Like Water For Chocolate Segerstrom Center 3/29-4/2

[DPell]

Casting for the Segerstrom run of Like Water For Chocolate is up on ABT's site and The Segerstrom site.

3/29 Cassandra Trenary (Tita), Herman Cornejo (Pedro),  Christine Shevchenko (Elena), Hee Seo (Rosaura),  Catherine Hurlin (Gertrudis), Cory Stearns (Dr. John Brown) 

3/30 SunMi Park* (Tita), Daniel Camargo (Pedro), Zhong-Jing Fang (Elena), Chloe Misseldine (Rosaura), Skylar Brandt (Gertrudis), Calvin Royal III (Dr. John Brown) 

3/31 Cassandra Trenary (Tita), Herman Cornejo (Pedro), Christine Shevchenko (Elena), Hee Seo (Rosaura), Catherine Hurlin (Gertrudis), Cory Stearns (Dr. John Brown) 

4/1 Matinee Devon Teuscher (Tita), Joo Won Ahn (Pedro), Christine Shevchenko (Elena), Betsy McBride (Rosaura), Catherine Hurlin (Gertrudis), Thomas Forster (Dr. John Brown)  

4/1 Evening SunMi Park (Tita), Daniel Camargo (Pedro), Zhong-Jing Fang (Elena), Chloe Misseldine (Rosaura), Skylar Brandt (Gertrudis), Calvin Royal III (Dr. John Brown) 

4/2 Cassandra Trenary (Tita), Herman Cornejo (Pedro), Christine Shevchenko (Elena), Hee Seo (Rosaura), Catherine Hurlin (Gertrudis), Cory Stearns (Dr. John Brown) 

[AB'sMom]

Thank you for posting. I wish I could combine parts of different casts together. I think I’ll probably see Trenary/Cornejo et al.

[Papagena]

Question: Assuming there are no odd AD changeover rules for casting - I assume these are Jaffe's decisions? If so, I'm pleased - her surprise casting of Sun Mi Park feels really fresh and exciting! 

Edited March 3, 2023 by Papagena

[tutu]

30 minutes ago, Papagena said:

Question: Assuming there are no odd AD changeover rules for casting - I assume these are Jaffe's decisions? If so, I'm pleased - her surprise casting of Sun Mi Park feels really fresh and exciting! 

Yes!  Very excited to see young talent getting big opportunities 

[MoMo]

5 hours ago, DPell said:

Casting for the Segerstrom run of Like Water For Chocolate is up on ABT's site and The Segerstrom site.

3/29 Cassandra Trenary (Tita), Herman Cornejo (Pedro),  Christine Shevchenko (Elena), Hee Seo (Rosaura),  Catherine Hurlin (Gertrudis), Cory Stearns (Dr. John Brown) 

3/30 SunMi Park* (Tita), Daniel Camargo (Pedro), Zhong-Jing Fang (Elena), Chloe Misseldine (Rosaura), Skylar Brandt (Gertrudis), Calvin Royal III (Dr. John Brown) 

3/31 Cassandra Trenary (Tita), Herman Cornejo (Pedro), Christine Shevchenko (Elena), Hee Seo (Rosaura), Catherine Hurlin (Gertrudis), Cory Stearns (Dr. John Brown) 

4/1 Matinee Devon Teuscher (Tita), Joo Won Ahn (Pedro), Christine Shevchenko (Elena), Betsy McBride (Rosaura), Catherine Hurlin (Gertrudis), Thomas Forster (Dr. John Brown)  

4/1 Evening SunMi Park (Tita), Daniel Camargo (Pedro), Zhong-Jing Fang (Elena), Chloe Misseldine (Rosaura), Skylar Brandt (Gertrudis), Calvin Royal III (Dr. John Brown) 

4/2 Cassandra Trenary (Tita), Herman Cornejo (Pedro), Christine Shevchenko (Elena), Hee Seo (Rosaura), Catherine Hurlin (Gertrudis), Cory Stearns (Dr. John Brown) 

Very excited for this casting. I have tickets for Matinee 4/1, purchased before casting announced. Interesting interview of Christopher Wheeldon in current March issue of Dance magazine. 

[bingham]

Probably, it’s Christopher Wheeldon’s decision to cast Sunmi in such an important role. She can be seen dancing a couple of variations from “ Pavilion of Armide” in Duncan Lyle digital program in YouTube. She stands out in the group.

[matilda]

The rapid rise of SunMi Park is puzzling. According to her bio on the ABT website she was only made a corps member in February 2022 and then made a soloist after last year's Met season. That's less than six months between joining the company and getting promoted. Now she's getting the second cast lead in a full-length. Not saying she isn't deserving, and I absolutely welcome the shakeup in casting conventions, but this is just... not how ABT normally operates? 

From the little I've seen of her (and I mean little--I only saw her do "Hail" in the Seasons), she looks promising. 

[stuben]

Matilda, you read my mind on this! Puzzling indeed as I was thinking of the other seasoned soloists like K. Williams not being in any of these casts or even L. Paris or even B. Gruland. Do dancers get a chance to "audition" for roles or do AD/Choreographers just look at Youtube to make decisions? It is even more puzzling when looking at the bios that two of the newly minted soloists have little to no rep experience. They are as you say "promising" but this is a premier so I would assume more seasoned dancers would get an opportunity, even from the corps. Interesting that the cast is mostly White and Asian, other than the male casting, isn't this a story about a Mexican family?

I am equally puzzled with Misseldine but do wonder if she came as a package with her ex-ABT soloist mother, Yan Chen, who is now part of the artistic team in ABT's junior company. I am sure it doesn't hurt to have a parent's help in coaching. This is all speculating and agree that they are all technically talented but this ballet requires a depth of acting, so this will be interesting to see how they rise to the occasion. I do think that the company is taking a big risk, especially for a premier. CA is a good testing ground before they bring it to NYC.

[abatt]

No Aran Bell in any of this casting.  No Boylston. No Murphy.  

There is a rapid succession in which the same casts appear repeatedly,  Indeed, Herman is scheduled to appear multiple times over the course of a week.  I'm getting the feeling that this choreography isn't terribly taxing or difficult.  

 

Edited March 3, 2023 by abatt

[MarzipanShepherdess]

I was pleased, though like others surprised, to see SunMi Park get such a big debut (and to see Chloe Misseldine and Betsey McBride also get big roles). I'm in favor of ABT taking more casting risks like this! In the 15 years I've been watching the company I've felt the casting is generally very predictable and heavily weighted to the same small handful of dancers. In recent years, with many of my favorites departing the company, I've been seeing fewer and fewer ABT performances as a consequence. The Park/Camargo/Fong/Misseldine/Brandt/Royal cast is the one I'd most like to see when the production comes to New York (though I'm sure I'll go to the Teuscher/Cornejo cast just because I relish any opportunity to see Herman dance and who knows how much longer he'll perform). 

[AB'sMom]

Teuscher is with Ahn, Trenary is with Cornejo.

[ksk04]

Is anyone else having problems with the SCFTA website when it comes to ticket exchanges? Like a nice prepared theatre goer I bought several different sets of tickets for this (and Nutcracker) back when they were on pre-sale and now need to exchange them with the casting info but the website is so dysfunctional. With Nutcracker, I was told I couldn't do online exchanges because I selected "hold tickets at box office" and now when I try to do my Like Water... exchanges, one of my tickets is randomly not offered to be exchanged and the rest offer me no seats to switch into despite there being plenty of seats if you look through the regular buying window.

I just got off the phone with a polite customer service person but no solutions were available from her manager except "log in and out" and "try a different browser." I ultimately just exchanged on the phone but given this has happened twice now, I was wondering if I am alone in this futility. Also they now want to charge $10 to hold tickets at the box office! 🤑

[AB'sMom]

They’re charging to hold tickets at the box office now? Do they also charge the service fee that’s included when you order tickets online? I have to say I liked their old website better than the new one.

[ksk04]

My understanding is that there is a still the percentage service fee (which is less online and in person than when you call the box office, I am pretty sure)--plus the ticket exchange fees (which I find the most reasonable part of all of this!).

When I ordered tickets in August I wasn't offered a mailed option which is my preference (only hold at box office or digital both of which didn't have a charge) but today I was told it was $10 to hold at the box office or to mail the tickets "because they have to be printed."

 

[Helene]

56 minutes ago, ksk04 said:

but today I was told it was $10 to hold at the box office or to mail the tickets "because they have to be printed."

Have we caught up to 1998?

[Josette]

Last December, I purchased at the box office tickets for a second performance of Nutcracker and the three weekend performances of Like Water for Chocolate, as in the past there was no extra charge if purchasing directly at the box office. I was told that there was now a charge even if printing at the box office and handing them to me on the spot. I expressed my great annoyance about the charge but did not direct it at  at the person doing the transaction. She did not charge me the extra $40. But it is worth letting them know this is a rip-off that is not well taken. 

[DPell]

8 hours ago, abatt said:

No Aran Bell in any of this casting.  No Boylston. No Murphy.  

There is a rapid succession in which the same casts appear repeatedly,  Indeed, Herman is scheduled to appear multiple times over the course of a week.  I'm getting the feeling that this choreography isn't terribly taxing or difficult.  

 

Hopefully we’ll see Bell, Murphy, and Boylston in the Met run. 

[maps]

18 hours ago, abatt said:

No Aran Bell in any of this casting.  No Boylston. No Murphy.  

There is a rapid succession in which the same casts appear repeatedly...

 

Perhaps Bell will be cast as Juan Alejandrez Like-Water-For-Chocolate-Cast-Sheet-02-06-22.pdf (roh.org.uk)   Revolutionary party, Act II, Like Water for Chocolate - YouTube

 

Edited March 4, 2023 by maps

[California]

1 hour ago, DPell said:

Hopefully we’ll see Bell, Murphy, and Boylston in the Met run. 

Bell is doing Giselle July 4 (with Teuscher), Swan Lake July 11 and 15 (with Seo), and R&J July 18 (with Teuscher). 

Edited March 4, 2023 by California

[DPell]

1 hour ago, California said:

Bell is doing Giselle July 4 (with Teuscher), Swan Lake July 11 and 15 (with Seo), and R&J July 18 (with Teuscher). 

I meant for the Met run of Like Water for Chocolate 

[California]

On 3/3/2023 at 8:02 AM, abatt said:

No Aran Bell in any of this casting.  No Boylston. No Murphy.  

There is a rapid succession in which the same casts appear repeatedly,  Indeed, Herman is scheduled to appear multiple times over the course of a week.  I'm getting the feeling that this choreography isn't terribly taxing or difficult.  

 

Bell is partnering Brandt in these rehearsal shots of Like Water For Chocolate:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cpqb5vcAYv9/

[Josette]

As shown in the clip with Brandt, Aran Bell is cast as Juan Alejandrez, as was suggested as a possibility by maps above on March 3.  The brilliant Cesar Corrales created that role in London and set the stage on fire, as he always does.  Corrales then was the second night lead with Yasmine Naghdi in London. Good call, maps!   

[ksk04]

Got this today from the Dorothy Chandler email blast for anyone interested:

Music Center Patron Discount

As a patron of The Music Center, enjoy the superstar dancers of American Ballet Theatre with this incredible offer. Use promo code MUSICCENTER and save 20% off orchestra tickets!

[matilda]

Given that they're discounting tickets for the Segerstorm performances, I really hope the risky decision to program Like Water for Chocolate for twelve shows at the 3,800-seat Met opera house this summer pays off. 

[Josette]

Interesting that the Los Angeles Music Center would be offering discount tickets to Orange County's Segerstrom Center for the Performing Arts, but maybe it's the Rachel Moore connection. I am a supporter and subscriber of both Centers,  but did not receive the email blast.