ABT Met Season 2024

[abatt]

24 minutes ago, Drew said:

 

 

I agree with what @ABT Fan said about giving Jaffe a chance in any case.  On the dancer front, she brought Camargo on board which is a decided plus. (I could wish he were younger and had more prime years ahead of him, but for now he seems to me a huge asset. 

My recollection is that McKenzie brought Carmago in, not Jaffe.  Can anyone recall specifically.

[Drew]

22 minutes ago, abatt said:

My recollection is that McKenzie brought Carmago in, not Jaffe.  Can anyone recall specifically.

You are right--I just looked it up and according to Wikipedia he joined in 2022.   (For me, that belongs to the Covid black hole--I remember things as if they were "before" and "after.")

Edited June 12 by Drew

[cobweb]

On 6/11/2024 at 4:17 PM, SaraBW said:

As a professional writer, I am DYING to collaborate with a choreographer. I've got a classic horror story (not Dracula or Frankenstein) that I think would make an amazing ballet adaptation.

SaraBW, that sounds great! I hope you get your chance, I think we would all love to see it. 

[cobweb]

On 6/11/2024 at 11:05 AM, stuben said:

This probably should go to the NYCB thread but I wanted to add to this about the "interesting" 24/25 program guide I just got in the mail! NYCB knows how to attract audience for sure, the book is so beautiful, and the program is so much more exciting!! I think it will attract under 40s with this more fashion driven style IMO. I feel NYCB recovered from Covid quite well vs what happened to ABT (per Susan's comment about the struggle they had). I used to look forward to Met season but have since felt their programs are looking more and more "dusty" and boring, even with the new works. I wonder what Susan thinks of her competitor across the way! NYCB is offering Coppellia and Swan Lake along with a fun mixed bill.

It's interesting that you mention the program guide, stuben, because I think the problem is not just with programming, but also the marketing. I don't always love NYCB's marketing, for various reasons, but it does look modern and up-to-date... especially as compared with ABT's marketing. I get served lots of ABT ads on Facebook and other platforms, and it is full of swoony music, poses meant to look passionate, and close-ups of dramatic facial expressions -- to me, it all looks painfully hokey and outdated. To the new or casual balletgoer, NYCB's marketing probably looks a lot more fresh and modern, even though a good portion of that repertory is easily 50-100 years old. The marketing does it. 

[nanushka]

8 minutes ago, cobweb said:

It's interesting that you mention the program guide, stuben, because I think the problem is not just with programming, but also the marketing. I don't always love NYCB's marketing, for various reasons, but it does look modern and up-to-date... especially as compared with ABT's marketing. I get served lots of ABT ads on Facebook and other platforms, and it is full of swoony music, poses meant to look passionate, and close-ups of dramatic facial expressions -- to me, it all looks painfully hokey and outdated. To the new or casual balletgoer, NYCB's marketing probably looks a lot more fresh and modern, even though a good portion of that repertory is easily 50-100 years old. The marketing does it. 

ABT has had weak marketing as long as I've been seeing them. One of my greatest hopes, when McKenzie retired, was that he'd be replaced by someone who saw that and led an overhaul of the marketing department. It's terribly ineffective.

I think there are also branding problems. "America's national ballet company"? Who cares? Are New Yorkers going to go to the ballet en masse as a patriotic act? NYCB has the spirit of the city. The company looks like the city. Even ABT's name seems like a lost opportunity. Are theatre-lovers going to be drawn to a piece of theatre specifically because it's presented through ballet? Are ballet-lovers going to be drawn to a ballet performance specifically because it's a theatre piece? I just don't see the big pull there, for today's audiences. Maybe there could be a pull — but does ABT's marketing play into that?

[volcanohunter]

6 hours ago, FauxPas said:

I wonder if talented young dancers from good schools and competition winners felt that ABT was the place where promising careers went to die slowly on the vine.   

Probably, but ABT continues to fill up with competition winners. Its current apprentices fit that pattern, and those who went through the school trained there only briefly. 

Edited June 13 by volcanohunter

[MarzipanShepherdess]

Whole-heartedly agree the ABT marketing looks dated and doesn't promote the company well. Skylar Brandt just posted some photos of ABT's current run of ads running in the NYC subway stations and they are a perfect example of this problem.  What's interesting and unique about LWFC and might draw in new audiences? It's a ballet about a Latino family with gorgeous sets and costumes inspired by Mexican culture. Could you tell that from the ad? No way. 

[stuben]

1 hour ago, MarzipanShepherdess said:

Whole-heartedly agree the ABT marketing looks dated and doesn't promote the company well. Skylar Brandt just posted some photos of ABT's current run of ads running in the NYC subway stations and they are a perfect example of this problem.  What's interesting and unique about LWFC and might draw in new audiences? It's a ballet about a Latino family with gorgeous sets and costumes inspired by Mexican culture. Could you tell that from the ad? No way. 

Totally agree, I just saw that too and felt it looks more like a Broadway show than a ballet!

[abatt]

Maybe their aim is to make it look like a Broadway show rather than a ballet to attract new audiences.  I felt it was weak tea as a ballet because there was so little actual ballet dancing in it.

[nanushka]

According to two new Times articles (by Woolfe and Hernández — free links for non-subscribers), the Met itself has also struggled to consistently fill its hall by drawing new audiences post-COVID.

[ABT Fan]

Casting changes already posted.

Onegin: Teuscher and Camargo have been replaced for their 2 shows and some other casting has been shuffled. So, the Misseldine/Forster/Bell/Hurlin/Curley cast now have 2 shows. Shevchenko/Stearns now have 3 shows - 2 with their original Lensky/Olga.

Also, Roxander/Coker as Lensky/Olga, respectively, now only have 1 show.

Right now, both Teuscher and Camargo are still listed for the subsequent performances in the rest of the ballets.

https://www.abt.org/performances/summer-season/

Edited Friday at 08:35 PM by ABT Fan

[FauxPas]

Well that is not good.  Even worse is that it looks like (as of now) Zimmi Coker and Jake Roxander lost their second performance of "Onegin" on Friday night.

The same cast is performing consecutively on Friday and Saturday nights.

This really kind of displays how thinned out the principal ranks are.  If Stearns or Whiteside are injured, they are in major trouble.

They couldn't get another pair of leads from the principal roster.

Trenary I think could be a devastating Tatiana with her dramatic ability - she is stuck as Olga where she'll be fine but...

No time to teach her the role.

Edited Friday at 08:37 PM by FauxPas

[ABT Fan]

12 minutes ago, FauxPas said:

Well that is not good.  Even worse is that it looks like (as of now) Zimmi Coker and Jake Roxander lost their second performance of "Onegin" on Friday night.

The same cast is performing consecutively on Friday and Saturday nights.

This really kind of displays how thinned out the principal ranks are.  If Stearns or Whiteside are injured, they are in major trouble.

They couldn't get another pair of leads from the principal roster.

Trenary I think could be a devastating Tatiana with her dramatic ability - she is stuck as Olga where she'll be fine but...

No time to teach her the role.

Yes - unfortunate for Roxander/Coker, but separately I'm glad that the Misseldine/Forster/Bell/Hurlin/Curley cast get another show. I had thought that Bell/Hurlin were kinda jipped, being principals who are both extraordinary, having only one show initially, but I also want as many opportunities for Roxander/Coker (and she better be promoted after this season). No perfect formula for everyone. I agree that Trenary could be a devastating Tatiana. Odd seeing Stearns sub, being so frequently injured himself. I have a feeling that Curley is being prepped to step into a few roles. He did post some IG stories of himself practicing Siegfried's solos - he could have been just playing around with them on his own. But, I sincerely hope he's being readied, since so many of their male principals are easily injured these days. He deserves his own show anyway. (I don't know why Camargo/Teuscher were replaced. I hope they're both able to proceed with their other performances.)

Edited Friday at 08:49 PM by ABT Fan

[Papagena]

33 minutes ago, ABT Fan said:

Shevchenko/Stearns now have 3 shows  

Hope to be proven wrong but for me, Shevchenko and Stearns are some of the least dramatically dynamic dancers - three Onegin shows?  

It's so odd that they were both pulled completly. I know weird things can happen that spur emergency 'solutions' that aren't great in retrospect, but I wonder what happened. 

[ABT Fan]

29 minutes ago, Papagena said:

Hope to be proven wrong but for me, Shevchenko and Stearns are some of the least dramatically dynamic dancers - three Onegin shows?  

It's so odd that they were both pulled completly. I know weird things can happen that spur emergency 'solutions' that aren't great in retrospect, but I wonder what happened. 

Agree. And, I’m now very disappointed I won’t get to see Roxander/Coker on Friday!

[ba11et0mane]

I agree, I would’ve kept my tickets if it had just been Devon and Daniel that had been subbed, but changing the Olga/ Lensky casting as well made me exchange my tickets to see the Thursday night show with misseldine. 

 

[abatt]

3 hours ago, ABT Fan said:

Casting changes already posted.

Onegin: Teuscher and Camargo have been replaced for their 2 shows and some other casting has been shuffled. So, the Misseldine/Forster/Bell/Hurlin/Curley cast now have 2 shows. Shevchenko/Stearns now have 3 shows - 2 with their original Lensky/Olga.

Also, Roxander/Coker as Lensky/Olga, respectively, now only have 1 show.

Right now, both Teuscher and Camargo are still listed for the subsequent performances in the rest of the ballets.

https://www.abt.org/performances/summer-season/

Thanks

[Becki Lee]

Sascha just posted some rehearsal with SunMi on his Instagram story.
 

(I’m pretty sure it’s Odile but I’m not as good as y’all! :))

[Josette]

I've seen the casting of dancers as Tatiana and Onegin that had been originally announced being pulled from dancing the roles and replaced at the Royal Ballet and San Francisco Ballet, due to the final casting decision of the power-that-is, so these changes in casting are not  surprising and to be expected.  It appears that Camargo had danced Lensky at the Stuttgart.  

[ABT Fan]

1 hour ago, Becki Lee said:

Sascha just posted some rehearsal with SunMi on his Instagram story.
 

(I’m pretty sure it’s Odile but I’m not as good as y’all! :))

The first clip is Odette from Act II and the second is Odile. 

46 minutes ago, Josette said:

I've seen the casting of dancers as Tatiana and Onegin that had been originally announced being pulled from dancing the roles and replaced at the Royal Ballet and San Francisco Ballet, due to the final casting decision of the power-that-is, so these changes in casting are not  surprising and to be expected.  It appears that Camargo had danced Lensky at the Stuttgart.  

Thank you for that. I wonder if that’s what happened here.

[MarzipanShepherdess]

Argh. I was really quite happy to be seeing every member of the Teuscher/Camargo/Coker/Curley cast, which is a rarity for me these days with ABT! Appreciate getting the heads up here about the casting change. As much as I would have liked to have seen Coker and Curley, I find Shevchenko and Stearns can be dramatically flat and would want to avoid them in this kind of ballet. Ended up exchanging for the Seo/Whiteside/Trenary/Royal cast. They're all good actors.  Tatiana seems like a great fit for Seo especially.

[cobweb]

The casting changes for Onegin make me glad I hadn’t bought my tickets yet!! Given the wide availability of seats, I will wait till just before curtain to purchase, to be sure I’m getting the desired casting. I’m not sure that’s what they want to encourage, but that’s what happens. 

[Mary Mellowdew]

Thanks for that heads up on the casting changes on Onegin. I decided to go only  because I had never seen it, even though reviews of their performances in the last 20 years or so were not so good. I have tix for Friday night, and am so pissed. About the last three people I want to see do anything are Schevchenko, Stearns and  Ahn. Ahn in particular. I have never understood why he has the position he has -- can only assume it had something to do with a need for a male partner of a certain height. I'm sure he is or was a great jumper at some point, but as far as I'm concerned watching him dance is about as exciting as  watching a can opener or a stick of wood dance. I also have tix to see Misseldine and Bell in Swan Lake at July 3 matinee. Can't wait for them to cancel that too. Maybe I'll just throw all my tix out the window and forget about it.

Susan Jaffe needs to get her  freaking act together. I don't know about other patrons but this is likely the last time I will  ever buy tix to ABT in advance, if at all. I am fed up with this, sick of giving someone "a chance." And if Jaffe can't do anything, maybe the board needs to step in. If they're going to continue to act this way they need to start OFFERING  ADVANCE PURCHASERS A REFUND,  I know the fine print says "casting subject to change," but what is the freaking point of announcing casting 3 months ahead if you're always going to change it and won't refund? They think all their patrons are  naifs who don't know anything about their company and different dancers? Why don't they adopt NYCB's policy if they some think some dancers "might not be up to it" and might result in bad opening night reviews.

 To add insult to injury it's going to be 95 Friday and I can only assume they will be using the same policy they used last year, when on very hot  and humid days they made people line up single file outside the Met, with a line stretching practically to Broadway,  and  would open only one set of doors,  wouldn't open all the doors because they didn't want "too much heat" getting into the theatre, at least that is what I was told when I complained. I thought I was going to faint. I have never understood why they just accepted the restrictions related to the Met's schedule changes, didn't just find another theater, SO THEY COULD DO MORE PERFORMANCES WHEN THE WEATHER WASN'T SO HOT AND HUMID. In any event, I hope they fold up their tent soon and get out of town for good. I think the weather in Orange County Ca is more mild in summer so maybe they should just move their permanent base to Segerstrom.

 

 

 

[matilda]

4 hours ago, Mary Mellowdew said:

If they're going to continue to act this way they need to start OFFERING  ADVANCE PURCHASERS A REFUND,  I know the fine print says "casting subject to change," but what is the freaking point of announcing casting 3 months ahead if you're always going to change it and won't refund?

ABT lets you exchange any tickets for free before noon of the performance date: https://www.abt.org/faq/performances/

I switched my Friday Onegin tickets to a Misseldine/Forster performance yesterday and it was very easy. Just contact the Met box office when they're open: https://www.metopera.org/about/contact-us/

As someone stated in an earlier comment, the cast change may have been at the whim of the Cranko estate, or it could be injury-related. I wouldn't necessarily blame Jaffe. I think only an injury/illness/etc. situation would affect Swan Lake casting (I'm also looking forward to Misseldine and Bell!)

[ABT Fan]

43 minutes ago, matilda said:

ABT lets you exchange any tickets for free before noon of the performance date: https://www.abt.org/faq/performances/

I switched my Friday Onegin tickets to a Misseldine/Forster performance yesterday and it was very easy. Just contact the Met box office when they're open: https://www.metopera.org/about/contact-us/

As someone stated in an earlier comment, the cast change may have been at the whim of the Cranko estate, or it could be injury-related. I wouldn't necessarily blame Jaffe. I think only an injury/illness/etc. situation would affect Swan Lake casting (I'm also looking forward to Misseldine and Bell!)

Thanks for this! I’m going to try to change my Friday ticket as well. At least I already have tickets to see the Misseldine cast on Thursday (and, they better not even think of changing that). 

Even if there was injury, why swap out the entire cast? I understand the Cranko estate most likely made the changes, but casting and then swapping in the least dramatically abled dancers is nonsensical. I will have to be content with this little clip Coker just posted of her and Roxander:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8Rz-3kA2Ib/?igsh=MjhjbHRlb3lmOWU2