Sleeping Beauty

I make no promises, but I shall endeavour to get back on track with my reviews. I have nothing to blame for so many delays beside the fact that I’ve been reading desperately in an attempt to finish books before I see related productions. I failed at the first hurdle with Breaking Dawn, which I saw at the midnight showing last Thursday night. I managed to read as far as the film went, but I didn’t manage to finish it (I have read it many times before, but that’s not the point) until the weekend. Next up, and the book I’m currently reading, is Dracula, prior to the hotly anticipated performance of Dracula L’Amour Plus Fort Que La Mort this weekend. Once I finish that (I have high hopes I’ll manage it in time, though I have read it before and I’ve seen the film, so I should be ok), I just need to squeeze in ‘The Railway Children and then I’ll have slightly less pressure on my time. I say slightly, I still don’t see how I’ll ever manage to get all the things I want done in the painfully limited time available.

So anyway, the point of this post wasn’t actually intended as an extended excuse, but rather a review of the Royal Ballet’s production of Sleeping Beauty at the Royal Opera House (back in the amphitheatre, sadly).

I found the prologue a trifle boring, though very pretty and colourful. I did like the various fairies and all the stunning costumes.The first act was infinitely superior and Aurora’s choreography is something to rival Odile’s multitude of pirouettes. It was equally beautiful, though the colours were more muted and I adored watching Aurora dance. Further, I actually found myself on the verge of tears at the close of the act when the princess pricks her finger. I’ll blame it on exhaustion and personal issues, but the fact remains that I was surprisingly emotional. I also loved the close of the act where the lilac put the kingdom to sleep and protected it with the deep forest.

The second and third acts were better than the prologue but also contained far less plot and far too much random dancing for my taste. That said, the section in which the fairy shows the prince the sleeping beauty and the following dream-like sequence was lovely and very Swan Lake-esque. I also liked the fairy tale characters in the final act, particularly Red Riding Hood and the wolf. Of course, the grand pas de deux between Aurora and her prince was also breathtaking.

Tamara Rojo was stunning as always and I loved her portrayal of Aurora. Prince Florimund was played wonderfully by Federico Bonelli. I also have to give a shout out to Itziar Mendizabal who was wonderful as the lilac fairy. The rest of the company were equally good, but I shan’t list them all here.

Overall, it felt a little bit too long for my taste, but I think that was mostly down to the way they combined the final two acts. Personally, I think the prologue and first act should have been paired, with the intervals between the remaining acts. But hey, what do I know? It was still a very enjoyable way to spend an evening and one of the prettiest ballets I’ve seen in some time.

Next up is Les Mis again, rescheduled from the other week when I had to miss it. I’ve got a restricted view seat, but it’s in the dress circle, where it hugs the walls around the side of the theatre. I’m not sure how severely the view is impacted, but I’ll be closer to the stage than on any previous occasion and it’s all very exciting. Liam, Alfie and Hadley, I’m coming to get (autographs from) you!

Peace, loVe loVe and happiness,

K xx

Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland

The fact that I wrote this review at all is testament to quite how fabulous Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland was, even if it took me several weeks to get around to posting it. I’ve found it almost impossible to tear myself away from writing fanfiction as of late (which is why the Bobby Cronin gig review, amongst others, has yet to appear), but I enjoyed this ballet so much that I felt that I had to record it.

According to the programme, Alice’s Adventures is the Royal Ballet’s first new full length work in over fifteen years. It was choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon and was absolutely spectacular. I adored the mix of dance styles throughout.

The set was also wonderful, though that’s hardly a rarity at the Royal Opera House. The gorgeous old house at the start and finish is simple but beautifully effective and makes Wonderland look all the more wonderful by comparison. They used a lot of video for the effects, which I’ve not seen before in a ballet, but I found it rather fascinating.

A couple of my particular favourite scenes included the one right at the start with the ‘drink me’ bottle and ‘eat me’ cake as well as the Mad Hatter’s tea party. The first was done with a mixture of effects that blended together fantastically well to form a scene which can’t be easy to portray on stage. There was a little remote control door that proved to be highly amusing as it whizzed across the stage and a construction towards the back that allowed Alice to look as though she had grown to fill the space previously illustrated by the entire front portion of the stage. I don’t think I explained that very well, but if you can’t see it for yourself, just take my word for it that it was very nicely done.

The second highlight had more to do with choreography than effects, though I did enjoy the bouncy cake chairs. The Mad Hatter was spectacular and probably my favourite character in the show. At his tea party, he opened with a wonderful tap dance routine across the table. I’ll admit that I was far enough away to vaguely super-impose Johnny Depp’s face onto the character, especially given the similarities in costume design, but even so, he deserves all my praise and more.

The cheshire cat was also rather well done, particularly the way he sort of drifts in and out of being. Then there was the flamingo croquet, which was brilliantly funny and adorably cute when a few little kids came out dressed as hedgehogs. Finally, the collapse of the Red Queen’s palace was wonderfully dramatic.

The cast were very strong. Sarah Lamb played Alice and I thought she did a fantastic job, acting the part as well as dancing it. Tamara Rojo who played the Queen of Hearts was also spectacular. Her character’s complete lack of grace and dance skill seemed merely to highlight quite how wonderfully talented Tamara actually is. Her acting was also superb and she was very well cast, I thought. Jonathan Howells played the White Rabbit and I thought he played the part with just the right amount of energetic hysteria. Federico Bonelli played the Knave of Hearts and Alice’s love interest. I thought he was elegant and dashing and ended up rather wanting him for myself, which means job well done as far as I’m concerned. The Caterpillar was danced by Eric Underwood, who moves so sinuously that I half believed he was one. Then there was Steven McRae, the Mad Hatter, who for me was the star of the show (beaten only, perhaps, by Tamara’s crazy queen). Both as an actor and a dancer, he dazzled and drew the eye. Other than that, I’m not sure why they cast an actor (Simon Russell Beale) rather than a dancer as the Duchess, but I haven’t read the programme yet, so maybe there was a good reason. Either way, he didn’t overly impress me, particularly as the only point at which he stood out for me was when there was a bit of dancing and he wasn’t quite in time with the others.

I decided to go to the stage door afterwards and managed to get a good number of autographs, including one from Monica Mason. It did take Sarah Lamb almost an hour to come out and I very nearly gave up on her, but I am glad I waited. There were three little old ladies waiting as well and I have to say it gave me hope that I might be like that too one day! They clearly go to the ballet a lot as they seemed to know all the dancers including the chorus and had obviously been to see the same shows with different casts, but it was all rather sweet.

Anyhoo, I would highly recommend it if you have the chance to see it. It’s a feast for the senses and, at least to the untrained eye, manages to be both modern and somewhat traditional at the same time.

Hopefully I will get the Bobby Cronin review written soon, but if I dont’ I will say that it was a fabulous concert, both in terms of music and casting, and I was very pleased to attend. (And not just because Liam was performing!)

I shall leave it there for now, but hopefully I’ll get a few more posts up before the end of the week… though it is only a few days til Boston, Hair and Steelicious! Hell YES!

So, until next time,

K xx