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This show was excellent!
First of all, we packed Swedish fish. Both of us packed some, just in case. So we had a lot of Swedish fish to snack on. That was an issue at the last ballet.
Secondly, our seats at the Academy of Music are not as good as at the Merriam Theater. At the Academy, we sit in the back row of the first balcony, and we can see the stage okay, but the row is very poorly lit when the house lights are up and so we cannot read our programs. Next time I will have to bring a flashlight. Also, the Academy provides much more leg room than the Merriam does.
On to Dracula:
Act 1: The Crypt of Dracula's Castle
In this act, Dracula and his gazillion brides awaken and dance. Dracula was very well done--the dancer (Zachary Hench) was both seductive and creepy. The brides were all dancing around him in filmy gowns that looked like they'd been wedding dresses 50 years ago and since had been rotting in tombs, which set a nice tone. Some of the brides flew. Dracula's costume was terrific--he had a cape that was apparently 30 pounds and 23 feet long. He whipped it around so he looked like a bat, and he even flew a few times also. Renfield was also in this act. He was incredibly terrific--really played the crazy henchman well. At the end of the act, Renfield brings Dracula a young village girl named Flora to satisfy his unholy lust. Renfield arrives on stage at this point in a carriage drawn by two "horses", dancers dressed as horses, who were amazingly horse-like. The brides keep Flora from escaping, and Dracula seduces her and bites her. Awesome.
Act 2: The Village
This act depicts the pleasant mountain village where the lovely Svetlana lives. She's the daughter of an innkeeper who carries a big stick. She falls in love with an obviously gay young fellow named Fredrick who wears purple tights. Mom and I felt bad for Svetlana that her boyfriend is gay, but she didn't seem to notice. Svetlana dances to demonstrate her beauty, Fredrick dances to show how handsome and gay he is, they have a courting dance, the innkeeper dances to show how innkeeperly he is, there's a dance where every male character wavse around a big stick (seriously! Mom and I were cracking up), there's a dance where Fred asks the innkeeper for Svetlana's hand, and dances where they celebrate their impending marriage, both solo and pas de deux. Really, this act was damn tedious. The dancing was nice, but Mom and I both kept waiting for someone to come along and bite her.
At the end of the act, Flora shows up, recently vamped, except that the villagers only know she's acting weird. Then Renfield and Dracular arrive and kidnap Svetlana. Yes! Finally! Bite her! And we got to see the awesome horse-impersonating (imhorsonating?) dancers again!
The other hilarious thing about this act was that, when Svetlana and Gay where joyfully dancing their love dance, Mom leans over and whispers, "Is that what you and Fritz do when you're together? When you pick him up from the airport, you'll do this dance!!" Now I'm imagining how, when I get to the airport, I'll dance in anticipation of seeing him, and how when he comes down the hall he'll start to dance when he catches sight of me and then will run forward to pick me up in a graceful loving lift. HA!
Act 3: The Bedroom of Count Dracula
The sets in this scene were really cool. Dracula has a big old canopy bed, which is a shame since he sleeps in a crypt. Anyway, in this final act, we see Dracula mesmorizing Svetlana. She is under his thrall and is about to succumb to the biting when Gay, Innkeeper Dad, and the Priest burst into the room! What a bunch of cock-blockers, seriously. There's a big battle that ends up looking really neat, as the brides are all over the stage, and some random villagers, and the key players all fighting, and Svetlana not sure what to do and all thralled out and following pretty much whoever grabs her. The villagers win, of course, and Dracula tries to hide in the chandelier (!) but the light of the sun does him in with a really neat explosion. The final scene has Renfield appearing from a hiding spot on top of the canopy bed and dancing in crazy despair that his master is dead.
Overall: what a fun ballet to watch! Mom and I really enjoyed this. We also ate too many Swedish fish.
First of all, we packed Swedish fish. Both of us packed some, just in case. So we had a lot of Swedish fish to snack on. That was an issue at the last ballet.
Secondly, our seats at the Academy of Music are not as good as at the Merriam Theater. At the Academy, we sit in the back row of the first balcony, and we can see the stage okay, but the row is very poorly lit when the house lights are up and so we cannot read our programs. Next time I will have to bring a flashlight. Also, the Academy provides much more leg room than the Merriam does.
On to Dracula:
Act 1: The Crypt of Dracula's Castle
In this act, Dracula and his gazillion brides awaken and dance. Dracula was very well done--the dancer (Zachary Hench) was both seductive and creepy. The brides were all dancing around him in filmy gowns that looked like they'd been wedding dresses 50 years ago and since had been rotting in tombs, which set a nice tone. Some of the brides flew. Dracula's costume was terrific--he had a cape that was apparently 30 pounds and 23 feet long. He whipped it around so he looked like a bat, and he even flew a few times also. Renfield was also in this act. He was incredibly terrific--really played the crazy henchman well. At the end of the act, Renfield brings Dracula a young village girl named Flora to satisfy his unholy lust. Renfield arrives on stage at this point in a carriage drawn by two "horses", dancers dressed as horses, who were amazingly horse-like. The brides keep Flora from escaping, and Dracula seduces her and bites her. Awesome.
Act 2: The Village
This act depicts the pleasant mountain village where the lovely Svetlana lives. She's the daughter of an innkeeper who carries a big stick. She falls in love with an obviously gay young fellow named Fredrick who wears purple tights. Mom and I felt bad for Svetlana that her boyfriend is gay, but she didn't seem to notice. Svetlana dances to demonstrate her beauty, Fredrick dances to show how handsome and gay he is, they have a courting dance, the innkeeper dances to show how innkeeperly he is, there's a dance where every male character wavse around a big stick (seriously! Mom and I were cracking up), there's a dance where Fred asks the innkeeper for Svetlana's hand, and dances where they celebrate their impending marriage, both solo and pas de deux. Really, this act was damn tedious. The dancing was nice, but Mom and I both kept waiting for someone to come along and bite her.
At the end of the act, Flora shows up, recently vamped, except that the villagers only know she's acting weird. Then Renfield and Dracular arrive and kidnap Svetlana. Yes! Finally! Bite her! And we got to see the awesome horse-impersonating (imhorsonating?) dancers again!
The other hilarious thing about this act was that, when Svetlana and Gay where joyfully dancing their love dance, Mom leans over and whispers, "Is that what you and Fritz do when you're together? When you pick him up from the airport, you'll do this dance!!" Now I'm imagining how, when I get to the airport, I'll dance in anticipation of seeing him, and how when he comes down the hall he'll start to dance when he catches sight of me and then will run forward to pick me up in a graceful loving lift. HA!
Act 3: The Bedroom of Count Dracula
The sets in this scene were really cool. Dracula has a big old canopy bed, which is a shame since he sleeps in a crypt. Anyway, in this final act, we see Dracula mesmorizing Svetlana. She is under his thrall and is about to succumb to the biting when Gay, Innkeeper Dad, and the Priest burst into the room! What a bunch of cock-blockers, seriously. There's a big battle that ends up looking really neat, as the brides are all over the stage, and some random villagers, and the key players all fighting, and Svetlana not sure what to do and all thralled out and following pretty much whoever grabs her. The villagers win, of course, and Dracula tries to hide in the chandelier (!) but the light of the sun does him in with a really neat explosion. The final scene has Renfield appearing from a hiding spot on top of the canopy bed and dancing in crazy despair that his master is dead.
Overall: what a fun ballet to watch! Mom and I really enjoyed this. We also ate too many Swedish fish.
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Date: 2007-11-01 02:07 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2007-11-01 03:46 pm (UTC)From: