Here's a NY Times notice of the May 21 "Live from Lincoln Center. New York City Ballet returns to national public tv with Peter Martins' production of Romeo and Juliet:


Everyone loves Romeo and Juliet, right? Or at least knows the plot.

Any thoughts about the the choice of this for one of the rare ballet performances on public television? About possible (or fantasy) casting? About choices for the program's "host"? About what you expect to be the highlights for viewers? Or, any suggestions for revision you might make before the cameras start rolling?

I just got my NYCB spring season brochure and was STUNNED to see that "Romeo + Juliet" had been scheduled on the exact same days as the Mark Morris Dance Group's new "Romeo and Juliet, On Motifs of Shakespeare" also playing at Lincoln Center. I have had my tickets for MMDG's shows (2 nights in fact, to see both casts) for months and can't understand how NYCB thinks this could be good for either organization. MMDG aside, their show is being produced by Great Performers at Lincoln Center, how did the umbrella of Lincoln Center or the NYCB board allow this happen? It's just crazy to me... so I thought I would ask BalletTalk and see if anyone had any ideas on how this could be good. Perhaps they were forced to choose those dates because of the PBS broadcast but it just seems way too coincidental to assume it was accidental.

Would anyone here actually see both productions? If anything, it sounds like a logistical nightmare for all those folks that have purchased to one and accidentally go to the wrong theater.

All the negative reviews of Martins' R&J have made me long to see it, so I welcome the opportunity, especially considering that I won't have to pay for the, uh, privilege.

Can’t be worse than the San Francisco Ballet “Othello,” and as a west coaster I am eager to see the young folks at NYCB – you generally don’t see younger dances in big roles for televised performances. Looking forward to it.

Welcome to Ballet Talk, Josie -- and what a good question! Scheduling problems happen all the time. I know in D.C., we'll have ABT, say, playing in the Opera House and a modern dance troupe in the Terrace Theater (both theaters in the Kennedy Center), or there are only two ballet companies in a summer, and they both open the same night -- one at Wolf Trap and one at the Kennedy Center. Often the schedules are so complicated that it can't be helped.

In this instance, at least, people who want to see both can go to the Morris and tape the NYCB version.

Do we enjoy telepathy? Come to think about it, I've seen many Martins works live, and never cared for but one--this was the one he did for Patty McBride and Ib Anderson, I think it's Valse Triste with Sibelius music (correct me if I'm wrong). May have had more to do with those two sublime dancers, both so lovely. I dread Romeo Plus Juliet, but wouldn't miss it for the world.

Having seen the R&J in the house (with Hyltin, I believe) I think this is a ballet that ironically might work better on TV. In the theater the ugly set-piece decor, and the sparsely populated "crowd scenes" were a real distraction. It didn't look like my vision of Romeo and Juliet. But on TV these things would probably be less obvious.

Sounds like Capulet versus Montague VERSUS Capulet versus Montagu. Almost as complicated as Renaissance Verona must have been.

This matter of scheduling is, as Alexandra says, interesing and important. Thanks, Josie, for bringing it up.

Will New York fans be going to both? Non-New Yorkers, WOULD you go to both if it were possible?

If I were there I certainly would want to see both and compare -- though possibly combining one Peter Martins with a couple of Mark Morris.

I once saw 2 quite different Macbeths (the play, not a ballet) on the same weekend. Each was excellent in its own way, though the approaches could not have been more different. One was quite traditional (a la Martins) and the other quite experimental (way more than Morris has ever been).

By the way, I think I agree with canbelto that Martins' R&J -- which I haven't seen -- might work well on tv. The current fashion in television direction seems to be lots of closeups. With young, attractive dancers, it's hard not to captivate the eye. Problems with crowd scenes, group dances, scenery, etc., can be edited -- magically -- away.

Not if you have HD TV. Then the scenery and awful costumes will be upfront and personal.

Oh yes it can! I've seen both Martins' R&J and Othello. IN my opinion, Othello was more interesting than the NYCB version of R&J. Of course, that's not saying much. Neither is very good. I had the good fortune of seeing Othello w. Alessandra Ferri and Marcelo Gomes in the lead roles, and I'm sure they made the material look much better than it actually is because of their artistry. In lesser hands, Othello could have been a disaster.

I think the costumes and scenery will look even more hideous on TV than in person. For the sake of J. DeLuz, I hope the poor guy doesn't get stuck wearing that ghastly canary yellow costume on national television.

Sorry, I really think the stage dressing is a dismal secondary issue. Far more obvious is the undistinguished choreography,
and possibly even more pressing in a story piece, the muddled dramatic development.

Richard53dog, it sounds to me that you consider this a "triple threat" in the literal sense. Surely the producers at PBS found something worth devoting 2 hours to on national tv. Or what?

[N.b., Edited to add boldface.]

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Regarding the "additional material" for thsi telecast. For NYCB's Swan Lake, there was a pointless pre-performance panel discussion involving Darci Kistler, who said very little and then didn't even dance the performance -- Damian Woetzel, who was allowed to say almost nothing, even though he's very smart and quite articulate -- and Peter Martins, who went on and on in monotone. (The man could shout "Fire! Fire!" in a crowded theater and still would put several of us to sleep.)

The Met HD-Live interviews are, almost without exception, fascinating. I've been impressed by how articulate are the singers they choose to interview. For R&J, if they can't make it interesting and informative, perhaps they should just show rehearsal footage with a voiceover written and narrated by someone outside the company.

Any suggestions for what kind of "additional material" you would like to see for this telecast?

Oh dear, I think I may have been convinced, unlike Hans, that this is not worth watching even for free. It sounds veritably lugubious from some of the reports.

[
Regarding the "additional material" for thsi telecast. For NYCB's Swan Lake, there was a pointless pre-performance panel discussion involving Darci Kistler, who said very little and then didn't even dance the performance --

Darci was scheduled to dance in the performance of Swan Lake that was to air on PBS. However, at the last minute Martins pulled her out and replaced her with Weese who, at the time, was in top form.

What they just might show are some of the clips that were distributed free on DVD and are now on You Tube -- like this one.

YIKES, they surely don't read BT and if they do they don't value what's written here. Having seen it after the hype my sense was that they needed to go back to the drawing board. YUCK to the sets and costumes. But the marketing hype worked.

Mr. Martins, is this really where you are going to take the company. Mr. B are you watching from up there in heaven?