American Theatre Ballet (ABT) presented Shostakovich
Trilogy, by Alexei
Ratmansky. It consists of three one act ballets to the
music of Dmitri
Shostakovich. Symphony
#9 received
its world premiere by ABT on October 12, 2013. Chamber
Symphony and Piano
Concerto #1 received
their premieres on May 30, 2013. The ballets are modern,
fast moving, and feature the cream of the ABT dancers. Polina
Seminova, Marcelo Gomes and
especially Hernan
Cornejo sparkled
in the first ballet. David
Hallberg was
superb in the the slower moving second as an angst ridden,
sad soul, and Natalia
Osipova and Ivan
Vasiliev delighted
their fans with their speed and incredible movements.
The New York City Ballet presented four ballets, three with
music by Tschaikovsky,
and two with choreography by Balanchine and
two by Robbins. Serenade was
the first ballet Balanchine created in America in 1935, and
it remains a glorious ballet. His Tschaikovsky
Suite No. 3 came
thirty five years later and his creativity flourished. The
fourth movement Tema
con Variazioni is
a tribute to classical ballet, and is the highlight of a
magnificent ballet. The
Cage and Andantino are
Robbins' marvelous contributions to the company. All the
ballets were brilliantly performed, with Tyler
Peck and Joaquin
de Luz closing
the evening on a high note.
The 69th Annual Theatre World Awards Ceremony took
place at The Music Box Theatre, followed by an afterparty at
Bowlmor Lanes. It is always a delightful event and the
actors honored well deserved the recognition. Among them,
were Tom
Hanks, Rob McClure and Valisia
LeKae, and Alan
Aldareceived the John
Willis Award for Lifetime Achievement and Jonny
Orsini the 5th
Annual Dorothy Loudon Award. Among the presenters and
performers were Nathan
Lane, Ben Vereen, John
Tartaglia and Lea
Salonga. Peter
Filichia was
the very funny, clever host.
We had a Meet & Greet for the New York Stage and Film's 2013
Powerhouse Season at Vassar College. Among the stars present
were Annabella
Sciorra, Linda Lavin, Scott Elliott, Michael Wilson, Michael
Mayer, Thomas Kail and Lin-Manuel
Miranda.
The League of Professional Theatre Women June Awards
Luncheon was
held at Sardi's. It is always a festive affair with four
outstanding women, Peggy
Eisenhauer, Judith Malina, Mia Katigbak andAshley
Marinaccio, being honored.
I returned to Sardi's twice that day. The second time was
for a reception for Cyndi
Lauper, who received her well deserved caricature.
MoMA presented A
Damsel in Distress, by George
Stevens, USA, 1937, a film which has dancing and singing
by the immortal Fred
Astaire, witty banter by George
Burns and Gracie
Allen, and the glorious music of George
Gershwin. Unfortunately, the ridiculous story of an
American dancer falling in love with an English daughter of
a nobleman, taking place in their castle, is truly boring.
The dance routines, however, by the three stars are a joy
to behold.
Ballet in Cinema from Emerging Pictures presented Romeo
& Juliet, music by Sergei
Prokofiev, choreography by Yuri
Grigorovich, from the Bolshoi Ballet from a live
performance on May 12, 2013. This slimmed down version
eliminates certain characters and scenes, and focuses on the
lovers. Anna
Nikulina (Juliet)
is sublime, and her dancing was brilliant. This was a
magnificent performance, one to remember. Alexander
Volchkov was
a perfect Romeo, and their duets were the highlight of a
superb production. The rest of the cast. especially Mikhail
Lobukhin (Tybalt)
and Andrei
Bolotin (Mercutio),
and the Corps de Ballet were splendid. The orchestra played
the score marvelously, under the baton of Andrei
Anikhanov.