Haglund's Heel

observations 9-9

The London casting for Christopher Wheeldon's An American in Paris has been announced.  Madame Baurel will be played by none other than → → → →

Who among us dares to admit being old enough to remember Jane Asher from the earliest Beatles days? She was the inspiration for And I Love Her and Here, There, and Everywhere.

Sir Paul really messed up with her, didn't he. Anyway, she continued on building her career as an actress and has become one of England's national treasures on the stage and screen. What a fab, fab, fab addition to an already incredible cast for the London run that includes Robert Fairchild and Leanne Cope.

Jane Asher is 70 now. [The crowd screams: Nooooooo.] Yes, she is. Here she is at 70 with her husband of 35 years, Gerald Scarfe:

We doubt that the GettyImages peeps did anything to enhance this photo.

The cast also includes Ashley Day who will alternate with Robert Fairchild as Jerry before taking on the role full time on June 19th. What will Fairchild do then? Spend the summer getting back into ballet shape? That would be nice, but we suspect he has bigger plans.

Haydn Oakley (Henri Baurel), Zoë Rainey (Milo Davenport), David Seadon-Young (Adam Hochberg), Julian Forsyth and Ashley Andrews, Sophie Apollonia, Zoe Arshamian, Sarah Bakker, James Barton, Alicia Beck, Chrissy Brooke, James Butcher, Jonathan Caguioa, Jennifer Davison, Katie Deacon, Rebecca Fennelly, Sebastian Goffin, Alyn Hawke, Nicky Henshall, Genevieve Heron, Amy Hollins, Frankie Jenna, Justin-Lee Jones, Robin Kent, Kristen McGarrity, Julia J. Nagle, Daniela Norman, Aaron Smyth, Todd Talbot, Max Westwell, Jack Wilcox, Carrie Willis, Stuart Winter and Liam Wrate. We think that Aaron Smyth is on the verge of skyrocketing into major musical theater and may never look back over his shoulder at the ballet world.

London is about to be treated to one of the most terrific musicals in years. Previews open at the Dominion Theatre on March 4, 2017.

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Meanwhile, Paris is in for a special treat tomorrow when Sarah Lane and Herman Cornejo take the stage in the penultimate performance of Sleeping Beauty at the Opéra Bastille. We read that it's sold out. Good for them. Sorry for those who couldn't get a ticket and will miss the show, because these two artists define what this restoration is all about. Sarah and Herman are, of course, the couple who is most faithful to the Petipa choreography as notated by Stepanov. We fear that the Parisians may try to sneak these two into their pockets and take them home. Jist Fuggedaboutit. 

Photo: Rosalie O'Connor

 

 

observations 9-8

Just 10 days until the start of NYCB's fall season. The opening night gala is sure to be an interesting one with four premieres including three by the company's own dancers (Lovette, Walker, Peck) plus one by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa AND the return of the dresses.

Oh boy oh boy oh boy. A mostly brand new crew of beauties will be waltzing about in those exquisite Valentino creations in the Finale of Bal de Couture. (Just the finale.) It's clear that every lady in NYCB is dying to be draped in that obscenely expensive Italian silk and whisked away to strains of Massenet's Eugene Onegin. It's only fair that these dresses be shared by as many ballerinas as possible before they end up on mannequins in a museum somewhere.

At the opening night gala, the new piece by Peter Walker will feature among the dancers Emily Kikta performing to her father Thomas' guitar composition which he will be playing.

Ashley Bouder will return to the stage on Friday night in Vienna Waltzes with a repeat on Sunday.

We can't wait for the return of Stravinsky Violin Concerto and Symphony in Three Movements on Wednesday and Saturday.

Let's go let's go let's go. (And let's remember to manage our expectations for those premieres by NYCB's dancers.)

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If you missed the livestream of the Joffrey Ballet's rehearsal of their new Nutcracker by Christopher Wheeldon, you can watch it here. (The playback was acting up a while ago, but hopefully it will stream smoothly later on.) It's very worthwhile viewing IMO.

Haglund will attend the premiere in Chicago in December. He originally planned to go to the "out-of-town" previews/world premiere on the campus of the University of Iowa (an alma mater) during the first weekend in December, but it turned out to be a lot less expensive to fly to Chicago than to Cedar Rapids. Besides, the chapel on campus is where Haglund made his first matrimonial mistake, and it's not a place he longs to revisit.

 

Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center @ WTC

The final designs were released today along with the important news that Barbra Streisand will be the Chairperson of the whole shebang. You know what that means – probably. Any Babs concert designed to raise operating funds for the PAC will definitely out-perform expectations. We'll keep our ear to the ground for news. BTW, her new album is the cat's pajamas.

The design is by Joshua Prince-Ramus of the Brooklyn firm REX. Mr. Prince-Ramus told New York YIMBY that he has lived in TriBeCa since 2000 and lost everything he owned on 9/11. He will see his design formally open in 2020.

The center will have THREE theaters of 499, 250, and 99 seats. According to the video below, the three theaters can be combined and reconfigured 11 different ways including combining the two largest venues which would put it well over 500 seats and into the Broadway category. We have a sneaking suspicion that Babs may have an idea about directing a little something-or-other that might bring her a Tony Award. She hasn't forgotten losing out to Carol Channing's Hello Dolly in 1964, and the special non-competitive Tony that she received a few years later was probably little consolation. Boy, wouldn't that be incredible if Babs loaded a show into the new center.

The outside shape of the center is a little underwhelming at first glance: a cube and pretty plain at that; marble, but this marble lets the light run through it. Yes, that's what we said. Once you roll through these pictures, you will see how the design compliments the 9/11 memorial reflecting pool.

Here are some of the photos released by the center today which we lifted from New York YIMBY who lifted them from somebody else:

 

Below is a rehearsal space with some "dancers" sketched in. That's a good sign.

People will be able to sit on the steps of the center and admire Santiago Calatrava's incredible bird transit hub.

The corner of the center (with the gold circle top) and the corner of the memorial reflecting pool seem to speak to each other.

Here's a video from the design team that looks pretty interesting.

Mr. Perelman donated $75 million to the center.

observations 9-6

Dances Patrelle presents five performances of Macbeth at the Kaye Playhouse (@Hunter College, 695 Park Ave) beginning Thursday September 15th through Sunday September 18th. Premiered in 1995, this production by Francis Patrelle is set to a composite of Tchaikovsky's music. The original Macbeth was former Joffrey Ballet dancer Davis Robertson. This time around, actor and former Royal Ballet dancer Martin Harvey will take on the role.

There are tickets on TDF at the moment. Otherwise you can purchase them at the Kaye Playhouse box office or online here.

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A new Bloch Store seems on the verge of opening next to the Koch Theater (across 62nd from Rosa Mexicana at Columbus). Interesting choice to open a Bloch store so close to the world's largest consumer of Freed shoes. That's lovely Miriam Ould-Braham of the Paris Opera Ballet pictured in the poster:

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Speaking of Paris, it sounds like our Stella Abrera and Alexandre Hammoudi impressed the locals during their performance of Sleeping Beauty tonight. Can't complain about hearing J'ai beaucoup aimé Stella Abrera or that she richly deserved an opportunity to express her triumph in the Rose Adagio - which, of course, our Stella would never do. Nor would Aurora. And while ABT truncated bows following all the performances last week, Stella and Alex got a little extra time on stage to soak in the appreciation of the learned and sophisticated French audience. It's only right. Beauty is beauty is beauty.

Thanks to Blog A petits Pas on Twitter for this beautiful photo.