The Koch Theater is reaching out in an effort to locate Hungarian Opera and Ballet ticket purchasers for whom the theater does not have an email address or any way in which to contact the buyers regarding the reduction in performances. If you know of anyone who might have purchased tickets for one of the affected dates (Wed 10/31 The Queen of Sheba, Sat 11/3 Mario the Musician/Bluebeard’s Castle 1pm, Tue 11/6 Swan Lake, Thursday 11/8 Swan Lake, Sat 11/10 Don Quixote 8pm, Sun 11/11 LOL 8pm), please encourage them to call the Koch Theater.
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While you're saving money this fall by avoiding ABT's dismal programing at the Koch, you should also probably avoid King Kong on Broadway. Haglund was there on the second night of previews. Kong finally appeared 45 minutes into the show. He was, indeed, magnificent. Really. However, he didn't make up for the unmemorable songs and lyrics by Marius de Vries and Eddie Perfect, the just plain awful book by Jack Thorne, or the obnoxious choreography by Drew McOnie who also directed the show. His choreography was the worst part of the show.
Like we said, Kong didn't show up for 45 minutes. Before that, the stage was filled with non-stop, noisy Newsies-like jumping around. The choreography was like the obnoxious loud-mouth guest at a party. So dreadful. How McOnie got such a positive reputation in the UK is a mystery.
However, Kong's creature designer Sonny Tilders, the aerial Movement Director Gavin Robins, the projection design team of Peter England and Artists in Motion have really outdone themselves. They totally brought back Haglund's epic childhood nightmares of King Kong living in the garage next door where he tended to get very angry at bad children. When Kong slowly walked right to the very edge of the stage and his big head leaned out into the audience, it set off atrial fibrillation alerts on several Apple watches. His racing through the streets of 1933 Manhattan received roaring applause from the audience.
This one may not last long on Broadway. Too bad, because the concept was filled with great possibilities.
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So when do you suppose ABT is going to fess up about having its spring Met season cut back by the Met? What, still no plans in place for the future? Why should anyone donate?
However, we are looking forward to the new production of Jane Eyre scheduled for the 2019 spring season. Cathy Marston made it for Northern Ballet (Leeds, England) in 2017. This looks like it could be a good vehicle for Gillian Murphy and Cory Stearns. Let's see what happens. Northern Ballet Theatre stages mostly complex story ballets (The Great Gatsby, Hamlet, Cinderella, Wuthering Heights) and is directed by David Nixon who is married to one of Haglund's favorite Kitris from the old days, Yoko Ichino. She is now NB's rehearsal director.
I went to ABT's gala last night (mostly as an excuse to dress up although I didn't attend the dinner, and to see In the Upper Room). I enjoyed Le Jeune and would see it again. I found the new Dorrance interminable, mind-numbing, and energy-sapping. I felt quite drained after watching it, but to be fair I was already quite grumpy from listening to Misty and some other ABT member ramble on nervously for what felt like hours about how great ABT is just prior. Serves me right for going on the gala evening, I guess! In the Upper Room was very good. I was glad to finally see it.
Afterward, ABT sent me an email asking my detailed thoughts on the program and ABT in general. Interesting -- are they worried due to how poorly this season is selling?
Posted by: AMJ | October 18, 2018 at 11:15 AM
Well, AMJ, I hope you will give them your "detailed thoughts".
ABT's strategy of moving ballet forward by moving it out of ballet while continually pushing Copeland, Boylston, and Seo in everyone's faces isn't a strategy that is going to succeed with the core audience. Sorry, it just isn't.
Edited to add Whiteside to that list.
Posted by: Haglund | October 18, 2018 at 11:32 AM
Jane Eyre should excite me (I adore the novel) but I know it will just be another vehicle for Seo, Copeland, and Boylston so I'm already not interested.
Posted by: Gerry | October 18, 2018 at 03:22 PM
Ha! Haglund, I see you had the same thought as me regarding the same tiresome dancers.
Posted by: Gerry | October 18, 2018 at 03:23 PM
Haglund, I was at the fifth preview of "King Kong" and I agree with everything that you said. My mouth was literally agape at the awfulness of what I was seeing onstage. It truly could be one of the all-time most awful things I have ever seen in the theater, Kong puppet aside. Ann wails a hip-hop number while the chorus girls behind her twerked with their large feather stage fans! The depression-era apple seller who had an unexpected talent for break dance! Any of Leonard Pinth-Garnell's (Dan Akroyd's character from SNL) famous phrases could neatly sum up what is onstage: Monumentally ill-advised! Stunningly bad! Exquisitely awful! It could be one of those legendary bad musicals that people talk about for year and years, and ask themselves WHY? I definitely saved my program from this.
Posted by: Susan | October 18, 2018 at 03:38 PM
Jane Eyre looks alright but nothing that would display grand classical technique.
I'm just dreading another Spring season that only showcases 2 dancers that no one wants to watch and 1 that people will tolerate if they have to do so. What is worse is that they are all over the company marketing brochures.
Posted by: Melponeme_k | October 18, 2018 at 03:55 PM
While I’d welcome a starring opening-night role for Gillian, I’m wondering if a Jane Eyre ballet would appeal to ABT’s traditional ballet-loving audience. I was secretly hoping that we’d get Ratmansky’s new-old La Bayadere next spring. It’s about to premiere in Berlin (Nov. 4) and, to my understanding, is it not a co-production with another troupe, as often is the case nowadays. The designs by Jerome Kaplan look scrumptious and will include a final temple-destruction act. Sigh.
Posted by: Jeannette | October 18, 2018 at 04:15 PM
Susan, I was so psyched going into the show that I bought a Kongpile of souvenirs at the kiosk. I'll probably wear the socks, but won't be caught dead in the hat or tee-shirt.
The show isn't selling very well. On the second night, the audience was filled with producer types huddling and looking worried.
Posted by: Haglund | October 18, 2018 at 07:29 PM
Sarah Lane just announced on her IG at noon today that she’ll be stepping in for Hee for Other Dances tonight!
Posted by: Olivia | October 20, 2018 at 03:14 PM
Fabulous!
Posted by: Haglund | October 20, 2018 at 03:24 PM
I'm so glad Lane has an opportunity to dance more this fall.
I also love the look of a small female dancer with a tall male dancer. It just looks very romantic
Posted by: Melponeme_k | October 20, 2018 at 08:37 PM
ABT announced Spring Season 2019 at 8 weeks.
Note Murphy not cast in Jane Eyre.
Look forward to the Lane/Cornejo Manon.
Quite a debut season for Aran Bell, who makes debuts in Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty.
Posted by: Rachel Perez | October 25, 2018 at 04:16 PM
re. ABT Met season: I’m most excited about the new Ratmansky/Glazunov The Seasons, with designs by Perdziola, who was responsible for the luxurious Tsarist splendor of Harlequinade last year. No Stepanov notations exist for Petipa’s Seasons, so Ratmansky will have to reimagine...which he has done so well in the past (as he did at the Bolshoi to fill-in parts of Corsaire that had not been notated). If I can only attend one show at the Met next year, this will be it!
Posted by: Jeannette | October 26, 2018 at 09:02 AM
Yes, it will be interesting to see. Unfortunately, the score seems ripe for a lot of Ratmansky's cliches. One can almost already see the busy running around, sudden collapses, dancers collected together in a bunch while waving at the audience. I hope that Ratmansky tries very, very hard to come up with something original that is also classical without any infantile gibberish. As you say, the designs are indeed something to get excited about.
Posted by: Haglund | October 26, 2018 at 09:13 AM
Leafing through the Met's calendar online, I noticed that Olga Smirnova was cast in Manon (June 17 & 20 as L's mistress) and Le Corsaire (June 12 & 15 as Guinare). I hadn't read anything about this in any of the press releases so I went to the ABT site and there was no listing for her on those dates. I appreciate that we've been seeing more opportunities for the homegrown principals lately (unfortunately the wrong ones, more often than not) but I would have liked to have seen Olga without the 13 hour flight to Moscow...
Posted by: Leo from LA | November 01, 2018 at 02:23 PM
Oh, my. I hope that's a mistake because it appears that she could wipe out a number of Stella's dwindling performances. I'm going to post this up top and see if some kind of announcement or change is made.
Posted by: Haglund | November 01, 2018 at 02:34 PM
I loved Yoko. She taught a little bit while she was leaving ABT, she was a wonderful teacher. Learned more from her in an hour than most teachers in a year! I wondered what happened to her! Thanks for mentioning her.
Posted by: Whitney Speer | November 01, 2018 at 05:11 PM