NYCB 2018 Summer Season

[FPF]

3 hours ago, kbarber said:

how much were NYCB ticket prices this year? They've always seemed somewhat underpriced at SPAC to me. Vail's are $60 - $125, much smaller venue.

This year, tickets at SPAC for inside the amphitheater range from $103 to $33 for most performances. "Premium" performances (I'm not sure which performances these are) range from $113 to $43.  Matinees are the real bargain, with tickets ranging from $53 to $33, and these prices have actually increased considerably over the past several years (and usually sell very well). Lawn tickets are $29, $34, and $18, for the respective performance types. SPAC seats 5,200 inside, the lawn has substantially more capacity (20,000), but for the ballet, where most people presumably want to see as well as hear, I think the useful capacity would be more limited.

Edited July 27, 2018 by FPF
typo

[KarenAG]

On 7/26/2018 at 12:52 PM, ABT Fan said:

I agree. Thank you Kathleen for those figures. That was very insightful.

I also appreciate your digging up this information, Kathleen - thank you. 

Edited July 27, 2018 by KarenAG
Spelling

[FPF]

3 hours ago, Kathleen O'Connell said:

Here's a description of SPAC's arrangement with Live Nation, Per SPAC's audited financial statements (which you can download here)

"SPAC has an agreement with a third party to receive exclusive right and license to book, co-promote, co-produce, and co-present all Touring and Professional (T&P) events at SPAC through September 2019.  In consideration of a guaranteed fee paid to SPAC each year, plus a percentage based on attendance, the third party is entitled to all revenues derived from, relating to, or otherwise generated by the presentation of T&P events presented at SPAC.  In addition, the third party bears all the financial risk associated with the promotion, production, and presentation of each T&P event."

If I'm looking at the right lines in the financial statements, SPAC earned $1.1 million from this arrangement in 2017 and $1.45 million in 2016. I don't know what services (if any) SPAC provides to Live Nation in connection with the arrangement; I seem to recall that Live Nation is responsible for things like parking and clean-up, but I honestly don't know.

SPAC's own ticket sales were $2.85 million in 2017 and $3.33 million in 2016. Box Office service fees were $296 thousand in 2017 and $350 thousand in 2016. (This should give you a clue as to why performing arts organizations insist on charging them.)

SPAC also gets a bit of income from renting out the amphitheater for corporate events ($133 thousand in 2017) and from the Saratoga Jazz Festival ($60 thousand in 2017).

On a related note: I'm not surprised NYCB hasn't brought Sleeping Beauty to SPAC: its current production relies on some projections that would probably be impossible to pull off in the amphitheater.

Thanks for all of this Kathleen--I was trying to look through those financial statements a couple of days ago and couldn't get nearly as much out of them as you have. 

I'd forgotten about the SB projections.  I saw SB at the NYS Theater when it first premiered and probably at least once after, but not for the past ~20 years (except for the Garland Waltz and Aurora's Wedding at SPAC).  

[BalanchineFan]

On 7/19/2018 at 4:00 PM, FPF said:

I also saw the Tuesday night performance.

FYI: tickets to pre-performance talks are free this year although registration is required (but several people without tickets were able to get in on Tuesday). Deborah Jowitt spoke. For me, the most interesting thing was her discussion of the 4Ts and how the elements corresponding to each humor relate to the quality of movement in the choreography (e.g., fiery for Choleric, watery for Phlegmatic). 

 I thought that Square Dance was just OK. Erica Pereira danced well but didn't project strongly (I prefer to sit in the balcony).  Taylor Stanley was good. 

 In 4Ts, Sara Mearns and Jared Angle looked a bit off to me--as though there might have been some sort of misstep toward the beginning of Sanguinic, soon after they've met and are moving together.  I agree with Griffie that Megan LeCrone's Choleric was a highlight.

There were a lot of  cast changes in Symphony in C. If I have it correctly, first movement was Ashley Bouder and Joseph Gordon, Second Movement was Teresa Reichlen and Russell Janzen, Third was Indiana Woodward and Sebastian Villarini-Velez, and Fourth (I think this was the only movement with the listed principals) was Lauren King and Andrew Scordato.  All were excellent. I'm not sure if I've seen Villarini-Velez in a principal role before, but he made a fantastic impression here, with excellent ballon. I am still not crazy about the floppy newer costumes-- when Reichlen did the deep penche, her tutu completely inverted. I don't think I'd ever seen that with the Karinska tutus. 

There's a NY critic who refers to that tutu inversion as "Hello Sailor!" It flips up all at once when the women penché. I find it very disturbing and wish they would reconstruct the Karinska powder puff tutus.

Edited August 29, 2018 by BalanchineFan

[abatt]

https://www.nycballet.com/NYCB/media/NYCBMediaLibrary/PDFs/Press/Casting/Copenhagen-Aug-15-19-2018.pdf

The casting for the tour to Denmark has been announced. Some interesting casting.  Tyler Angle is debuting in the first movement of Symphony in C.  Most interesting is that Emily Gerrity is debuting in the Dark Angel role of Serenade.  Maria K. is back from injury.

I'm sure this trip to Copenhagen is going to be very strange for the company, the interim directors and the presenters given the departure of Peter Martins, and the circumstances surrounding his departure. 

Edited July 31, 2018 by abatt

[bcash]

On 7/19/2018 at 4:00 PM, FPF said:

I also saw the Tuesday night performance.

FYI: tickets to pre-performance talks are free this year although registration is required (but several people without tickets were able to get in on Tuesday). Deborah Jowitt spoke. For me, the most interesting thing was her discussion of the 4Ts and how the elements corresponding to each humor relate to the quality of movement in the choreography (e.g., fiery for Choleric, watery for Phlegmatic). 

 I thought that Square Dance was just OK. Erica Pereira danced well but didn't project strongly (I prefer to sit in the balcony).  Taylor Stanley was good. 

 In 4Ts, Sara Mearns and Jared Angle looked a bit off to me--as though there might have been some sort of misstep toward the beginning of Sanguinic, soon after they've met and are moving together.  I agree with Griffie that Megan LeCrone's Choleric was a highlight.

There were a lot of  cast changes in Symphony in C. If I have it correctly, first movement was Ashley Bouder and Joseph Gordon, Second Movement was Teresa Reichlen and Russell Janzen, Third was Indiana Woodward and Sebastian Villarini-Velez, and Fourth (I think this was the only movement with the listed principals) was Lauren King and Andrew Scordato.  All were excellent. I'm not sure if I've seen Villarini-Velez in a principal role before, but he made a fantastic impression here, with excellent ballon. I am still not crazy about the floppy newer costumes-- when Reichlen did the deep penche, her tutu completely inverted. I don't think I'd ever seen that with the Karinska tutus. 

I've always liked LeCrone's Choleric. There's a mix of angularity and a hint of seductiveness. Although she doesn't seem to be a loved dancer among some of the long-time City Ballet goers I've talked to.

I'm so happy to hear that S. V-V was given another principal role after Melancholic in 4T. I've long deemed him my favorite corps dancer, smooth, fluid movement and light-hearted musicality. I hope to see him dance more senior roles soon!

[fondoffouettes]

2 hours ago, abatt said:

https://www.nycballet.com/NYCB/media/NYCBMediaLibrary/PDFs/Press/Casting/Copenhagen-Aug-15-19-2018.pdf

The casting for the tour to Denmark has been announced. Some interesting casting.  Tyler Angle is debuting in the first movement of Symphony in C. 

 

I wonder if Veyette is hanging up the role and they needed someone new to learn it. I guess we'll find out when their main season casting starts to go up.

[abatt]

Finlay was also doing the first movement.  Is Finlay he injured?  At Saratoga they had Gordon fill in on an emergency basis int he first movement on short notice.

[cobweb]

In regard to abatt's question about Finlay, since he is not listed in the casting for Copenhagen at all, presumably he's injured. It's not likely they would excuse him from the tour for any other reason. As for Gerrity in Serenade, she seems like a great choice for the Dark Angel and I look forward to seeing her in NYC. But it's interesting they're giving it to her, when LeCrone and Reichlen also have it in their repertory, and both are on the tour. 

ETA: Any reports from the Copenhagen performances would be greatly appreciated!

Edited August 3, 2018 by cobweb

[abatt]

LeCrone is doing Choleric in 4Ts, and Reichlin is doing 2nd movement in Symphony in C, both of which are on the same program as Serenade.  I presume that's why they needed a different dancer to perform Dark Angel in Serenade.

[FPF]

I saw the Stars of American Ballet (Daniel Ulbricht's group of NYCB dancers) today at Jacob's Pillow. It was, I thought, a much more fitting salute to Robbins than the SPAC gala, as all of the ballets were choreographed by Robbins. Even though I've been seeing the NYCB for many years, there were some works that were new to me or that I'd only seen once before.

First up was Andantino with Gonzalo Garcia and Indiana Woodward. Although I enjoyed this ballet while I was watching it, I can't really remember much about it, and I'm not sure if I've seen it before. Woodward was charming, as usual.

Next was Concertino, with Daniel Applebaum, Teresa Reichlen, and Andrew Scordato. I think this was my first time seeing this ballet. This seemed more minimalist and abstract than what I think of as a typical Robbins ballets. At first it reminded me a bit of Balanchine's Stravinsky ballets, but it became more "Robbinseque" as it progressed.

After this, Ulbricht performed "A Suite of Dances" to the cello played by Ann Kim from the NYCB orchestra. I saw this with Baryshnikov when it premiered, and I thought that Ulbricht was great in this role. I could see Baryshnikov in the choreography, but Ulbricht was also still himself. This was a great showpiece for Ulbricht.

After the intermission was another rarity that I'd never seen before, although actually quite familiar: Chopin Dances, which consists of outtakes from Dances at a Gathering and Other Dances that Robbins put together himself for two male dancers, in this case, Ulbricht and Anthony Huxley. Both were excellent.  The pianist was Susan Walters of NYCB.

The program ended with Interplay, with Devin Alberda leading Free Play, Sebastian Villarini-Velez in Horseplay, Unity Phelan and Peter Walker in Byplay, and the whole cast (also including Sara Adams, Kristin Segin, Indiana Woodward, and Lars Nelson) in Team Play. I thought this looked great on the smaller stage and enjoyed all of the dancers. After he made a strongly positive impression on me in his debut in the third movement of Symphony in C at SPAC, I was especially happy to see Villarini-Velez give a great performance here.

This was a really enjoyable afternoon at the ballet. Kudos to Daniel and to the Pillow for organizing this program (and also for the Pillow Talk that I posted about under Robbins Centennial).

Edited August 26, 2018 by FPF
To add information.

[FPF]

The Pillow has posted the post-show talk with Daniel Ulbricht: