Cinderella: Jan 31-Feb 2, Feb 6-9, Three Additional Performances

[Helene]

Kent Stowell's "Cinderella" opens on January 31.  There are three additional, non-subscription performances:

• Sunday matinee, February 2 (1 pm)
• Saturday matinee, February 8 (1 pm)
• Sunday evening, February 9 (7pm)

Please note that all matinee performances begin at 1pm.

Here is the first part of the press release:

PACIFIC NORTHWEST BALLET

presents

January 31 – February 9, 2020

Marion Oliver McCaw Hall

321 Mercer Street, Seattle Center

Seattle, WA 98109

Ten Performances Only!

January 31 at 7:30 PM

February 1 at 1:00 and 7:30 PM

February 2 at 1:00 PM*

February 6 & 7 at 7:30 PM

February 8 at 1:00* and 7:30 PM

February 9 at 1:00 and 7:00* PM

*Added performances – best availability!

SEATTLE, WA – Pacific Northwest Ballet continues its 47th season with the return of Founding Artistic Director Kent Stowell’s wondrous Cinderella. Last seen at McCaw Hall in 2012, PNB’s production conjures rare enchantment from this best-loved fairy tale by recalling Cinderella’s long-lost mother in a tender memory scene and then returning her in the guise of the Fairy Godmother. As if stepping between the pages of a beloved story book, the ballet’s breathtaking beauty, in union with Prokofiev’s evocative score, vividly illustrates the familiar narrative and supports a rich array of character roles—from silly step-sisters to tiny dancing pumpkins to a gentle, handsome prince. And when her ivory carriage rolls to a stop at the entrance to a magnificent golden ballroom and Cinderella takes her first, shy steps into the midst of swirling, scarlet-clad dancers, all hearts go with her into this dream come true.

Cinderella runs for ten performances only, January 31 through February 9 at Seattle Center’s Marion Oliver McCaw Hall. Tickets start at $30, and are available through the PNB Box Office at 206.441.2424, in person at 301 Mercer Street, or online at PNB.org.

BOUT THE BALL 

CINDERELLA

Music: Sergei Prokofiev*
Choreography: Kent Stowell
Staging: Kent Stowell, Francia Russell and Kaori Nakamura
Scenic Design: Tony Straiges
Costume Design: Martin Pakledinaz
Lighting Design: Randall G. Chiarelli
Premiere: May 31, 1994; Pacific Northwest Ballet

Running Time: Two hours and 30 minutes

*Music details: Cinderella, Op. 87, 1940-1944, with excerpts from incidental music to Eugene Onegin [March, Scherzo, Prince and Princess], Op. 71, 1936; Lermontov film score [Mephisto Waltz], 1941-1942; A Summer’s Day Suite [Waltz], Op. 65, 1935-1941; Symphony No. 1 in D Major “Classical” [Gavotte], Op. 25, 1916-1917; The Tale of the Stone Flower [Waltz], Op. 118, 1948-1953; The Love for Three Oranges: Symphonic Suite, Op. 33bis, 1919/1924

Pacific Northwest Ballet’s production of Cinderella, conceived and choreographed in 1994 by Founding Artistic Director Kent Stowell, is a sweet and tender story of love lost and found. In sustaining this romantic focus throughout the ballet, Stowell has departed meaningfully from earlier modern versions of Cinderella, most of which take their lead from Frederick Ashton’s 1948 production for the Royal Ballet, which draws heavily on the English music hall tradition. These Cinderellas, Stowell believes, are more comic-tragic than romantic in feeling. And, wedded to the original 1940’s score, which Sergei Prokofiev modeled on the 19^th-century ballets of Marius Petipa, they favor theatrical variety over narrative and emotional cohesiveness.

 Restoring the continuity of Cinderella’s story and its feeling became Stowell’s guiding principle in the design of PNB’s production. Central to this conception is the contrast between the Real World and the Dream World of Cinderella’s experience. As a young woman whose beloved mother has died and whose father has remarried, she dreams of the happiness of the past even as she tries to cope bravely with the unhappiness of her new home life. When her fairy godmother appears, and is the same figure as the mother she remembers, it’s clear that the love Cinderella experienced as a child remains with her in adulthood—a deep store of wisdom and hope to guide her towards future happiness. As she meets the Prince at the ball in Act II and as he searches for and finds her in Act III, the emphasis is steadily on the realization of a love relationship that restores a lost wholeness.

 To achieve this narrative and emotional continuity, some revision of the Prokofiev score was necessary. For example, Prokofiev wrote incidental music for the play Eugene Onegin that has been incorporated into Act I, making the dance lesson a meaningful contrast between Cinderella’s natural grace and the stepsisters’ awkwardness. A waltz that ended Act I now opens Act II, so that our first musical impression of the ball is of a glorious atmosphere for romance. And incidental music from Prokofiev’s opera The Love for Three Oranges provides ideal music for The Theatre of Marvels—a new scene conceived by Stowell that re-enacts the moral and psychological issues of the entire ballet. With resplendent costumes by Martin Pakledinaz and sets by Tony Straiges that evoke an exquisite 18^th-century world, PNB’s Cinderella is a fully realized romantic fairy tale for our time. [Original notes by Jeanie Thomas, revised by Doug Fullington.]

[Helene]

Casting for first weekend is up on the site:

https://www.pnb.org/season/cinderella/

Here's a link to the downloadable spreadsheet:

Cinderella 2020_01_23.xlsx

Lots of debuts, in both the leads -- Leta Biasucci and Angelica Generosa as Cinderella, Kyle Davis as Prince, Elle Macy as Godmother/Memory Mother -- and in other featured roles.  I'm glad to see this production back: there are so many opportunities, and Stowell really knows how to tell the story.

[Helene]

Part two of the press release:

UPCOMING SPECIAL EVENTS:

PNB IMMERSION EXPERIENCE

Tuesday, January 21, 5:00 pm

The Phelps Center, 301 Mercer Street

The PNB Immersion Experience presents a new way to enhance patrons’ performance experiences for the 2019-2020 season: The Cinderella offering will include an hour-long Immersion Experience Studio Rehearsal hosted by Artistic Director Peter Boal and featuring Company dancers rehearsing excerpts from Cinderella, followed by a Q&A with PNB artists and a tour of the PNB Costume Shop. Tickets ($40) are available through the PNB Box Office. (Immersion Experience tickets do not include a performance.)

 

PNB CONVERSATIONS & DRESS REHEARSAL

Thursday, January 30, 5:30 pm

Nesholm Family Lecture Hall at McCaw Hall

Join a panel of PNB’s Cinderellas, in conversation with Audience Education Manager Doug Fullington. PNB Conversations offers in-depth interviews with artists involved in putting our repertory on stage. Attend the Conversations event only or stay for the dress rehearsal of Cinderella. Tickets ($30) may be purchased through the PNB Box Office.

 

FUN FOR FAMILIES
Special activities for children and families – including crafts and dance classes – begin one hour before all matinee performances. And Music Center of the Northwest will host their popular Instrument Petting Zoo at the matinees on February 1 and 9.

 

BALLET TALK

Nesholm Family Lecture Hall at McCaw Hall

Join Audience Education Manager Doug Fullington for a 30-minute introduction to each performance, including discussions of choreography, music, history, design and the process of bringing ballet to the stage. One hour before performances. FREE for ticketholders.

 

MEET THE ARTIST

Nesholm Family Lecture Hall at McCaw Hall

Skip the post-show traffic and enjoy a Q&A with Artistic Director Peter Boal and PNB dancers, immediately following each performance. FREE for ticketholders.

 

YOUNG PATRONS CIRCLE NIGHT

Friday, February 7

Join members of PNB’s Young Patrons Circle (YPC) in an exclusive lounge for complimentary wine and coffee before the show and at intermission. YPC is PNB’s social and educational group for ballet patrons ages 21 through 39. YPC members save up to 40% off their tickets. For more info, visit PNB.org/YPC Join members of PNB’s Young Patrons Circle (YPC) in an exclusive lounge for complimentary wine and coffee before the show and at intermission. YPC is PNB’s social and educational group for ballet patrons ages 21 through 39. YPC members save up to 40% off their tickets. For more info, visit PNB.org/YPCx

[Helene]

Casting is up for both weeks:

https://www.pnb.org/season/cinderella/?fbclid=IwAR1Zhtx8mP1cIHUim7ZBR_Tr-41dzhQmQhpDvu89Rp3-Z1NwRHqKvC2sk1c

Link to downloadable spreadsheet:

Cinderella 2020_01_28.xlsx

Elizabeth Murphy and Dylan Wald are the fifth Cinderella/Prince pair, on Friday, February 7 at 7:30pm and Sunday, February 9 at 7pm.  (Please note in the casting section of the website, the current start time for Sunday February 9 is 7:30pm; in the press release and elsewhere on the site, the start time is 7pm.)  Other debuts on February 7 are Leah Merchant as Godmother and Margaret Mullin as Stepmother.

[seattle_dancer]

On 1/23/2020 at 8:26 PM, Helene said:

Part two of the press release:

UPCOMING SPECIAL EVENTS:

PNB IMMERSION EXPERIENCE

Tuesday, January 21, 5:00 pm

The Phelps Center, 301 Mercer Street

The PNB Immersion Experience presents a new way to enhance patrons’ performance experiences for the 2019-2020 season: The Cinderella offering will include an hour-long Immersion Experience Studio Rehearsal hosted by Artistic Director Peter Boal and featuring Company dancers rehearsing excerpts from Cinderella, followed by a Q&A with PNB artists and a tour of the PNB Costume Shop. Tickets ($40) are available through the PNB Box Office. (Immersion Experience tickets do not include a performance.)

 

I can't recall if this is the first of these new Immersion Experiences for this season but I went last week and so I thought I would provide a quick report:

The studio rehearsal was Act II and III.  Cinderella was Leta Biasucci and her Prince was Lucien Postelwaite.  I thought they looked terrific together, I could watch them forever.  The Fairy Godmother was Elle Macy, she was so beautiful and Kyle Davis blew us away as the Jester with his pyrotechnics.  Noone introduced what or who we would be seeing.  It was pretty obvious they were working hard on rehearsals and just stopped long enough for us to come in.  I had never had the pleasure of seeing Kent Stowell working in the studios before, so that was really special.  I believe I read he recently turned 80 and wow he doesn't miss anything!

The rehearsal took 45 - 50 minutes then we gathered in the board room and were split into two groups.  Half went up to the costume shop and half stayed in the board room.  In the costume shop, the new manager Christina (sp?) gave a brief talk and then opened it up to Q&A.  I believe she said the costumes were circa 1994 so once out of the boxes they find they need a certain amount of repair and of course then they have to fit them to the current dancers.  We were then able to walk around and take a look but it is pretty tight space up there.

I had totally spaced there was a Q&A, I thought it was just studio rehearsal and costume shop tour.  So I was pleasantly surprised to find that Angelica Generosa and Kyle Davis were staying so late, along with Doug Fullington, to chat with out about their Cinderella experience to date and answer any questions we had.  By then some people had left so we were down to maybe a dozen or fifteen folks and some people were able to ask multiple and/or follow on questions.  There was a common theme of the rehearsal timeline being tight for this show.  The leads began learning their roles in early December but everyone else did not start until first week of January.   Doug mentioned Kaori Nakamura is helping with the staging.  Normally it would have been Paul Gibson but he retired last year.  Angelica said Kaori is really helpful with all of the placement of the stage entrances and exits.  That is so amazing that Kaori can remember after all these years!  Another interesting tidbit is that Kent Stowell does tweak the choreography slightly for different lead couples.

This was a really fun event after work. In total it took almost two hours.   Any time we are allowed to observe studio rehearsals is so worth the price of admission!!!  I look forward to the next one where it involves an orchestra rehearsal in place of the costume shop tour.

Edited January 29, 2020 by seattle_dancer

[sandik]

I was out of town for this, and am so sorry to have missed the experience.  Studio time is always the best!

[Helene]

Just got a heads up that the email sent to ticket holders with performance information announced that there will be no pre-show or post-show discussions before and after Opening Night, January 31, and Closing Night, February 9 (at 7pm).

[seattle_dancer]

2 hours ago, Helene said:

Just got a heads up that the email sent to ticket holders with performance information announced that there will be no pre-show or post-show discussions before and after Opening Night, January 31, and Closing Night, February 9 (at 7pm).

Thanks for the info, I did not receive that email and I even have a ticket for opening night.

Incidentally, my friend texted me from the dress rehearsal that Angelica Generosa was dancing Cinderella tonight.  I had to work late and was sorry to miss it but I am so happy to hear that she was in the title role tonight.  That means there will be more photographs and video material of AG in a lead role of a story ballet.  PNB needs more of that material for its diversity initiative and to grow its audience.

[doug]

There will be pre-show talks before each performance, including tonight. But no post-show tonight or after Sunday, February 9 evening.

[Helene]

I apologize, Doug: I should have been more careful.

[Helene]

Elle Macy is BACK.

[Grace8]

Did anyone see any of the debuts?

[Helene]

I saw Leta Biasucci's debut as Cinderella and Elle Macy's as Godmother, marking Macy's return this season.  Each was stellar, but what was remarkable to me was the chemistry they had with each other.  I'm still not convinced of the Biasucci/Postlewaite partnershipL they look physically beautiful together, and perfect "on paper," but to me it's missing a spark, which I see from each of them with different partners.  That was a marked contrast with Rausch and Tisserand in the evening: they've looked bonded and simpatico since they were a lot younger and coming to prominence.  

[seattle_dancer]

I saw Angelica Generosa and Kyle Davis' second show.  AG has such a light quality to her dancing this year, it's as if she is weightless.  Lots of beautiful details - single attitude turn in Act I (also noted by another in the aftertalk), musical accents, touch of skirt, and run with hand across forehead to name a few.  Act II really drew me in.  When they met the chemistry was wonderful - shy and unsure, full of curiosity.  AG's dancing really grew through the act, as Cinderella became more comfortable and happy with the Prince.  KD was his usual self - super precise and effortless in all his solos.