Choreographer

Sir Kenneth MacMillan Sir Kenneth MacMillan (11 December 192929 October 1992) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer who was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977, and its principal choreographer from 1977 until his death. Ea ...

's Royal Ballet production of

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, ...

's ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Ham ...

'' premiered at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal ...

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

on 9 February 1965.

Background

Kenneth MacMillan Sir Kenneth MacMillan (11 December 192929 October 1992) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer who was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977, and its principal choreographer from 1977 until his death. E ...

had previously choreographed the balcony scene for

Lynn Seymour Lynn Seymour CBE (born 8 March 1939) is a Canadian-born retired ballerina, choreographer, and director. Early career She was born in Wainwright, Alberta, as Berta Lynn Springbett in a Canadian family of Scottish descent, and studied ballet in ...

and Christopher Gable to dance in September 1964 for Canadian Television. This scene provided an essential part of the ballet's overall structure. Seymour stated that the balcony scene pas de deux only took three rehearsals to fully choreograph. This experience made him seem a good candidate to choreograph the entire ballet for Covent Garden, when the Soviet Union refused to allow

Leonid Lavrovsky Leonid Mikhailovich Lavrovsky (1905–1967) was a Russian ballet choreographer, most famous for choreographing the first full version of Sergei Prokofiev's ''Romeo and Juliet''. Early life Lavrovsky was born in 1905 in St. Petersburg, the son ...

's classic production to tour to London. MacMillan prepared his version with the blessing of

Frederick Ashton Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton (17 September 190418 August 1988) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer. He also worked as a director and choreographer in opera, film and revue. Determined to be a dancer despite the opposit ...

. MacMillan only had five months to choreograph the full ballet as The Royal Ballet hoped to perform Romeo and Juliet in its upcoming American tour. He, Seymour, and Gable planned the ballet around the characters and their pas de deuxs. They envisioned Juliet as the headstrong character, making decisions, while Romeo was "swept off his feet by love". Nicholas Georgiadis designed the set and costumes with specific intent regarding the characters and feel of the performance. The imposing, large set designs were utilized to emphasize how small and vulnerable Juliet was in comparison and position her and Romeo as helpless against the society they live in. MacMillan and Georgiadias were inspired by Italian

Quattrocento The cultural and artistic events of Italy during the period 1400 to 1499 are collectively referred to as the Quattrocento (, , ) from the Italian word for the number 400, in turn from , which is Italian for the year 1400. The Quattrocento encom ...

paintings and architecture; Shakespeare, and

Franco Zeffirelli Gian Franco Corsi Zeffirelli (12 February 1923 – 15 June 2019), was an Italian stage and film director, producer, production designer and politician. He was one of the most significant opera and theatre directors of the post-World War II era, ...

's 1960 Romeo and Juliet production. MacMillan also took inspiration from Cranko's Romeo and Juliet to include the rowdy harlots in the market scenes.

Premiere performance

Kenneth MacMillan's Royal Ballet production of

's ''

'' premiered at the

on 9 February 1965. Though MacMillan had conceived the ballet for Lynn Seymour and Christopher Gable, for "bureaucratic reasons"

Margot Fonteyn Dame Margaret Evelyn de Arias DBE (''née'' Hookham; 18 May 191921 February 1991), known by the stage name Margot Fonteyn, was an English ballerina. She spent her entire career as a dancer with the Royal Ballet (formerly the Sadler's Wells ...

and

Rudolph Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev ( ; Tatar/ Bashkir: Рудольф Хәмит улы Нуриев; rus, Рудо́льф Хаме́тович Нуре́ев, p=rʊˈdolʲf xɐˈmʲetəvʲɪtɕ nʊˈrʲejɪf; 17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet ...

danced the opening night, to MacMillan's disappointment. The casting change was disheartening not only to MacMillan, but to the entire company, contributing to MacMillan and Seymour's eventual move away from the Royal Ballet and Gable's transition away from dancing entirely. Mainly, Fonteyn and Nureyev were given the leading roles because of their fame and box office draw. The impresario for the American tour,

Sol Hurok Sol Hurok (Solomon Israilevich Hurok; born Solomon Izrailevich Gurkov, Russian Соломон Израилевич Гурков; April 9, 1888March 5, 1974) was a 20th-century American impresario. Early life Hurok was born in Pogar, Chernigo ...

said that the ballet would only be included and profitable in the US if Fonteyn and Nureyev were given the title roles. Fonteyn and Nureyev brought new life to the characters, as did the set and costume designs by Nicholas Georgiadis; Fonteyn, considered to be near retirement, embarked upon a rejuvenated career with a partnership with Nureyev. Lynn Seymour left the Royal Ballet for three years after this slight to dance with the German Opera Ballet in West Berlin, but she returned in 1970 to dance many principal roles.

Response

The first production of Romeo and Juliet was met with overwhelmingly positive critical and box office response. Fonteyn and Nureyev received 43 curtain calls, eventually needing the safety curtain to descend in order to encourage the audience to leave the theater. Critics agreed across the board that the ballet was a fantastic addition to the Royal Ballet's repertoire as well as an accomplishment for MacMillan. The Observer, The Daily Mail, and the Sunday Telegraph were a few of the magazines and papers to review the performance. Andrew Porter with The Financial Times, who was the first critic to discuss the last minute casting change, noted that the ballet could not be fully understood until Seymour performed the role designed for her.

Following Performances

Lynn Seymour and Christopher Gable danced the lead roles in the second cast, also receiving rave reviews, though not the same level of overt audience appreciation. They were followed by three other pairings in the first tour and many more throughout the decades since. The first five performances of Romeo and Juliet have remained highly lauded by critics. Alastair Macaulay spoke of Fonteyn and Nureyev's performance as "If there was a single moment in my life that turned me into a ballet obsessive, that was it". In the New York Times in 2007. He also lauded Seymour's rebellious Juliet. Romeo and Juliet has become a staple of the Royal Ballet's Repertoire. MacMillan went on to restage the ballet for other companies around the world such as The Royal Swedish Ballet,

American Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant, it is recognized as one of the world's leading classical ballet companies. Through 2019, it had an annual ei ...

, and the

Birmingham Royal Ballet Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) is one of the five major ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside The Royal Ballet, the English National Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish Ballet. Founded as the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet, the company ...

. The Birmingham Royal Ballet also included a new set and costume design by Paul Andrews.

Film

The production was filmed by

Paul Czinner Paul Czinner (30 May 1890 – 22 June 1972) was a Hungarian-born British writer, film director, and producer. Biography Czinner was born to a Jewish family in Budapest, Austria-Hungary. After studying literature and philosophy at the Universi ...

and received a cinematic release in 1966. The star-studded first cast with Fonteyn and Nureyev performed. The film was one of a series of movies financed between Rank and the NFFC. It received some strong reviews but was a box office disappointment. Since then it has been live streamed and recorded multiple times, the most recent of which being the 2012 filmed production of the ballet starring Lauren Cuthbertson and Federico Bonelli, filmed by

Ross MacGibbon Ross MacGibbon (born 29 January 1955) is a British former ballet dancer, and now a film maker, especially for ballet and opera. Ross MacGibbon danced with the Royal Ballet from 1973-86. MacGibbon's won the 1998 International Emmy Award for his fil ...

. A 90-minute abridgment by writer-producers (and dancers) Michael Nunn and

William Trevitt William Trevitt (February 7, 1809 – February 8, 1881) was a doctor, politician, diplomat, and newspaper publisher in 19th century Ohio. He served two times as Ohio Secretary of State, three years in the Ohio House of Representatives, was a ...

for BBC television was broadcast in 2020 on PBS

Great Performances ''Great Performances'' is a television anthology series dedicated to the performing arts; the banner has been used to televise theatrical performances such as plays, musicals, opera, ballet, concerts, as well as occasional documentaries. It is p ...

Original cast

Juliet Juliet Capulet () is the female protagonist in William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. A 13-year-old girl, Juliet is the only daughter of the patriarch of the House of Capulet. She falls in love with the male protagonist ...

Romeo Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Lord Montague and his wife, Lady Montague, he secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet, through a priest ...

* David Blair, Mercutio * Desmond Doyle, Tybalt *

Anthony Dowell Sir Anthony James Dowell (born 16 February 1943) is a retired British ballet dancer and a former artistic director of the Royal Ballet. He is widely recognized as one of the great ''danseurs nobles'' of the twentieth century. Early life and tra ...

, Benvolio *

Derek Rencher Derek Rencher (6 June 1932 – 20 December 2014) was a British ballet dancer. A commanding figure among Royal Ballet character dancers for more than four decades, he was probably the most prolific performer in the company's history. Early life a ...

, Paris *

Michael Somes Michael George Somes CBE (28 September 191718 November 1994), was an English ballet dancer. He was a principal dancer of The Royal Ballet, London, and the frequent partner of Margot Fonteyn. Early years Somes was born in Horsley, Gloucester ...

, Lord Capulet * Julia Farron, Lady Capulet *

Leslie Edwards Leslie George Edwards (6 August 1916 – 8 February 2001) was a British ballet dancer and ballet master. He was one of the final links with Ninette de Valois's original pre-war Vic-Wells Ballet. Apart from two years of military service during t ...

, Escalus, Prince of Verona *

Georgina Parkinson Georgina Parkinson (20 August 1938 – 18 December 2009) was an English ballet dancer and ballet mistress. She joined The Royal Ballet in 1957 and was promoted to principal dancer in 1962. Best known for dancing 20th-century works, she was ...

, Rosaline *

Ronald Hynd Ronald Hynd (born 22 April 1931) is an English choreographer, and in his youth was a ballet dancer. In the Royal Ballet in the late 1940s he began to dance with Annette Page, whom he later married. Page died on 4 December 2017. They have a daugh ...

, Friar Laurence * Franklin Whyte, Lord Montague * Betty Kavanagh, Lady Montague Source:

Notes

Sources

*Gottlieb, Robert. ''Reading Dance: A Gathering of Memoirs, Reportage, Criticism, Profiles, Interviews, and Some Uncategorizable Extras''. Pantheon, 2008. *Parry, Jann. ''Different Drummer: The Life of Kenneth MacMillan''. London: Faber & Faber, 2009. * *Kavanagh, Julie. Nureyev: The Life. VINTAGE, 2008 *MacGibbon, Ross, dir. Romeo and Juliet. 1965; London, UK: Royal Opera House, 2012. DVD
Romeo and Juliet Pas De Deux.
Kenneth MacMillan. MacMillan Estate. Accessed 7 June 2020.
Romeo and Juliet.
Kenneth MacMillan. MacMillan Estate. Accessed 7 June 2020. *Macaulay, Alastair. "Confessions of a 'Romeo' Fiend". The New York Times, The New York Times, 1 Apr. 2007 *The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "Lynn Seymour". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 4 March 2019

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Romeo And Juliet (Macmillan) Ballets by Kenneth MacMillan Ballets by Sergei Prokofiev 1965 ballet premieres Ballets created for The Royal Ballet Ballets based on Romeo and Juliet