The Royal Ballet: Romeo and Juliet (September 22nd, 2015)

The Royal Ballet's

Romeo and Juliet

Sept 22nd, 2015

A trip to the Royal Opera House is always exciting, but doubly so when you're going to see your favourite ballet! My favourite shakespeare play and my favourite ballet, Romeo and Juliet is a beautiful story with so many different possible interpretations, and I was very excited to see what the Royal Ballet had put together. I was also lucky enough to see the show as it was being filmed and streamed live across the world. It was very exciting. Anyway, onto the review!

The cast of this performance was as follows: Sarah Lamb (Juliet), Steven McRae (Romeo), Alexander Campbell (Mercutio), Gary Avis (Tybalt), Tristan Dyer (Benvolio), Ryoichi Hirano (Paris), Christopher Saunders (Lord Capulet), Elizabeth McGorian (Lady Capulet), Bennet Gartside (Escalus), Lara Turk (Rosaline), Genesia Rosato (Nurse), Alastair Marriot (Friar Laurence/Lord Montague), and Sian Murphy (Lady Montague). Juliet's Friends were played by Elizabeth Harrod, Meaghan Grace Hinkis, Fumi Kaneko, Emma Maguire, Anna Rose O'Sullivan, and Romany Padjak. The Three Harlots were played by Itziar Mendizabal, Olivia Cowley, and Helen Crawford. 

This production was very different from Ratmansky's R&J at the National Ballet of Canada, which is the only other version of the ballet I've seen live (and which I love dearly). Of course, Prokofiev's beautiful score is the same, and the orchestra at the ROH is absolutely stunning. All in all, though, I have to say I probably preferred NBoC's R&J. However, there were many things I enjoyed about the Royal Ballet's, and I'll discuss that first.

The costuming, first of all, was beautiful. The court gowns were sumptuous and richly coloured, with immaculate headpieces. The women's dresses were light as air, and moved beautifully as the girl's turned and jumped. All of the men's tops were detailed, sparkly (yay), and looked perfect for the period. I liked that there was a clear colour scheme; one family was in red (Capulet) while the other was in shades of green and blue (Montague). It made it easier to tell who was who (though I couldn't tell you the difference between Mercutio and Benvolio until the former died). I really liked the attention to detail; the costume designer successfully made the piece look like it came straight out of renaissance Italy (the headpieces/wigs were very helpful in creating this vision). 

The set design was also very good. Big, grand buildings and backdrops. Nothing was left to the imagination; it was all there in front of you, and the dancers interacted with the set, which I loved. This is important to me because so often detailed sets aren't really incorporated into the ballet, in which case the set looks more like its in the way than anything else. So in this way, the interaction between the choreography and set design were very well thought out.  

The leads, Sarah Lamb and Steven McRae, were no doubt phenomenal dancers individually. Exquisite technique, flawless execution, not a bobble or wobble in sight. McRae didn't dance much individually, but his interactions with Benvolio and Mercutio were charming and entertaining, and the three of them danced together as a group very well. McRae established a playful young man who became utterly consumed by his love for Juliet. Lamb's approach to Juliet I felt was not fully fleshed out. She excelled at the 'Juliet Alone' variation (it was beautifully emotional), but otherwise, while I saw the young naive girl, there was nothing else to the character. Moreover, for being so small and thin, she landed her jumps very heavily. She didn't feel very airy or free. I wasn't really feeling these two as a partnership either. There was little to no connection; they looked at each other and smiled occasionally, but I couldn't feel the chemistry that is so essential for a believable Romeo and Juliet. Some of it may have been the choreography; there was very much a sense of 'ok, now we're dancing…. now let's stop dancing, emote a bit… ok, back to dancing' if that makes any sense. It just felt lacklustre, and I really couldn't get into the story because of it.

I also felt that some of the choreography was rather weak. The aforementioned interactions between Romeo and Juliet aside, in general, the choreography felt repetitive (more so than your average ballet). How many times can one dancer, who is otherwise an extraordinary dancer, do the same arabesque to plie? Apparently, eight or nine times a scene. I did really like the little dance interludes that Mercutio, Benvolio, and Romeo had every once in a while. Those three dancers worked very well together, and the choreography was clever, spritely, and interesting. Other than that, though, it just felt boring. As well, there was a lot more emphasis on the period dance (especially at the ball) rather than straight ballet. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it wasn't to my taste. There was a particular scene in Ratmanksy's R&J where the Friar is telling Juliet what the potion will do, and how the plan is meant to work - I won't say exactly what it is (see my June 2013 Review), but let's just say that Ratmansky's way of explaining it to the audience was far more effective than the Friar waving his hands around a few times and 'voila!' explained!

Although I didn't enjoy this trip to Romeo and Juliet and I do believe it's a solid production, there were a number of weaknesses I felt should be addressed that prevented it being my ideal R&J. That said, I'm looking forward to seeing more of the Royal Ballet this year. The costuming, set design, and technical abilities of the dancers is beyond compare. 

The Phantom of the Opera (September 25th, 2015)

The Phantom of the Opera

Sept 25th, 2015

So, this was my first foray into the new cast at Phantom. There was an almost complete overhaul of the principle cast, and I had an understudy on for one of the roles that hadn't changed. So all but 2 of the principles (plus understudy Lisa-Anne Wood) I hadn't seen before. I thought it would take me longer to brave the new bunch, but then Lisa-Anne had scheduled dates, so… we all know how that ended. Anyway, it was a bit difficult given so many special people had left, but overall, I really enjoyed the new cast. I'm going to organise this by actor; I'll try to include as much detail as I can, but I'm writing this late at night so it's a bit fuzzy.

John Owen-Jones (Phantom)

John Owen-Jones
(Google)

Ah, the great 'JOJ', essentially a legend within the online Phantom community. I'm not sure of exact dates, but either he or Scott Davies (or possibly an understudy/standby) were my first ever Phantom, so it was exciting to see JOJ, whether this was the first or second time. And I have to say, he certainly lives up to all of the hype.

What. A. Voice. Seriously. His first notes in Angel of Music practically boom around the theatre; it's so powerful that I'm surprised the mirror wasn't shaking. He has a great stage presence as the Phantom - cold and intimidating, rather than trying to do that 'sexy' thing a lot of Phantoms do. Liked how unhinged he was in Stranger Than You Dreamt It - you could really see the craziness and it didn't feel contrived (if I can be very un-eloquent - he totally lost his shit at Christine - I mean, not literally, but you know what I mean). 

I really loved JOJ in Wandering Child; he had this way of singing it that was incredibly hypnotic, so you're not sitting there thinking "Really, Christine, really?" You can see what makes him so alluring. He also went totally crazy with the fireballs; he doesn't hold back at all. I may have been seeing things wrong, but it somehow looked like he had two in his hand that he threw onto the stage seconds before the fire at the front of the stage came up. Anyway, it was a cool touch, and I liked it because it looked like the Phantom was really in control of all that was going on. Another cool touch was after Raoul and Christine ran off, he screamed "CHRISTINE!" as a last-ditch effort to get her back.

In PONR, I loved that JOJ kept up the fake Italian accent until he sat down next to Christine; it made it more believable that she wouldn't realise it was the Phantom. I loved this Final Lair; it was extremely confrontational, which is what made it awesome. JOJ was the driving force behind this; his stature and presence is very intimidating, and any softness from the earlier parts of the show was gone. But Christine was having none of his crap, and that only made his Phantom angrier. Lisa and JOJ really played off of each other much better than most other Christine/Phantom pairs I've seen have. Unfortunately I don't remember a lot about the Lair, but I remember liking JOJ and his performance a lot. The one thing I do remember is his "Go NOW and leave… meeeee!" It was really great (a few people started clapping). Hard to understand, but great. Very passionate and emotional. He also gave a little laugh when the monkey music box started up, like "Huh, ironic timing". It was a nice touch. A funny thing that happened was the cloak started falling down over the chair, so just before Alicia tore the cloak away, a large white hand came out to straighten it. I giggled a bit. I definitely look forward to seeing JOJ's Phantom again. 

Lisa-Anne Wood (Christine)

Lisa-Anne Wood (w/ Geronimo Rauch)
(Tumblr)

What's left to say about her?! I always forget just how good she is until I see the show again. Lisa is absolutely phenomenal. I truly do believe she's among the best, if not the best, Christines there has ever been. She has the voice, the acting, the look - everything is just there (wow, I sound like a broken record). There's nothing really missing. I mean, because I'm neurotic there are a few things I wish she did slightly differently, but for the most part, I love her Christine to bits, and it's difficult to narrow down just a few things to write about. But I've done my best. 

I. Loved. Her. Think of Me. It's always struck me as a bit of an awkward song, because obviously it's not just a performance, the song itself has some meaning to it. And it's essentially here that Christine sound very youthful, joyful, and pure in this song to contrast Carlotta's very overdone version. Anyway, Lisa doesn't do my favourite TOM ever, but it's up there. I like her transition from Hannibal to TOM; she starts out with her head down, very tentative, but you can really see Christine starting to get more comfortable and really give it her all. Lisa's TOM hits all the notes I want it to; very natural and beautiful, great voice, etc. Her cadenza (I think that's what they're called? Sorry, I'm a skater, not a singer) was absolutely glorious. She holds all the notes as long as she possibly could (well, I'm sure she can go longer, but as long as was logical), which I thought was a nice added touch. It didn't feel like she was cutting the song off. Angel of Music was really nice; we all know how I feel about Alicia as Meg, so we're not gonna talk about that. Nadim and Lisa are so adorable together; they just look really good, but his sensitivity and protectiveness matches her innocence and naiveté very nicely. They make it look like a mutual caring rather than one-sided (often on Christine's part). Love the acting from Lisa when Nadim was saying "you must change" etc; she doesn't just stop at 'things have changed', she was frantically trying to explain herself out of the situation, though of course Raoul wouldn't listen. It seemed more real. Also loved her acting in AOM with the Phantom; she doesn't do the whole 'hyptonised' thing, but rather a combination of fear and curiosity, which was an interesting choice that I really liked.

All I have to say about the Title Song is holy bananas does Lisa just look like Christine. Like, it's not Lisa-Anne Wood on stage. It's Christine Daae. That is all. (I mean obviously the singing is good and her acting was nice - she doesn't look like she's lip synching at all- but I never have much to say about the title song just because it's prerecorded, so it never changes). Nice STYDI (her voice is so clear and high, I love it). Her 'curious' acting is great.

A small note from Il Muto; I LOVED, as in, seriously adored, that Christine jumped on the bed, curled up in a ball, and covered her head. She was visibly shaking; it really looked as if she expected something horrible to happen. THe look of abject terror she gave Firmin when he announced that she was going to perform was heartbreaking. It was a small touch, but I thought it was very effective. It was a very childlike thing to do, which matched the rest of Lisa's approach to Christine very nicely.

Twisted Every Way has to be another of my absolute favourite moments of Lisa's Christine. It's such a small thing, but in my opinion, TEW can be make it or break it for my perception of Christine. Some Christines just look far too chill about it all. I love how you can see her getting increasingly distressed through the scene, and she just explodes on "Stop, I'll go mad!" I've never seen anyone scream that line quite the way she did. The distress and fear was very visceral; you could see it in her face and in the way she clutched Raoul, and even more so in her voice. I think the reason I liked it so much is because that was where I really started to feel for Christine; anyone that can make me actually care about a character like that deserves a cookie. I liked that when everyone had converged around her at the end of the song, she was covering her head and her eyes with her hands as if she were trying to block it all out.  Her "I can't!" was also great, she basically screamed it, and hardly stopped to say that, just sprinted off stage as fast as she could. When she came back on for the rehearsal, her face said "I'm about six seconds from absolutely losing it again," which was nice, because that's exactly what happens next.

Lisa-Anne Wood
(Pinterest)

So. Wishing. Epic is a word I would use to describe it. Heart-breaking works too. Spectacular also comes to mind. I could go with emotional if I wanted to keep things simple. Whichever word I use, the point is the same. I've only seen one other Christine who can execute Wishing as well as Lisa can. And she keeps changing it up, adding new details, keeping it fresh - that's another thing I love about her; in five shows, I still don't feel like I'm watching her do exactly the same thing twice. Anyway, back to Wishing - the way she sings "and speaks my name" has changed, and I'm not entirely sure how to describe how she sings it, but it (especially 'name') sounds more like a raw keening than just 'singing' it; it's really, really beautiful, and really effective. It's the little touches like this that Lisa adds to her singing that make you really feel Christine's grief and pain. Her faces and movement are great too, but if you close your eyes and just listen, that's all you need to know how Christine feels. To me, that's the mark of an excellent Christine. That's not to say she doesn't have her beautiful, operatic-y moments - she totally does. Lisa's got a gorgeous, if a little higher than I always expect, voice, and she uses it to its fullest extent in this song. I guess what I'm trying to say is she's not holding anything back, and it shows. But voice aside, her acting too is totally on point. She doesn't overdo the fake sobbing, and you can really see and feel the amount of character growth in the song - she goes from very distressed and emotional to quite sure of herself (does that make sense?). I like that arc; it makes her development in the rest of the show seem more real (she starts out the show very naive and innocent (Hannibal through , shifts to distressed and scared, and then comes away quite confident and fierce). Anyway, she always has me teary when she sings Wishing, and if I had to pick a single favourite thing from her performance (who would do such a cruel thing to me?), it would be this.

Onto Point of No Return, which is certainly another highlight. This is also where the character development Lisa's built up is very important - I said she ended Wishing rather sure of herself, and her PONR would make absolutely no sense if she hadn't made that development very clear. Lisa's PONR is very sultry, and she's definitely not playing the "I'm scared out of my mind but I'm gonna go along with it anyway" angle, which I appreciate. I really don't think her Christine expects anything to happen (which is complemented by JOJ's Phantom expertly imitating Piangi, so it really is believable that she wouldn't know). So the result is a very different, but very interesting take on PONR. I love that at the end of the song, she really fights to get away from him (JOJ was literally dragging her by both arms) and she got out of his grasp as soon as she could (Arms pulled away on "stand and watch it burn" - a little detail that I think is brilliant. Don't ask me why, I just like it). I like that she doesn't just let herself be dragged around. 

Lisa-Anne Wood
(Pinterest)

As I've already mentioned, this Final Lair might just have been the most terrifying, emotional, and confrontational one I've ever seen. If there was ever a Final Lair that I wish had been captured on video, it was this one. Partly because I can't really remember details anymore, it was that intense. But I really love how much ferocity Lisa shows; you can see how Christine's gotten to that point of being fed up with being walked all over and she really gets in the Phantom's face (which was kind of funny because Lisa is tiny and JOJ is not). At one point, she slammed the bouquet into his chest (at "It's in your soul"), and I was just thinking "YES this is why you are my favourite." I loved that when she went to return the ring, she was trying not to look at him; the Phantom was trying to hold onto both of her hands and get her to stay, but she just wouldn't make eye contact and got the heck out of there. There was a nice sense of finality to it. Also loved her reaction to Raoul being freed; she just screamed "Raoul!" and dove on top of him. It was interesting because he was so protective of her earlier in the show, but now it was her turn to be the protector. She was keeping herself between him and the Phantom as much as possible for most of the show. Last thing: "You deceived me!" was screamed, and she was visibly breaking down as she said it. It was a moving touch. There are so many more things I liked about this and I may add to it later, but I'm trying not to write a novel here.

Of the few things I didn't like, the thing that bugged me the most is she does the same 'skirt thrust' in PONR that Harriet did ('speech disappears into silence *grabs skirt* … silence *grabs skirt*) - that skirt is so wonderfully swishy and voluminous; let it go! I still miss Olivia and her twirls. Anyway, it's a tiny thing and it really doesn't affect anything else, but for whatever reason, it irritates me. It just doesn't look right. My other issue is her grabbing the Phantom's mask way too early in Stranger Than You Dreamt It, but I'm going to assume that was a momentary lapse as I'd never seen her do that before. But I loved the look she had on her face that whole section (and she's gotten that fake trip down to a science; it doesn't look silly anymore). The only other thing I could've used was a slightly longer pause before the tears of hate bit. But I loved the way she sung the line itself. I'm just partial to a little bit of a longer pause. 

In general, I really love that Lisa-Anne uses acting that's subtle enough to not seem overwhelming in the front row, but big enough that it really projects to the circles. It's nice that no matter where I'm sitting, I can really see how thorough and detailed her acting is, as it's my favourite part about her portrayal. Aside from my minor neuroses, there's really nothing that I don't like about Lisa's Christine, which, for those of you that know me, is saying something. I really look forward to seeing her as Christine more in the future, and I absolutely cannot wait for her to be the official alternate (and maybe principle next cast? Fingers crossed!) come June. She's absolutely perfect. 

Nadim Namaan (Raoul)

Nadim Namaan
(Tumblr)

I'd heard great things about Nadim's Raoul (though nothing specific - more like "He's so good you're gonna love him!") and I'd really enjoyed his voice in Playing Our Part a couple years ago, and his acting in Titanic in Toronto was fabulous. So I was really excited to see him play Raoul. I have to admit, most of my focus was on Lisa-Anne, but from what I saw of his Raoul, I really liked, and he definitely makes my top 3 Raouls. 

Nadim has a really strong, deep voice, which I typically don't like, but with his more protective (I'm going to use that word a lot to describe him), kindhearted approach to the character, it worked. His auction was a lot more coughy/hoarse than I'm used to, but it did make sense in the context, so I liked it. Loved how excited he looked at the gala; he was really thrilled to see Christine again, and this carried over to the dressing room. He wasn't as stuck up or self centred as recent Raouls have been - his attention was much more focused on Christine and you could really see the connection and chemistry between the two. Side note, I thought Nadim and Lisa were a really adorable pair. 

In All I Ask of You, Nadim was still playing the very protective Raoul. It was a really nice touch and something I'd never seen before. He was acting like he couldn't bear to let her out of his sight or arms. Very calculating during the lead up to Don Juan/PONR; liked that you could really see his thought process. Very involved acting; just because he was off in the corner thinking didn't mean he was ignoring what was happening around him. Also liked how powerful his voice his; you can easily hear him in all of the group songs. I also really liked his acting in Twisted Every Way; it was more like Raoul really saw having Christine perform as the only way to catch the Phantom, and the best thing to do for her benefit. Whereas other Raoul's don't seem to care about Christine's fear, Nadim was actively trying to comfort her and assure her that it would all be ok. 

Liked how concerned Nadim acted over Christine when he got through the gate at the Final Lair. He looked like he was giving her a once over to make sure she hadn't been harmed, and then didn't want to let her out of his grasp, just to keep her safe. He really struggled agains the noose and his might've been the most believable 'hanging' I've ever seen. It didn't look contrived or false.

I can't wait to see Nadim's Raoul again; I have no doubt aspects will grow and change as he settles into the role, and it should be very interesting. I'm also curious to see if his main character traits change at all depending on which Christine he's with; Lisa's is a Christine that very much needs protection and love, whereas Emmi's doesn't. Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing it. Nadim's a great Raoul.

Megan Llewellyn (Carlotta)

I had no idea what to expect with her, and I'm still not entirely sure what to think. I really loved her Hannibal/Think of Me. She was sassy, funny, and emotional. I could really see a fleshed out character. I loved her little interaction with the managers at "These things do 'appen;' she really took her time with expressing her distress and emotion. Her voice was very big and powerful and she had a great accent going, but I felt that some of her inflections and phrasing seemed off. It was a bit stop-and-start. Other than that, I felt that her character kind of disappeared after Hannibal; she hadn't really figured out a defined character to go with, so I look forward to seeing her develop that further, because she's got a really great Hannibal. 

Michael Matus (Andre)

Nothing extraordinary, but good signing voice, decent acting. Didn't really see anything that made his character stand out, but he wasn't bad either. He could have milked the humour a bit more in the Il Muto Ballet introduction. I didn't feel that he and Christopher Dickens made a very interesting pair; there were no special interactions or connection between the two. 

Christopher Dickins (Firmin)

I really wasn't sure about him at first; he was very loud, very 'out there' - almost avant garde. But as the show wore on, and he really kept this loud, enthusiastic portrayal going, it grew on me. It was a nice contrast to his far more muted business partner, and I had a good time (and a lot of laughs) watching him. Definitely looking forward to seeing more from him. 

Paul Morrissey (Piangi)

This guy was awesome. I have no idea how many times he's been on (it's early in the cast so I'm gonna guess not many), but he really had his stuff together. He does Jeremy Secomb's extra long 'Hooooooooooooome' which I loved to pieces. It's so funny watching the cast react to it and the audience absolutely loved it. He has a stronger, richer voice from the principle Piangi, and I enjoyed his humorous characterisation a lot. Absolutely want to see more from him (and I would totally support his replacing John Ellis). 

Alicia Beck (Meg Giry)

Alicia Beck
(Phantom Photo Brochure)

So she's obviously not new, but I wanted to say briefly that I was pleasantly surprised by her today. She kept her eyeballs inside her head, and her acting wasn't quite so twitchy. She does blink an awful lot though. Her singing was more in-tune and just generally more pleasant to listen to as well. Her Angel of Music is still shrill and nauseating, but other than that, she wasn't half bad. Her dancing has gotten stronger too; she's not tipping out of the pirouettes so often and she actually has quite nice feet and extensions. 

Everyone else

I really didn't like the new ballet girl. My first thought was "that's the best they could do to replace Layla?" You know how you don't realise how good someone is until they're gone? Yeah, that. I mean, I knew Layla was good, but I didn't fully appreciate her fluidity and stage presence until now. Anyway, the new BG, Lily Howes, was just… awkward. Very jerky and abrupt; she was going from position to position without any transition between the two. She was also practically jumping into the attitude positions in the Hannibal Ballet, and her attitude didn't match everyone else's (It almost looked like she was attempting an MG or ring…). Her arms were very awkwardly bent. The other weird thing was her face; it looked like she was trying really hard to act and not just smile, but that resulted in an almost constant duck face. Very odd. It also didn't look like any of her costumes fit. The hannibal bodice looked too low-cut and the hips far too wide (and long), and the leggings on her Masquerade costume were all wrinkled. Obviously that's not her fault, but it was noticeable, and didn't help my perception of her. Anyway, she's young and new, and I hope she'll get the hang of it soon. Zoe Arshamian, a ballet girl who has been around for a year but was always kind of in the background, has stepped into Layla's spot in Il Muto and part of Hannibal, which I was pleased with. Zoe's a nice, if not particularly interesting, dancer. But I did generally like the rest of the new ensemble. No one stuck out in a bad way, anyway. 

All in all, this was a good show, and I loved a majority of the new cast. I'm looking forward to seeing more from Lisa-Anne and the rest in the future, and hopefully seeing Celinde Schoenmaker and some other understudies in the future.