Royal Ballet Cinderella March/April 2023

[Sim]

A lovely performance last night.  Laura Morera really is the whole package.  Her dancing has always reminded me of how dancing used to be:  no gymnastics, plenty of elegance.  She dances at a pace where you can almost see the music going through her veins.  She interprets every note, every gesture, with such intelligence and understanding that it's a joy to watch.  For me, she is the foremost Ashton dancer in the company and I am so pleased that she will be imparting her knowledge to the younger ones in the years ahead.  She will be much missed, but I feel very lucky to have been able to watch her dance for the past 20 or so years.  

 

Ball at the ball:  Matthew Ball is a tall, elegant dancer and partnered and presented his ballerina beautifully.  His dancing was on great fettle as well.  He always adds extra touches...last night, literally:  I loved how he felt Laura's long train as she walked downstage on pointe when she arrives at the ball.  He reached out to touch it to make sure it was real, and that this wasn't just some beautiful, intangible apparition.  His look of surprise and delight when he realised that it was all real was very moving.

 

Once again I really loved Itziar Mendizabal as the Fairy Godmother.  Beaming smiles, generous dancing and her gossamer light footwork makes Ashton's choreography look almost easy.  I was imagining lace being spun by her feet.

 

This was my first viewing of the Hay/Richardson double act.  My favourite pairing has been Hay/Gartside.  But last night Richardson brought something completely different to the role.  Very fey, very drag.  At first I wasn't at all sure about it, but as the evening progressed I really warmed to his performance and am sad I won't be seeing it again.  I loved the way s/he arrived back from the ball with lipstick smeared all over her face, as if she had been up to something naughty!  Maybe things finally worked out with the Admiral!!  I adore James Hay anyway, but I have really enjoyed his performances as the other sister.  I've seen it before but last night I still chuckled at the face he made and held once he found the shoe didn't fit.  Shock, surprise, shattered dreams....all in that one look on his face.  I also loved the way he wiped a tear away when he was given flowers at the curtain call.  Furthermore, both of them looked like they were really, really enjoying themselves.  It was all natural, nothing contrived in their interpretations.  In a month where we have lost Lily Savage and Dame Edna, Richardson's approach seemed apt.  My daughter was sitting in the amphi and said that there were loads of people laughing up there, and she loved hearing that.  

 

Amazing technical dancing from Daichi Ikarashi as the Jester, but somehow I understood the role more when Marco Masciari danced it.  I really hope to see these two as Mercutio next time R&J is performed.

 

The fairies were all fine, with Isabella Gasparini (Spring) and Annette Buvoli (Winter) really standing out for me.  

 

The cherry on the cake of the evening was having met @Sophoife, seen other forum lovelies and bumped into a couple of friends.  Despite the utterly miserable weather, I left the ROH feeling very warm and sunny.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sophoife]

29 minutes ago, alison said:

Sophoife, do you mean that Richardson had toned things down a bit last night?

 

As this was my only performance and the cinema relay isn't on in Oz until the day after I get back (yay!) I can't comment sorry.

[Nogoat]

A mercifully short post as we need to get on the road soon for tonight's performance courtesy of some returned tickets!

 

Thoroughly enjoyed last night, with Morera's nuanced portrayal of Cinderella lending her a depth and maturity that threw into sharp relief just how shallow were her step-sisters. But it takes two (or three in this case?) to tango, and credit must also go to Hay and Richardson for providing that 'ground' on which the 'figure' of Cinderella was rendered.

 

Morera was deft with her brushstrokes. One that comes to mind was the simple act of lighting the candle to place on the mantlepiece. She cupped her hand around the top of the candle as she 'lit' it with the taper, and kept her hand there while she lifted it up (to protect it from being blown out), only to reveal the now-lit candle to us as she placed it on the mantlepiece. Beautifully observed.

 

I've now seen three pairs of step-sisters; Avis/Acri, Gartside/Hay, and Richardson/Hay.
Hay's put-upon sister remains my favourite; it's a strange word to use in the context of the step-sisters, but he is so delicate (and as a result, so effective) in painting the details of his characterisation. 
I thought Richardson sat between Gartside and Avis across the various spectra ranging from understated/OTT, introvert/extrovert, in control/out of control, etc/etc...
For me, Richardson came across as less aloof than Gartside, and maybe a bit more worldly-wise (and world-weary) than the loose cannon that was Avis.
But, like another fairy-tale, Goldilocks, choosing between these three pairs is a matter of individual taste; what is 'just right' for one is 'too hot' (or is that 'too OTT'?) for another. Long live variety, in all senses of the word.

 

I was also impressed with Ikarashi as the Jester - his energetic dancing seemed the most effortless of the dancers I've seen in this role. But if the Jester is supposed to be have a sinister edge, his was not the most 'strange'.

 

Once again I became a bit teary during the last scene, from when the prince carries Cinderella down the steps. It's the music; it's genius; I love it!

 

[Lizbie1]

2 minutes ago, Nogoat said:

Once again I became a bit teary during the last scene, from when the prince carries Cinderella down the steps. It's the music; it's genius; I love it!

 

 

Me too! Ashton, the great manipulator!

[Rob S]

I think Richardson is great as a sister, the one thing I wish he'd do is fully drop his dress when he kisses the prince....it hangs from his right arm on both occasions I've seen him.....and the only times I've ever seen an orange hit the floor is when he throws it over his shoulder in act 2, last night he promptly dropped the small one too

[JohnS]

Cast sheet for tonight - Annette Buvoli replaces Mayara Magri

 

https://www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/40/cinderella-by-frederick-ashton/cast-list/51563

 

And Mayara Magri is dancing on Saturday evening replacing Gina Storm-Jenson

Edited April 28, 2023 by JohnS
Just seen further cast changes for Saturday

[Candleque]

7 hours ago, bridiem said:

As far as I'm concerned, James Hay is the star of the stepsisters - sweet, extremely funny, beautifully danced and completely believable. The dynamic with Bennet Gartside's understated 'tall' sister was the most effective for me.

Totally agree. His dancing talent shines even in this role 🌟

In another cast, I found Thomas Whitehead to be the best (or shall I say least obnoxious in my eyes) bossy step-sister. I noticed his acting skill and nuances more than I had previously (sorry Tom) in other ballets. Applause to them both from this non panto fan 👏 💐 👏

[bridiem]

29 minutes ago, Candleque said:

Totally agree. His dancing talent shines even in this role 🌟

In another cast, I found Thomas Whitehead to be the best (or shall I say least obnoxious in my eyes) bossy step-sister. I noticed his acting skill and nuances more than I had previously (sorry Tom) in other ballets. Applause to them both from this non panto fan 👏 💐 👏

 

That's interesting to hear, Candleque - unfortunately I didn't see him but will hope to do so next time round.

[MJW]

On 27/04/2023 at 14:06, Sim said:

We are a good crowd, we standing folk!! 

 

 

Actually I've had a bad back this week and standing is easier than sitting down, so that's worked out quite well!

[Sim]

15 minutes ago, MJW said:

 

Actually I've had a bad back this week and standing is easier than sitting down, so that's worked out quite well!

Sorry to hear that, MJW.  I hope you feel better very soon.  

[MJW]

8 minutes ago, Sim said:

Sorry to hear that, MJW.  I hope you feel better very soon.  

 

Thank you! Actually today has been the least painful day this week so hopefully I'm fully on the mend.

[alison]

I've been in more or less the same standing position so many times in this run that I'm developing a list to the left!

[alison]

1 hour ago, JohnS said:

Cast sheet for tonight - Annette Buvoli replaces Mayara Magri

 

https://www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/40/cinderella-by-frederick-ashton/cast-list/51563

 

And Mayara Magri is dancing on Saturday evening replacing Gina Storm-Jenson

 

Was disappointed to read that, until I saw the second bit.  Thank heavens I'm going tomorrow, too!

[alison]

6 hours ago, Sophoife said:

 

As this was my only performance and the cinema relay isn't on in Oz until the day after I get back (yay!) I can't comment sorry.

 

Oh, didn't realise you were only here for the one performance.  Sorry to have missed you

[JennyTaylor]

I was there last night to see Laura Morera and she certainly didn't disappoint. What a beautiful dancer. She will be sadly missed in the classical repertoire.   

However, to my astonishment, I found I was glued to Calvin Richardson's tall step sister, which I hadn't expected at all.  I was so fascinated that I forgot to watch Cinderella at times in Act 1.  Unforgiveable but true.  I would not have known it was Calvin but for the cast sheet, such was his complete immersion into the part. I loved the Richardson/ Hay duo - such fun!  They both put 200% into it last night. So happy I'm going again tomorrow to see it all over again. 

I went to a Friends talk just before the performance to see Gary Avis and Luca Acri speak about creating the step sisters and also in general terms about the production.  Gary has worked closely with Wendy Ellis to curate it. 

Two particularly interesting snippets were: Luca Acri's father was a dancer and had actually played the elder sister many years ago!  The theme of flowers is extended to the 2 sisters and in Act 3, they are depicted as wilted flowers. I hadn't noticed this at all, but looked for it, and low and behold, the flowers on their dresses have gone brown in Act 3.       

[Dawnstar]

4 hours ago, Candleque said:

In another cast, I found Thomas Whitehead to be the best (or shall I say least obnoxious in my eyes) bossy step-sister. I noticed his acting skill and nuances more than I had previously (sorry Tom) in other ballets. Applause to them both from this non panto fan 👏 💐 👏

 

I agree that Whitehead managed to make the bossy Stepsister nicest out of the dancers in the role. As this production is the first time I've seen Cinderella, I'm not entirely sure if this is a good or a bad thing, i.e. how unpleasant or not the character was originally meant to be. I was somewhat reminded of Coppelia, when I unexpectedly (having previously mostly seen him play villains) found Whitehead's Dr Coppelius the most sympathetic & touching of those I saw.

 

Continuing on the bossy Stepsister, while Richardson was somewhat drag queen-ish in his portrayl it wasn't as much as I'd feared he might be & I enjoyed his performance. It is somewhat surreal to see a Nutcracker Prince and an SB Prince prancing about the stage in frocks though! Richardson did the Act II fall particularly wholesalely - perhaps because he's a good deal the youngest in the role - and threw another one in at the curtain calls! (The next photo I have after this is just a blur of purple net crawling through the gap in the curtains!)

 

[Dawnstar]

(This post is probably irrelevant to anyone but me so everyone else feel free to skip it.) I'd like to praise the ROH stage door keepers for being incredibly tolerant & helpful to me yesterday evening. I wanted to give Laura Morera some flowers as an overall thank you for her performances I've seen over the last 5 seasons & decided doing so at Cinderella would be better than waiting to her last performance, where she'll have vast amounts. I tried several shops & stalls but larger bouquets were either too expensive for me or I wasn't keen on them, so I ended up buying 4 small bouquets in Tesco plus a sheet of wrapping paper. By this time it was quarter past seven & I didn't have time to go elsewhere to find somewhere suitable for some flower re-wrapping. The stage door keepers very kindly let me use a small table in the lobby, didn't look horrified as I ripped cellophane off 4 bouquets while trying not to scatter leaves, and let me have some sellotape to hold together the, well, flower arrangement would be too polite a term, more a flower bundle. Frankly I wouldn't have been surprised if the stage management had taken a look at the result & either sent it straight to her dressing room or consigned it to the nearest bin! Instead, to my amazement & pleasure, not only did my bouquet make it on stage but it was the one given to her to hold!

 

 

(PS In case anyone's interested, I made it home at 2.50am last night.)

[bridiem]

Wonderful, @Dawnstar! Well done, and it's lovely to hear that the stage door keepers were so helpful.

You must have  been exhausted by the time you got home!

Edited April 28, 2023 by bridiem

[Ondine]

@Dawnstar if you want a flavour of the 'old' Cinders, with Ashton / Helpmann, if you look on the Nina Timofeeva thread and follow the links to historic footage of Timofeeva on YT the same person who posted the historic footage on YT has obliged with three separate acts, four months ago.  Sibley / Dowell. Slightly faded and all that but it's important these things are available for posterity, critical comment, comparison  and anyone with a scholarly interest. 

 

 

 

(And yes the entire 2023 version has of course also been posted, but not by that person and I'm not giving any clues.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 28, 2023 by Ondine
Typo

[Benjamin]

5 minutes ago, Ondine said:

@Dawnstar if you want a flavour of the 'old' Cinders, with Ashton / Helpmann, if you look on the Nina Timofeeva thread and follow the links to historic footage of Timofeeva on YT the same person who posted the historic footage on YT has obliged with three separate acts, four months ago.  Sibley / Dowell. Slightly faded and all that but it's important these things are avaiable for posterity, critical comment, comparison  and anyone with a scholarly interest. 

 

 

 

(And yes the entire 2023 version has of course also been posted, but not by that person and I'm not giving any clues.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yep I’ve found it too, I will say no more.

[Ondine]

Enjoy. Things come and go.

 

I have to say I think Ashton would not have approved of the drag queens currently on stage.

 

He's the one in white, for younger readers. The nose I believe was modelled on Edith Sitwell!

 

 

[Linnzi5]

1 hour ago, Dawnstar said:

(This post is probably irrelevant to anyone but me so everyone else feel free to skip it.) I'd like to praise the ROH stage door keepers for being incredibly tolerant & helpful to me yesterday evening. I wanted to give Laura Morera some flowers as an overall thank you for her performances I've seen over the last 5 seasons & decided doing so at Cinderella would be better than waiting to her last performance, where she'll have vast amounts. I tried several shops & stalls but larger bouquets were either too expensive for me or I wasn't keen on them, so I ended up buying 4 small bouquets in Tesco plus a sheet of wrapping paper. By this time it was quarter past seven & I didn't have time to go elsewhere to find somewhere suitable for some flower re-wrapping. The stage door keepers very kindly let me use a small table in the lobby, didn't look horrified as I ripped cellophane off 4 bouquets while trying not to scatter leaves, and let me have some sellotape to hold together the, well, flower arrangement would be too polite a term, more a flower bundle. Frankly I wouldn't have been surprised if the stage management had taken a look at the result & either sent it straight to her dressing room or consigned it to the nearest bin! Instead, to my amazement & pleasure, not only did my bouquet make it on stage but it was the one given to her to hold!

 

 

(PS In case anyone's interested, I made it home at 2.50am last night.)

What a lovely story about the flowers - wonderful photo too!  

[LinMM]

Terrific Dawnstar how lovely!! 

[Sim]

Dawnstar what a lovely story!  Laura doesn’t do social media but I hope that somehow this story makes its way to her.  

[Rob S]

 

 

 

[Shade]

Wonderful photos Rob

[CCL]

Dawnstar, I’m in absolute awe of your thoughtfulness and initiative. How lovely it must have been to see Laura holding your flowers!!

[CCL]

I’m so pleased to see positive reactions to Thomas Whitehead’s performance as one of the sisters. I didn’t see him in this role unfortunately but I love his Friar Lawrence…

Edited April 29, 2023 by CCL

[alison]

Talking of the Stepsisters, a recent conversation with a former dancer has me wondering what their costumes were like, say in the David Walker version or prior to that.  Are there any good colour photos, or even design drawings, around, or do I need to watch the film (is it B&W?)?

 

-------

 

Secondly, over the course of this run I've recalled various things said at Insight events and the like about other Ashton ballets, comedy, and playing a female character (my summing-up throughout), and have applied them to this production:

 

- In relation to The Dream: the humour (or possibly everything?) is in the choreography - it doesn't need anything else added on top (this was last century, my first viewing, where even then, with my very limited knowledge, I thought that Ashton wouldn't have approved of the over-egging of the four lovers that was going on)

 

- With regard to playing Widow Simone (this may have been some years ago when Thomas Whitehead was being coached in the role, but I'm not sure): don't play a woman (or possibly a mother?), just be one.  It has struck me on both occasions that James Hay, in particular, does this really well.

 

(The other things I was going to add escape me at the moment, but I'll add them later if I remember them)

 

[Lizbie1]

5 hours ago, alison said:

- With regard to playing Widow Simone (this may have been some years ago when Thomas Whitehead was being coached in the role, but I'm not sure): don't play a woman (or possibly a mother?), just be one.  It has struck me on both occasions that James Hay, in particular, does this really well.

 

I recently saw a clip of Danny la Rue saying, in so many words, that he's never playing "a woman", he's simply acting, playing a character: whether it's a woman or a man is immaterial. He referenced Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie as another example of this.

[Jan McNulty]

9 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

(This post is probably irrelevant to anyone but me so everyone else feel free to skip it.) I'd like to praise the ROH stage door keepers for being incredibly tolerant & helpful to me yesterday evening. I wanted to give Laura Morera some flowers as an overall thank you for her performances I've seen over the last 5 seasons & decided doing so at Cinderella would be better than waiting to her last performance, where she'll have vast amounts. I tried several shops & stalls but larger bouquets were either too expensive for me or I wasn't keen on them, so I ended up buying 4 small bouquets in Tesco plus a sheet of wrapping paper. By this time it was quarter past seven & I didn't have time to go elsewhere to find somewhere suitable for some flower re-wrapping. The stage door keepers very kindly let me use a small table in the lobby, didn't look horrified as I ripped cellophane off 4 bouquets while trying not to scatter leaves, and let me have some sellotape to hold together the, well, flower arrangement would be too polite a term, more a flower bundle. Frankly I wouldn't have been surprised if the stage management had taken a look at the result & either sent it straight to her dressing room or consigned it to the nearest bin! Instead, to my amazement & pleasure, not only did my bouquet make it on stage but it was the one given to her to hold!

 

 

(PS In case anyone's interested, I made it home at 2.50am last night.)

How absolutely lovely Dawnstar and what a wonderful memory for you.  It’s a great photo too.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[Mary]

To take so much trouble to make  a very personal, sincere and classy bouquet- what could be more appropriate for Laura Morera.

 

[JohnS]

Yet another fabulous Cinderella last night with Natalia Osipova and Reece Clarke hugely impressive. Annette Buvoli makes a lovely Fairy Godmother and a delight to see her again. I found Gary Avis and Luca Acri more restrained than on previous occasions which was welcome - or perhaps  I’d mellowed after supper with my brother and interval wine. And Marco Masciari is a stunning Jester. The whole evening flew by and just seemed so wholly satisfying. I rather think @Rob S’s fabulous photo of Annette Buvoli sums up the sheer joy that such performances give dancers and audiences.