Young and Old
"Romeo and Juliet"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
July 9, 2009
ABT celebrated Frederic Franklin's 95th birthday by giving the audience another chance to see this consummate artist mime the Friar in Kenneth MacMillan's popular "Romeo and Juliet". His entrance was greeted with warm and sustained applause, which he managed to acknowledge while keeping in character. He made his every gesture a powerful plea for peace, and his appearance was a highlight of the second act, which can make the ballet seem as if it should be called "Romeo, ou les Harlots".
The young lovers were Cory Stearns and Hee Seo, making their New York debuts. Both are very young (Stearns is a soloist and Seo in the corps) and very talented dancers. Youth certainly helps to generate sympathy in the often overwrought and under-choreographed work, and there were many touching moments, especially in the final scene, when the lifeless Juliet is hauled around. But young performers tend to dance the work, and since much of the choreography is of the "do a step and repeat three times" variety more experienced scenery chewers can act their way out of the many dead spots.
Stearns is a natural prince, with an elegant line, and is a generous partner, but his stage persona as of now has a charming diffidence, not the romantic swagger that Romeo needs. Some dramatic high points, such as Romeo's reaction to Mercutio's death, were a little underplayed, though once he was forced to pick up the sword and attack Tybalt (the elegant and menacing Gennadi Saveliev) he moved with authority. Seo is a light, fluid dancer has beautiful feet, which she used particularly expressively in the backward bourrees when forced to deal with Paris. But she, too, has a slightly diffident stage presence, and in the sitting on the bed scene, she just kept those beautiful feet pointed correctly and listened to the music. More experienced dancers can make that scene absolutely shattering, as Juliet grows up before our eyes and seizes control of her destiny.
Craig Salstein was a fine Mercutio, though the current practice of having him perform the Mandolin dance does reduce Shakespeare's bitter cynic to a charming poppet. (It is odd for ABT to double up a male role, when it has so many extraordinary men in the company.) His death scene, when he says farewell to his past joys and curses both houses was a powerful piece of acting. Daniil Simkin was an outstanding Benvolio; he has springs for legs and gold for arms, and is a natural and vivid actor, making Benvolio, who can sometimes fade into the background, a third musketeer. The corps stomped with authority and those harlots twirlled endlessly but the crowd scenes, with their skips and stomps forwards and backwards until the music eventually runs out, show MacMillan as his most inept. But any longueurs are the fault, not of the stars, but of the dances.
copyright © 2009 by Mary Cargill
