ABT 2016 - Romeo and Juliet

Well, hello again!  My outings are few and far-between lately, I know.  I have a couple of shows coming up (yay!) and my last ballet is next Monday (boo!).  But before all that, I was fortunate enough to win tickets to ABT's Romeo and Juliet this afternoon.  I came into the office early and I'll be here late, but it was worth it to sneak out to see such a grand matinee performance.

This year, Romeo and Juliet wasn't part of my subscription series and I was ok with that. Remember, I saw it three times last season!  And one of those performances was the final performance of my favorite ballerina, so I wasn't really that disappointed that it wasn't part of my series.  But when a free ticket opportunity came my way, I had to try.  And fortunately, I won!

My seat was pretty close, though a little off to the side.  It only was an issue when I couldn't see the stairs leading up to Juliet's balcony, but other than that, they were fine seats.  I didn't even have any right-beside-me seat neighbors!  Woo hoo!  Though the party in front of me was a bit wackadoodle.  One of the gents kept having to get his synopsis out to read it, whenever he felt lost, I guess.  But, hello, who doesn't know the plot to Romeo and Juliet?! I thought that was a bit nuts.  And there was a woman who brought a toddler with her; a toddler who, of course, began screaming his head off during Romeo and Juliet's first pas de deux.  Uh, NO!  Get that baby out of here!  To her credit, she did, though you could still hear the kid screaming throughout the lobby...

I saw a new-to-me pairing as our lovers today - Isabella Boylston and James Whiteside.  I don't think I've ever seen them paired up before (I could be wrong, I frequently am), so it was interesting to me to see how their chemistry and commitment to each other would play out over the course of the ballet.  I will say that I didn't see a lot of chemistry between them, but there could be a reason for that.  I'll get to that later.  Oh, I just read an article that said it was Boylston's debut as Juliet, so now I'm even more impressed!  Of course, the article said that my favorite former ballerina coached her, so now I'm not surprised to have enjoyed her...

I generally enjoy Boylston, though sometimes her arms drive me nuts. But I thought her characterization of Juliet was first-rate.  Really, really good acting from her.  She made some strong choices and they all worked - she went from enchantingly childlike at the beginning to willfully passionate by the end.  And her last scene brought me to tears. When she comes upon Romeo in the crypt - tragic.  Her dancing was also very light, but dramatic.  I was very impressed with her.  I'm seeing her as Aurora Monday night and now I'm really looking forward to it even more.

I think James Whiteside is generally a very good leading man - his dancing is strong and assured and he's an attentive partner. But I didn't get much acting out of him today.  At least not while he was supposed to be acting.  His dancing was quite dramatic, especially as we got towards the end, but I found him a little blank at times. I didn't notice much camaraderie between him and his pals today, either.  Maybe it was just an off-acting day for him.  His solo dancing was terrific, though.  I will say I saw a real affection and gratitude between Boylston and Whiteside during curtain call, so maybe they just need more performances together to put it all together onstage.

Daniil Simkin was a beautifully danced Mercutio, and very charming, but his characterization still seems a tad incomplete.  I was completely entranced with Calvin Royal III as Benvolio, though.  I thought he was exquisite.  So elegant, yet a guy's guy.  I am dying to see him as Romeo.  I think I saw the same gent I saw all three times last year as Tybalt and he was again fine. I seem to recall last year more menace and less petulance, but that could be a false memory.  I really enjoyed Thomas Forster as Paris - he was a younger and more impressionable Paris to me and I liked that.  His feelings kept getting hurt by Juliet instead of his pride, and I appreciate that interpretation.

The ladies in the corps de ballet did a nice job dancing in unison today, though the constant eye-rolling by some of the younger gals got a little old by the end of the second scene with the harlots.  I thought the harlots were fantastic - zesty, open, fun and full of feeling.  I can sometimes tune out during their dancing and think of it as filler, but they were driving Romeo's story today.  I liked that.  The gentlemen really need to keep working on their fencing, their free arms are just flapping around and that's not fun to watch.  Plus, some of them stay flat-footed during the duels and that doesn't make any sense at all.  I know they can't all be great dancers AND great fencers, but they could make more of an effort.  In my opinion.

One thing that really stuck out for me today was the tempo of the music.  I have a feeling the conductor or the orchestra had a train to catch, because my god the music was FAST. I think that could be part of the reason there wasn't a lot of chemistry/connection between Boylston and Whiteside, especially during the balcony scene.  It was just too fast!  It was as if they were concentrating on getting all the steps in but not really on each other!  I don't know.  I'm not really an expert on music tempo, but I've seen the ballet enough where I can tell a difference.  At least I think I can. I guess it could've just been me.  But all-in-all, I had a grand time at the matinee today and I look forward to seeing Boylston develop even more into a great prima ballerina.