ABT Met Season 2024

[California]

Disappointing: Woolf Works, SL, R&J. Main hope is Reid Anderson's comment in an interview some time ago that he was staging Onegin for ABT. Fingers crossed!

[ABT Fan]

One bright spot regarding R&J: we will be able to see Roxander’s Mercutio again. If you haven’t seen it yet, go. And, hopefully Curley will get a Tybalt debut.

Edited October 29, 2023 by ABT Fan

[MarzipanShepherdess]

I too would like ABT to mix up the programming more, especially now the summer season is so short, but IMO r&j is probably the full length ABT most consistently excels in. 

[balletlover08]

Another bright spot is we may get some R&J debuts! I think skylar, Chloe and Sunmi could all be great as Juliet though I’m not sure there are that many Juliet’s available. 

[abatt]

1 hour ago, balletlover08 said:

Another bright spot is we may get some R&J debuts! I think skylar, Chloe and Sunmi could all be great as Juliet though I’m not sure there are that many Juliet’s available. 

There won't be any opportunities for debut Juliets if Misty comes back and uses it as her retirement ballet.

[AB'sMom]

Daniil Simkin is dancing at the Dutch National Ballet gala on June 28th, so that’s a few days of the Met season when he won’t be available.

[ABT Fan]

Not sure where to put this, but Cornejo has just posted a farewell to Albrecht, saying if he gets to perform Albrecht again in 2026/2027 “it will be a miracle “. So, he must know that is the next time they’ll do Giselle and it also must mean he’s not retiring anytime soon.
 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CzkYO-rR6NO/?igshid=MXhndHo1Z3B1Z2kybw==

[fondoffouettes]

15 hours ago, ABT Fan said:

Not sure where to put this, but Cornejo has just posted a farewell to Albrecht, saying if he gets to perform Albrecht again in 2026/2027 “it will be a miracle “. So, he must know that is the next time they’ll do Giselle and it also must mean he’s not retiring anytime soon.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CzkYO-rR6NO/?igshid=MXhndHo1Z3B1Z2kybw==

Thanks for posting this. I'm kind of surprised he's thinking about dancing for the next few seasons, but at the same time, the quality of his dancing is still higher than some fellow principals, so I can't blame him. At this rate, we may see Stearns or Whiteside retire before Cornejo.

I love Giselle but am glad to hear it's getting a rest after being programmed so much recently. It gives me hope we may see a full-length like Sleeping Beauty or some Ashton next spring. 

[abatt]

I would much rather see Giselle again at the Met in the Summer Season 2024 than Romeo & Juliet, for the third consecutive year.  This will be the first summer season planned entirely by Jaffe, but it seems to be business as usual, only worse. I don't think McKenzie ever did R&J in three consecutive Met seasons. 

[matilda]

I would imagine Jaffe and the board are eager, if not totally desperate, to get the company's finances in order and fill that massive opera house... other than a business decision, I agree there's no other good reason to program R&J yet again. (Swan Lake every year is a given.)

If we know that SL, R&J, and the Woolf Works premiere are happening, that leaves 1-2 question marks for the season. I expect the announcement to come this week given that last year it came on 11/16. 

[abatt]

The only reason I could imagine for doing R&J a third consecutive year is that it  is the only ballet that Misty can still perform.   I'm not sure how many more years she can delay a farewell, and R&J  may be the vehicle for her departure.  We shall see. 

Edited November 13, 2023 by abatt

[fondoffouettes]

R&J is also a good retirement backup for Murphy, who I assume will be retiring this season. Yes, I know O/O is her signature role, but she's been quite injury-prone the past few seasons and had to pull out of Swan Lake last year, so having an alternative retirement vehicle for her may be advantageous. 

I do think programming a work like R&J for a third year straight comes down to financial considerations. If Copeland retires and dances the ballet once or twice during the run, all the better for the box office. I'm still doubtful she'll come back for the spring season, but I could imagine Woolf Works and R&J being possibilities for her. Having her name (and her comeback) associated with a new work like Woolf Works could help it from floundering at the box office. 

Edited November 13, 2023 by fondoffouettes

[matilda]

2024 Met season (with most casting) just got added to website: https://www.abt.org/performances/summer-season/

Onegin

Woolf Works

Swan Lake

Romeo and Juliet

Like Water for Chocolate (bringing this one back is the biggest head-scratcher) 

[abatt]

Thanks.  Chloe is getting some great leads - Tatiana in Onegin and lead in SL.

No Misty.

No Jake Roxander for any lead role as far as I can see.  That's unfortunate.

 

[FauxPas]

14 minutes ago, abatt said:

No Jake Roxander for any lead role as far as I can see.  That's unfortunate.

 

They don't list on the website who is dancing the exposed and more technically demanding role of Lensky in "Onegin".  That is a role that Jake Roxander could excel in (along with Patrick Frenette, Jonathan Klein, Andrew Robare, Luigi Crispino, Takumi Miyake and others)

Edited November 15, 2023 by FauxPas

[abatt]

Bell would also be a good Lensky.  He seems too young and good natured to play Onegin.

[FauxPas]

I bet Aran Bell will be opening night Lensky with Devon Teuscher and Daniel Camargo.

[coffeelover]

If Gillian Murphy was retiring, would that be announced with the casting? Or at a later date?

[Dale]

Official release: 

 

NEW YORK PREMIERE OF WAYNE MCGREGOR’S WOOLF WORKS TO HIGHLIGHT AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE’S SUMMER SEASON AT THE METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE, JUNE 18 – JULY 20, 2024 

 

FORMER ABT PRINCIPAL DANCER ALESSANDRA FERRI TO APPEAR AS GUEST ARTIST IN WOOLF WORKS 

 

SUBSCRIPTIONS ON SALE MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20 AT 12:00 P.M. 

 

NEW YORK, NY (November 15, 2023) – American Ballet Theatre’s 2024 Summer season at the Metropolitan Opera House, June 18 – July 20, will feature the New York Premiere of Wayne McGregor’s Woolf Works, as announced today by Artistic Director Susan Jaffe. The season will also see the return of Tony Award® winner Christopher Wheeldon’s Like Water for Chocolate, as well as beloved classic productions of Onegin,Swan Lake, and Romeo and Juliet. 

 

Principal Dancers for the 2024 Summer season include Joo Won Ahn, Aran Bell, Isabella Boylston, Skylar Brandt, Daniel Camargo, Herman Cornejo, Thomas Forster, Catherine Hurlin, Gillian Murphy, Calvin Royal III, Hee Seo, Christine Shevchenko, Cory Stearns, Devon Teuscher, Cassandra Trenary, James Whiteside, and Roman Zhurbin. 

 

New York Premiere 

ABT will present the New York Premiere of Wayne McGregor’s Woolf Works on Tuesday evening, June 25 at 7:30 P.M. Woolf Works, an award-winning ballet triptych, re-creates the emotions, themes, and fluid style of three of Virginia Woolf’s novels: Mrs. Dalloway, Orlando, and The Waves. Enmeshed with elements from Woolf’s letters, essays, and diaries, Woolf Works expresses the heart of an artistic life driven to discover a freer, uniquely modern realism. It brings to life Woolf’s world of “granite and rainbow,” where human beings are at once both physical body and uncontained essence.  

 

Woolf Works has received notable recognition and outstanding critical acclaim. The full-length contemporary ballet won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production, and McGregor was awarded the Critics Circle National Dance Award for Best Classical Choreography for the work. 

 

Created for The Royal Ballet in 2015, Woolf Works is structured into three acts: “I Now, I Then,” “Becomings,” and “Tuesday,” each starkly distinct in visual design and choreography. Woolf Works features choreography by Wayne McGregor and music by Max Richter, with set design by Ciguë (“I Now, I Then”), We Not I (“Becomings”), and Wayne McGregor (“Tuesday”); costume design by Moritz Junge; lighting design by Lucy Carter; film design by Ravi Deepres; and dramaturgy by Uzma Hameed. It is set to receive its North American Premiere by American Ballet Theatre on April 11, 2023, at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California. Woolf Works will be given seven performances through June 29. 

 

Alessandra Ferri, former Principal Dancer with ABT from 1985 to 2007, will make a guest appearance for two performances, on Tuesday, June 25 and Friday, June 28, during ABT’s 2024 production of Woolf Works at the Metropolitan Opera House. The performance on Friday, June 28 will be dedicated to honoring Ferri and her career. 

 

Full-Length Productions 

ABT’s Summer season will kick off with seven performances of John Cranko’s Onegin beginning on Tuesday evening, June 18 at 7:30 P.M. with Devon Teuscher and Daniel Camargo in the leading roles. Set to music by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky, arranged and orchestrated by Kurt-Heinz Stolze, Onegin is based on the verse-novel Eugene Onegin by Alexandrer Pushkin. Onegin received its World Premiere on April 13, 1965, by Stuttgart Ballet in Stuttgart, Germany. The ballet received its Company Premiere by American Ballet Theatre on June 1, 2001, at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York led by Julie Kent (Tatiana), Robert Hill (Onegin), Vladimir Malakhov (Lensky), and Maria Riccetto (Olga). This new production, with sets and costumes by Santo Loquasto and lighting by James F. Ingalls, was premiered by National Ballet of Canada on June 19, 2010, at the Four Seasons Center for the Performing Arts, Toronto, Canada, and was first performed by ABT on June 4, 2012, at the Metropolitan Opera House. Onegin is staged for ABT by Reid Anderson and Jane Bourne. 

 

Week three of ABT’s Summer season will open on Monday evening, July 1 with the first performance of Swan Lake, led by Isabella Boylston as Odette-Odile and Daniel Camargo as Prince Siegfried. Set to music by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky, Swan Lake is choreographed by Kevin McKenzie after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov and features scenery and costumes by Zack Brown and lighting by Duane Schuler. This production of Swan Lake premiered on March 24, 2000, at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. with Julie Kent (Odette-Odile) and Angel Corella (Prince Siegfried) in the leading roles. The ballet will be given eight performances this season. The Friday, July 5 performance of Swan Lake will be a “Corps de Ballet Celebration” to honor ABT’s world-class talent in the corps de ballet.   

 

Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet will open on Tuesday evening, July 9 with Devon Teuscher and Aran Bell in the title roles. Set to the score by Sergei Prokofiev, Romeo and Juliet features scenery and costumes by Nicholas Georgiadis and lighting by Thomas Skelton. Romeo and Juliet received its World Premiere by The Royal Ballet in London on February 9, 1965, and was given its ABT Premiere at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. on January 3, 1985, with Leslie Browne and Robert La Fosse in the leading roles. Romeo and Juliet will be given seven performances through July 13 at the Metropolitan Opera House. 

 

The final week of the 2024 Summer season will feature seven performances of Like Water for Chocolate beginning Tuesday evening, July 16 at 7:30 P.M. with Cassandra Trenary as Tita and Herman Cornejo as Pedro. Based on the bestselling novel by Laura Esquivel, Like Water for Chocolate tells the story of Tita, a young Mexican woman who is overwhelmed by a sense of duty and family tradition. Tita’s only form of expression is through cooking, but her life takes an unexpected turn when she falls in forbidden love with her neighbor Pedro. From the award-winning team of choreographer Christopher Wheeldon and composer Joby Talbot, this co-production with The Royal Ballet features scenery and costumes by Bob Crowley, lighting by Natasha Katz, and video design by Luke Halls.  

 

The ballet received its World Premiere by The Royal Ballet on June 2, 2022, at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, led by Francesca Hayward as Tita and Marcelino Sambé as Pedro. It received its North American Premiere by American Ballet Theatre on March 29, 2023, at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California, led by Cassandra Trenary as Tita and Herman Cornejo as Pedro. The Friday, July 19 performance of Like Water for Chocolate will celebrate Herman Cornejo’s 25^th Anniversary with American Ballet Theatre.  

 

ABTKids 

ABTKids, American Ballet Theatre’s annual one-hour introduction to ballet for families, is scheduled for Saturday, June 22 at 11:00 A.M. All tickets for ABTKids are $25. 

 

Subscriptions 

Subscriptions for American Ballet Theatre’s 2024 Summer season at the Metropolitan Opera House, on sale beginning Monday, November 20 at 12:00 P.M., or online at ABT’s website www.abt.org.  

*All casting, programming, and pricing are subject to change. 

 

 ABOUT AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE 

American Ballet Theatre is one of the greatest dance companies in the world. Revered as a national treasure since its founding season in 1940, its mission is to create, present, preserve, and extend the great repertoire of classical dancing for the widest possible audience. Headquartered in New York City, ABT is the only cultural institution of its size and stature to extensively tour, enchanting audiences for eight decades in 50 U.S. states, 45 countries, and over 480 cities worldwide. ABT’s repertoire includes full-length classics from the nineteenth century, the finest works from the early twentieth century, and acclaimed contemporary masterpieces. In 2006, by an act of Congress, ABT was designated America's National Ballet Company®. 

 

Swan Lake is generously underwritten by R. Chemers Neustein.  

 

American Ballet Theatre’s performances of Romeo and Juliet are generously underwritten through an endowed gift from Ali and Monica Wambold.  

 

Leadership support of ABT’s New Works Initiative is provided by Mark Casey and Carrie Gaiser Casey, The Ted and Mary Jo Shen Charitable Gift Fund, and through an endowed gift from The Toni and Martin Sosnoff New Works Fund. 

 

Commissions and presentations of new works by women choreographers are supported by the ABT Women’s Movement. Champion support for the ABT Women’s Movement is provided by Jenna Segal. 

 

Special thanks to Denise Littlefield Sobel for her leadership gifts to: ABT Today Fund, advancing the Company’s mission; and ABT RISE, fueling the Company’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

 

ABT is supported, in part, with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of The Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.  

 

For more information, please visit www.abt.org.  

 

[California]

25 minutes ago, abatt said:

Thanks.  Chloe is getting some great leads - Tatiana in Onegin and lead in SL.

At the Guggenheim, Chloe rehearsed SL with Forster, but I don't remember if Jaffe said that would be her partner in the debut. Bell will be a great partner for her Met debut. 

[BalletFan]

The only Monday performance: July 1st (Swan Lake). All the other weeks start on a Tuesday.

I'm also surprised that the gala will take place in May. But I suppose this makes sense since many donors will be out of town during the summer.

[cobweb]

This looks extremely boring. Same old, same old. 

[ABT Fan]

Happy for Misseldine - 2 big debuts!

No retirement for Murphy? No Copeland? Then perhaps take her off the roster already.

I could easily see Roxander as Lensky, so fingers crossed. Brandt, Coker as Olga.

[ABT Fan]

3 minutes ago, cobweb said:

This looks extremely boring. Same old, same old. 

I would also like more excitement, but I think their hands are tied for next year. Have to do SL, R&J, Like Water for financial reasons, and they were already committed to Woolf Works. At least they’re bringing back Onegin. But, no rep. Still, I agree - I’m not too excited.

[abatt]

So it's looking like Brandt will never get a Juliet debut, and Trenary will never get a Swan Lake debut.  

Also agree that the time for Misty make a return is passing, so they should just take her off the roster.  Too many years off the stage already.

 

 

Edited November 15, 2023 by abatt