brought so many other details to the role that I didn't care. The second cast of Lilac was pretty good, but not nearly as convincing as the first cast. The weakest link was Shevshenko, who danced all the steps but lacked dramatic impetus. This is the best work I've seen from Tom Forrester, who was passionate and ardent. Didn't stay for Rodeo.

Sounds like Abrera did the Mazurka role. Which did Part do? I can't imagine Gorak lifting her in the Pdd so did Lane dance the pdd and Part the prelude?

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If Kent is injured, why do these cast changes in dribs and drabs.

Personally, I find this to be a bit of bait and switch. If the company knows they need to pull a lead principal, they should announce that more than 24 hours before the performance, when the audience can exchange tickets. Or they should abandon the 24 hour policy and/or allow people to exchange tickets over the phone, as NYCB does. Not doing so, is not improving the company's reputation, IMO.

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Personally, I find this to be a bit of bait and switch. If the company knows they need to pull a lead principal, they should announce that more than 24 hours before the performance, when the audience can exchange tickets. Or they should abandon the 24 hour policy and/or allow people to exchange tickets over the phone, as NYCB does. Not doing so, is not improving the company's reputation, IMO.

I definitely think they should allow ticket changes over the phone. For any reason, not only cast changes. I'm not sure, but I think the policy of having to give them the actual ticket is the Met's policy, i.e., not ABT's. Does anyone know for sure?

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I definitely think they should allow ticket changes over the phone. For any reason, not only cast changes. I'm not sure, but I think the policy of having to give them the actual ticket is the Met's policy, i.e., not ABT's. Does anyone know for sure?

I don't know whose policy it is. But if NYCB allows phone exchanges that means the technology exists to make it possible. ABT/the Met needs to take advantage of that.

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One of the basic technologies is to have a unique ID on each ticket and, when a ticket is exchanged, to de-activate the old number. That requires barcodes, so that if a de-activated ticket is scanned, it can be rejected.

Is NYCB scanning tickets these days?

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I couldn't remember. Last year when I went I was so surprised to see one of the ticket-taking ushers that I remembered from quite a while ago, and even more surprised when he recognized me that the process didn't even register.

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One of the basic technologies is to have a unique ID on each ticket and, when a ticket is exchanged, to de-activate the old number. That requires barcodes, so that if a de-activated ticket is scanned, it can be rejected.

Is NYCB scanning tickets these days?

Yes, at NYCB they scan tickets. At ABT they don't.
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When I had to cancel a trip to NYC on short notice a few years ago, I called the Met ticket office to see if I could donate the tickets I couldn't use for a charitable donation. Yes, indeed! They asked me to read off certain numbers on the ticket (customer number, order number, etc.), so it was deactivated for me and they could resell. The charitable donation receipts arrived shortly thereafter.

I always assumed that the reluctance to exchange tickets, let alone give cash refunds, was simply that it would play havoc with their box office sales. There is always a risk in the performing arts that certain performers won't be able to go on. But perhaps they are more flexible now with subscribers or just to keep more ticket buyers happy, given continuing attendance problems.

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I couldn't remember. Last year when I went I was so surprised to see one of the ticket-taking ushers that I remembered from quite a while ago, and even more surprised when he recognized me that the process didn't even register.

I think I know who you mean. I've been handing him my tickets since at least 1978 and he does nod at me every time as if he knows who i am. Going to the ballet just won't feel the same when he retires.

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