50 Favourite Musicals: 10: A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC (1973) (Stephen Sondheim)

The 50 shows that have stood out down the years and, as we get up among the paint cards, the shows that have become the cast recording of my life:

First performed: 1973, Shubert Theatre, NY

First seen by me: 1989, Piccadilly Theatre, London

Productions seen: five
  
Score: Stephen Sondheim

Book: Hugh Wheeler

Plot: In 1900 Sweden, actress Desiree and lawyer Fredrik are two former lovers who rekindle their feelings for each other when she visits his town on a theatrical tour; however they are now paired with Anne, Fredrik's teenage bride, and Desiree's jealous lover Count Carl-Magnus.  Matters come to a head during a weekend party at Desiree's haughty mother Madame Armfeldt...

Five memorable numbers: SEND IN THE CLOWNS, THE MILLER'S SON, A WEEKEND IN THE COUNTRY, EVERY DAY A LITTLE DEATH, THE GLAMOROUS LIFE

Well, here are... the Top 10 Musicals; these are the ones whose scores mean the most to me.  We start with yet another Sondheim for a very good reason... he is my favourite musical composer.

After COMPANY and FOLLIES had shaken up the Broadway musical in the early 1970s with explorations into what could be done with the form, composer Stephen Sondheim and producer/director Hal Prince were in no mood to stop. They revisited an idea they had in 1964 when they wanted to create a modern take on an operetta-style romantic musical and decided to do an adaptation of Jean Anouilh's RING AROUND THE MOON but Anouilh said no - and said no again after they told him they had writer Hugh Wheeler on board!  Sondheim suggested two films that had a similar theme: Jean Renoir's THE RULES OF THE GAME and Ingmar Bergman's SMILES ON A SUMMER NIGHT as both feature a weekend country house party with romantic intrigues and jealousies enveloping both guests and servants.  Sondheim decided the Bergman had a subtlety that lent itself more to becoming a musical - and luckily Bergman agreed to the adaptation, his only stipulation being it be given a new title.  Hal Prince once described NIGHT MUSIC as "whipped cream with knives" but Sondheim is of the opinion that Prince was more interested in the former, he the latter.  Indeed what makes it such an interesting show is that all the characters are dissatisfied with something or unhappy at an other - they may be in love but it causes as much pain as pleasure - and Hugh Wheeler's witty book runs deceptively deep, something Sondheim has only grown to appreciate in the fullness of time and over many revivals.  Sondheim later asked Ingmar Bergman if he ever saw the show and was surprised when Bergman said he had and enjoyed it, brushing aside Sondheim's apologies about changing certain characters by saying "We are both eating from the same cake".  Oh and the cherry on that cake?  Soon after it opened, Jean Anouilh's 'people' contacted Hal Prince to say that the rights for RING AROUND THE MOON were now available - too late Jean!

Sondheim went into rehearsals with most of the score written but added - and subtracted - more along the way.  The rousing Act 1 closer A WEEKEND IN THE COUNTRY was written during the rehearsal period when Hal Prince felt all the story lines had to come together to send the audience out on a high; this also gave Sondheim the opportunity to write the song tailoring it to the cast's specific voices, and speaking of which... Sondheim and Prince has assumed they would cast a comedy actress for the lead role of Desiree who probably wouldn't be able to sing too well, and eventually decided on Glynis Johns who, they discovered, was able to sing in a breathy, delicate style.  Sondheim had given Desiree two duets in Act I and nothing in Act II but it was decided Glynis Johns had the musicality to be given a solo in the second act.  Hal Prince re-directed the scene to focus it on her while Sondheim turned up after two days with SEND IN THE CLOWNS.  Knowing her range meant she could not sustain long notes, he devised the song to comprise of short questions "Isn't it rich? Are we a pair?" that would fit on her voice perfectly.... the rest is history!  The show ran on Broadway for 18 months, was nominated for 12 Tony Awards and won 6 including Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book and Best Actress for Glynis Johns.  The London premiere was in 1975 with the dazzling cast of Jean Simmons, Joss Ackland, Hermione Gingold, David Kernan, Maria Aitkin and Diane Langton; the London cast recording remains my favourite with several definitive renditions especially Diane Langton as Petra, the practical maid, tearing the roof off with THE MILLER'S SON.

I first saw NIGHT MUSIC through Hal Prince's misguided film version starring a miscast Elizabeth Taylor; Sondheim had advised against it but Prince wanted to prove he was as good a film director as he was on stage - he wasn't.  I first saw it on stage in 1989 when Ian Judge's Chichester production transferred to the Piccadilly with Dorothy Tutin's unforgettable Desiree, Susan Hampshire's excellent Countess Charlotte and Sara Weymouth again mining gold with THE MILLER'S SON.  I saw Judi Dench's magnificent Desiree at the Olivier Theatre in 1995 which won her an Olivier Award in an otherwise over-directed production by Sean Mathias.  The Menier production in 2008 was a delightful chamber version, let down by Trevor Nunn's rather languorous pacing, not helped by his inclusion of the previously cut song SILLY PEOPLE but with winning lead performances from Hannah Waddington and Alexander Hanson.  Hanson transferred with the production to Broadway where I finally saw Angela Lansbury onstage as Madame Armfeldt; Catherine Zeta-Jones was an oddly lascivious Desiree but she reined in the Swansea barmaid interpretation to deliver a heartfelt SEND IN THE CLOWNS.  In 2015 we saw a concert version at the Palace Theatre with Janie Dee as Desiree, Joanna Riding as Charlotte, Jamie Parker as Carl-Magnus, Laura Pitt-Pulford as Petra (delivering yet another fiery THE MILLER'S SON) and Anne Reid as Madame Armfeldt.  It's a show I would happily see again but sadly the one that got away was a fundraising concert version in January 2009 for the Roundabout Theatre Company in New York with Natasha Richardson as Desiree, Victor Garber as Fredrik, Christine Baranski as Charlotte and Vanessa Redgrave as Madame Armfeldt; two months later Richardson was injured in a skiing accident and later died.

So which SEND IN THE CLOWNS will it be?  Despite memorable versions by Glynis Johns, Bernadette Peters, Barbara Cook and Angela Lansbury, for me it's Judi Dench in the 1995 NT production, seen here over the end credits of a South Bank Show profile.  It's not a good transfer but Dench delivers a nigh-on definitive rendition where every word comes straight from Desiree's broken heart...

MANON at Covent Garden - High drama, emotion and tears - and a ballet too

It had been an evening I was looking forward to for several reasons: first to see again Kenneth MacMillan's dark and dangerous MANON which we first saw last year, and secondly we were finally to see the wonderful Steven McRae dancing the male lead of des Grieux as he was returning from injury.

Abbé Prévost published his novel of Manon Lescault in 1731 only to have the print run banned because of it's sexual subject but pirated copies made it hugely popular.  In the 20th Century it inspired seven silent and sound films, four operas, a Japanese musical and two ballets!  Kenneth MacMillan choreographed his for the Royal Ballet in 1974, the critics disliked it but the audiences loved it and here we are 45 years later and it is still in the repertoire.

MacMillan wanted his new creation to show off not only the Royal Ballet principals but to also showcase the ensemble, and MANON certainly does that.  It also gave him another chance to explore the presentation of dangerous, corrupted love through dance.  The score was commissioned by MacMillan from composer / conductor Leighton Lucas, compiled from works by Jules Massenet and it is a remarkable achievement as it does sound like a unified piece.

Young Manon, on her way to a convent, arrives at a Parisian tavern to meet her brother Lescault.  He notices a passenger watching her so Lescault escorts him inside to arrange a meeting.  Outside, Manon meets student des Grieux and it's love at first sight.  They flee but another rich man, Monsieur GM, approaches Lescault and offers him a reward for Manon.  They track the lovers to their lodgings and Manon chooses Monsieur's diamonds over des Grieux's love.  The four meet again at a debauched party and Manon lets des Grieux know she still loves him. Monsieur discovers des Grieux cheating him at cards and again the lovers flee but Monsieur appears with police to arrest Manon as a prostitute and he shoots Lescault in anger.  Deported to New Orleans as a prostitute, a lecherous gaoler attempts to rape Manon, but des Grieux, who has followed her to America, kills him and again they flee... but in the swamps of Louisiana their love reaches it's tragic climax.

Partnered with Akane Takada's well-danced but colourless Manon, Steven McRae provided his brand of vivid, charismatic dancing as des Grieux and it was a joy to see him back onstage after an injury-strewn year and a half.  He partially tore his Achilles tendon at the start of 2018 which nearly ended his dance career and at the start of this year he injured his knee on the set of the upcoming film of CATS.  All in all, we missed four productions he was due to appear in so seeing him back on the Covent Garden stage for the first time in nearly a year was a joy.

The lights came up for the last scene of the Second Act; Des Grieux has rescued the wayward Manon from the corrupt clutches of Monsieur but is unaware that his rival is closing in.  Alone on stage, McRae executed two small gazelle leaps and two relatively small pirouettes then stretched up... froze for a second or two... then limped into the wings with his right leg raised.  After a moment or two a stage manager came on and asked us for a moment while they sorted out a problem.  The curtains were quickly brought in but not before we, his shocked audience, could hear Steven's heartbreaking wails from backstage.

Kevin O'Hare, the Director of The Royal Ballet, appeared to tell us what we all suspected, that Steven had sustained an injury and would not be able to complete the performance.  Reece Clarke who had just appeared as a guest in the party scene was able to play des Grieux for the final scene of Act II and all of Act III.

The show continued and Clarke has to be applauded for stepping in at such short notice and be able to focus on his own performance knowing that everyone's minds were obviously elsewhere. Congratulations too for Akane Takada who had only 30 minutes to recalibrate her performance to partner the taller Clarke who has a different style of McRae - needless to say both received a big ovation at the curtain.

Any difficulty in emotionally engaging with MANON's relentlessly shallow characters is enveloped in the glorious sweep of MacMillan's vision, recreated here by Julie Lincoln.  Manon's world is still wonderfully realized by the late Nicholas Georgiades' designs; the design suggests that behind the opulent world that Manon aspires to is desperate poverty and danger where people can be discarded if they overstep their class or usefulness.

The supporting characters were all performed by the same dancers from last year and were still excellent: James Hay as Lescault was well-partnered in his drunken pas de deux by Yuhui Choe as his mistress, Thomas Whitehead was very hissable as Monsieur and Kristen McNally gave the procuress a suitably decadent panache.  I am really glad I saw MacMillan's masterpiece again but I wish it had been under happier conditions.

Steven McRae's injury was diagnosed as a full Achilles tendon rupture and he will have surgery in the week starting 28th October.  He is the king of positivity but at 33 he must have worries about his future.  Hopefully the operation and recovery will be successful and we can see this magical dancer for a few years more.  Steven posted the pictures of him and Akane Takada rehearsing the famous pas-de-deux from Act III which he did not get to perform on the night which is a shame as it looks amazing.

All best wishes Steven!

COME FROM AWAY at the Phoenix - Good For The Gander

On September 11th 2001 as the world watched in shock as four doomed hijacked planes became missiles, other planes were already in mid-flight with nowhere to land as all US airspace was cleared.  38 civilian flights and 4 military flights were re-routed to the Canadian town of Gander on the island of Newfoundland, it's airport having become an emergency landing location.  6,600 people - passengers and crew - suddenly appeared from nowhere and the town-people came together to provide them with food and shelter for the 6 days it took to get their flights started again.

One of the few optimistic tales to emerge from September 11th, this Samaritan tale writ large is the basis of the Award-winning musical COME FROM AWAY which I finally got round to seeing a week or so ago.

The musical, unsurprisingly, originated in Canada in 2013 and slowly made it's way to Broadway in 2017 where it's unexpected down-home quality made it a surprise hit and it is still running.  It was nominated for 7 Tony Awards but lost out to the DEAR EVAN HANSEN juggernaut, winning only the Best Director award for Christopher Ashley.

It opened in January of 2019 at the Phoenix Theatre and was nominated for 9 Olivier Awards, winning 4 including Best New Musical.  It seems to have found it's audience here too and we were lucky to see it with the original cast still intact, which was good as I think it was their committed ensemble playing which made the show enjoyable.

To be honest, I found the musical took a bit of time to get going; it's the second show from Canadian husband and wife team David Hein and Irene Sankoff who also wrote the book, based on research they did while visiting Gander for the 10-year reunion of passengers and townsfolk.  Their characters are based on real people both on the ground and in the air and a cast of 12 play all parts.  We are first introduced to the townsfolk - Claude the amiable mayor who is trying to sort out an industrial dispute with city bus drivers, the local cop, the local school teacher, the rookie local tv reporter etc. who all seem to turn up at the local bar to chew the fat.

But soon they learn of the events sweeping the US and quickly become the bewildered passengers aboard an American Airlines plane being flown by Pilot Beverley Bass which is diverted to Gander for an emergency landing.  Aboard we have a cross-section of travellers like a routine AIRPORT disaster film: the worried mother of a NY fireman, a young gay couple both called Kevin, a middle-aged English man and a gregarious Texan woman who are finding a burgeoning friendship etc.  Soon they are being assimilated with the welcoming townsfolk who have to miraculously supply all their needs as their luggage is embargoed on the silent planes.

And that's about it... everyone makes space for each other and help is given freely and accepted gladly.  One suspects that in real life there was surely more strain during the 6 days the unexpected guests disrupted the lives of the people of Gander but we are presented with links of acts of human kindness that slowly begin to work their charm.

Sadly the music - while perfectly fine in the theatre - has left not even the faintest echo in my mind but it is all based around a Celtic folky stompy, handclappy vibe which provides for a few galvanizing ensemble numbers.  The one big solo number is given to the pilot Beverley Bass as she sings of her childhood dream to fly planes and in it's chorus it reminded me of 'Defying Gravity' from WICKED - or was that because it was sung by ex-Elphiba Rachel Tucker?

Rachel Tucker has come a long way from being a runner-up on the BBC OLIVER! talent show "I'll Do Anything!" - as has fellow-contestant Jessie Buckley - and she gave a warm and commanding performance as the pilot whose faith in the open skies is suddenly challenged.  As I have said it was the calibre of performances that won me over and apart from Tucker there was fine work from David Thaxton and Jonathan Andrew Hume as the gay couple growing apart by being confined together. and Robert Hands and Helen Hobson as the English businessman Nick and Texan Diane slowly falling in love but knowing that life will split them up when the plane gets the OK to fly.

Clive Carter was fun as the easygoing mayor of Gander and I liked Cat Simmons as the worried mother of a NY firefighter, and a special mention to Nathanael Campbell as Bob, a young black man who thrives in the tolerant community he finds in Gander.  But as I said, they all get an opportunity to shine and work well as an ensemble - the onstage band were splendid too.

At 100 minutes with no interval, it packs a lot in and I can't say I ever felt the pace drop so I would recommend it - as Sam Goldwyn allegedly said "It has charmth and warmth" - it's just a shame the score is not stronger.

Dvd/150: LADYKILLERS (Philip Draycott / Valerie Hanson / Nicholas Ferguson / Joan Kemp-Welch, 1980, tv)

A Granada series of seven dramatisations of trials of women killers from 1857 to 1955, each introduced by Robert Morley.

Trial records are used for the court scenes but supposition is used elsewhere.  Two are dull but others shine.

Elaine Paige is wonderful as vindictive Irish maid Kate Webster, particularly her last-night confession, when she relishes every gory detail with her horrified priest (Michael Kitchen).

Joanna David is also effective as hysterical Mary Pearcy, murderer of the wife and child of her lover (Paul Nicholas).

Joan Sims is an addled delight as Victorian baby-farmer/murderer Amelia Dyer while Rita Tushingham is touchingly pathetic as alledged husband-killer Charlotte Bryant

Overshadowing them all is Georgina Hale who is breathtaking as Ruth Ellis.  Maintaining her facade and clipped fake Mayfair accent until almost the end, she is magnificently brittle, kittenish, icy, and haughty allowing moments of pain to seep through.

Shelf or charity shop?  Shelf for the concise storytelling, excellent supporting performances - watch out for Doreen Mantle, Deborah Norton, Linda Polan, Leslie French, Belinda Sinclair and June Barry - but above all for Georgina Hale.

50 Favourite Musicals: 11: MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG (1981) (Stephen Sondheim)

The 50 shows that have stood out down the years and, as we get up among the paint cards, the shows that have become the cast recording of my life:

First performed: 1981, Alvin Theatre, NY

First seen by me: 1983, Bloomsbury Theatre, London

Productions seen: four
  
Score: Stephen Sondheim

Book: George Furth

Plot: Franklin Shepard is a successful composer and film producer but as he looks back over his 20 year career he can see how step-by-step his aspirations were lost along with his two best friends Charley Kingkas and Mary Flynn.

Five memorable numbers: MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG, OUR TIME. NOT A DAY GOES BY, GOOD THING GOING, OUR TIME

One show had to just lose out on the top 10 - how ironic it had to be MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG.  After their previous show SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FEET STREET won eight Tony Awards and nine Drama Desk Awards, the partnership of composer Stephen Sondheim and producer / director Hal Prince were expected to come up with another smash hit.  But it was not to be... MERRILY lasted a mere 44 performances after a troubled rehearsal period where the original leading man and choreographer where replaced and audiences walked out, confused by the back-to-front plotline.  Prince's concept of a cast of teenage performers, all in sweatshirts and jeans, backfired and the resultant failure had a lasting effect on it's devastated young cast as well as Sondheim and Prince who would not work together again on a new work for 22 years.  The odd thing is that the seemingly revolutionary plot-twist of having the story told backwards originated in 1934 in a play of the same name by George S Kaufman and Moss Hart, which had also closed losing money - albeit with more performances.  It was neglected at Awards time too, MERRILY received a single Tony nomination for Best Musical Score - which lost to Maury Yeston's NINE.  The palpable sadness of that original production has remained, especially as that cast's recording of the score has kept the show alive down the years - remarkable considering they recorded it the day after they closed.  Since then MERRILY has gone on to be reclaimed as one of Sondheim's most remarkable scores - particularly as the usual criticism thrown at him that he is too cerebral to be emotional is made ridiculous by songs such as NOT A DAY GOES BY and GOOD THING GOING which are tear-triggers of the highest magnitude.  Sondheim's score ripples with great songs whose tunes appear throughout the show in different guises so you can track them seemingly down the years as Charley, Frank and Mary's lives change and grow apart.

I was lucky enough to see MERRILY's European premiere when the Guildhall School's production transferred to the small Bloomsbury Theatre two months after it was first staged at the school.  Ian Judge's wonderful production swept me away and made the show instantly one of my favourites.  Over the years as it's status has grown with every UK and US revival, Sondheim has revisited the score and added new numbers for Frank and Gussie, the musical star he marries, but for me the original score is the one I return to.  After the 1983 Guildhall show I had to wait 17 years until another London production at the Donmar.  Michael Grandage's production featured career-defining performances from Samantha Spiro as Mary, Daniel Evans as Charley and Julian Ovenden as Frank and won three Olivier Awards for Best Musical, Best Actress and Best Actor for Evans; sadly no West End transfer occurred.  That happened three years later when Maria Friedman's production at the Menier Chocolate Factory transferred to the Pinter Theatre for a few months.  While happy that this remarkable show was finally seen in a proper West End house I was less enthusiastic by Friedman's garish and broad production - it did however win the Olivier for Best Musical Revival. The latest news on MERRILY is that Richard Linklater has announced he will make a film of it with the absurd idea of filming it over 20 years so the characters can be seen to age properly... one is tempted to think of Olivier's line to Dustin Hoffman while he was holding up filming doing his Method shenanigans "Why don't you try acting?".

A much more poignant and telling film take on MERRILY is Lonny Price's wonderful documentary BEST WORST THING THAT EVER COULD HAVE HAPPENED from 2016.  Initially a film about the making of MERRILY and the impact of it's failure on it's young cast, Price - who was the original Charley - had remembered ABC News filming all of the audition and rehearsals for a segment in one of their news programme but when they were informed they had an investment in MERRILY they stopped the filming and put out a statement that the footage was destroyed.  However the original videotapes were finally tracked down and Price utilizes the footage to recreate the excitement of the young cast turn to bewilderment at it's failure to work despite Sondheim and Prince's best efforts.  The bigger themes of looking back to see what you gave up to live your dreams - or giving up your dreams to live - are as palpable as MERRILY itself - do hunt it out...

Dvd/150: THE COMEDY MAN (Alvin Rakoff, 1964)

An odd, sad little film despite it's bouncy title music and jaunty opening scenes...

'Chick' Bird is an actor who stars in provincial rep companies but, sacked for sleeping with a producer's wife, he returns to London for another attempt at mainstream success.

Sharing digs with another actor, Chick starts the desperate rounds of Soho casting agents while signing on the dole.  He revisits a sometime relationship with struggling actress Judy but she is tiring of his unwillingness to admit his chance has passed him by.

Surviving on day-jobs, Chick is left alone when his flatmate lands a major film role and ponders being forced into 'proper' work like his depressed friend Jack or become a couch-surfing old-timer like aging actor Rutherford.

A day on a breath-freshening mint commercial is successful and he becomes the face of the product.  But is he selling out his talent?

Shelf or charity shop?  Tentative shelf.  As good as it is - and it's worth seeing for it's shots of 1960s London - it seems an unsteady addition to the British Realism genre and unsurprisingly it waited two years before a cinema release - on a double-bill with LORD OF THE FLIES of all things!  An excellent cast - Cecil Parker, Billie Whitelaw, Edmund Purdom, Alan Dobie, Derek Francis - even Freddie Mills - give memorable support to Kenneth More who grows in effectiveness as the mood turns somber.  There is a telling moment at the climax of the film when a disenchanted More flees the Bacchanalian riot that his party has turned into - there are even two men dancing together...

GISELLE at Sadler's Wells - Akram Khan takes Giselle into the dark...

Sometimes you see a production that is so unique, it renders it difficult to put into words exactly what it was you witnessed.  Akram Khan's individual take on GISELLE is such a work.

Commissioned in 2016 by Tamara Rojo for the English National Ballet, Khan's first full-length ballet has toured the country and overseas leaving a trail of superlatives, standing ovations and awards in it's wake.  Stripped of it's usual first act bucolic setting and the second act's gloomy forest grave worthy of Casper David Friedrich, what emerges is a raw, physical interpretation which is short on romanticism but packed with otherworldly tension.

GISELLE was an immediate success when it was first staged in 1841 and has been constantly staged ever since, usually utilizing the choreography of Marius Petipa who staged it for the Russian Imperial Ballet at the end of the 19th Century.  The Royal Ballet's production by Peter Wright has stayed in the repertoire since 1985 and is a vision of romantic tutus and princely doublets.  Khan's is very different.

Instead of bouncy, smiley villagers we are presented with glum, faceless workers pushing against a giant wall with a palpable mournful air, Giselle appears from amongst them and dances with Albrecht who is dressed as one of the workers.  The wall rises to reveal the rich people who live on the other side - thank God the programme had a synopsis as none of this was immediately discernible through the production.  Khan's proletariat are former migrant workers in a clothes factory owned by the rich who have closed it down and the migrants live a hand-to-mouth existence.

As the migrants entertain the rich, Hilarion - who loves our heroine  in vain - provokes a fight with Albrecht which leads to the exposing of the latter as one of the rich slumming it for love of Giselle.  He is assimilated back into the rich tribe - nicely done by him donning a bowler hat - and they retreat back to their privileged life behind the wall.  The outcasts close in on Giselle and disperse leaving her dead.

The second act finds us not in the usual forest graveyard but into the desolate, empty factory where Albrecht remonstrates with the uncaring rich; when they withdraw leaving him to his sorrow he is visited by The Wills, the ghosts of dead factory girls, who revenge themselves on the living.  They summon Giselle to join their ranks after first killing the hapless Hilarion.

Myrtha, the Queen of the Wills chases Albrecht off so they can recruit Giselle into their ghostly ranks but he returns to see his lost love; Giselle forgives Albrecht and protects him against the threats of The Wills but she leaves with them, backing into the darkness forever.  Albrecht is on the immigrants' side of the wall, broken.

It's a truly extraordinary work which utilizes a hard-edged score and soundscape by Vincenzo Lamagna which is based on Adolphe Adam's original GISELLE score but constantly keeps you unsettled and on edge.  Khan's work fully utilizes Tim Yip's design and eerie costumes and Mark Henderson's stark lighting either floods the stage with white light or helps you spot lurking figures in the gloom.

There were remarkably vibrant performances from Erina Takahashi as Giselle who was not the usual ethereal wisp of a character but a physically strong presence on stage and she was matched by the rather wonderful Stina Quagebeur as the statuesque, terrifying Myrtha who in one unforgettable image drags the dead Giselle behind her.  I particularly liked how Khan has the ghostly Wills using traditional ballet pointwork for their scenes - acknowledging the original productions but making them seem eerily not of this earth.  The hapless men were well played by Joseph Caley and Ken Saruhashi as Albrecht and Hilarion.  The ensemble are actually the real stars of the show, strong and silent, changing on a dime from slow hypnotic movements to pelting around the stage at full speed.

By setting his GISELLE in a non-specific place or time, Akram Khan's production is now current, mysterious and timeless.  See it if you can and be haunted by Akram Khan's genius.