May 6, 2008
CASTING ANNOUNCED
FOR FIRST TWO WEEKS OF
ABT'S 2008 SPRING SEASON
AT METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE
Opening Night Performance to Feature
Company Premiere of Jessica Lang's Splendid Isolation III
and ABT Alumni in the Revival Premiere of
Antony Tudor's Judgment of Paris
Casting for the first two weeks of American Ballet Theatre’s 2008 Spring Season at the Metropolitan Opera House was announced today by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie.
The season will begin on Monday, May 19 at 6:30 P.M. with the Company’s Opening Night Gala. The evening will be highlighted by the Revival Premiere of Antony Tudor’s 1938 comic masterpiece Judgment of Paris, featuring ABT alumni Kathleen Moore as Juno, Martine van Hamel as Venus and Bonnie Mathis as Minerva, as well as Kevin McKenzie as The Client and Victor Barbee as The Waiter.
The Gala program will also feature Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Beloserkovsky in the Company Premiere of Jessica Lang’s Splendid Isolation III, a pas de deux set to music by Gustav Mahler. The work was premiered in Tokyo, Japan on August 4, 2007, at NBA Ballet’s Golden Ballet Co-Star Gala, danced by Koichi Kubo and Maria Riccetto. ABT’s Opening Night performance will also include excerpts from The Merry Widow and Etudes, von Rothbart’s solo from Swan Lake, Michel Fokine’s The Dying Swan and pas de deux from Don Quixote, Giselle, Le Corsaire and Onegin. American Ballet Theatre’s Spring Gala is sponsored by GRAFF, Nina Ricci and RexCorp Realty.
The Company will give eight performances of Le Corsaire, staged by Anna-Marie Holmes after Marius Petipa and Konstantin Sergeyev, beginning Tuesday evening, May 20, led by Irina Dvorovenko, Maxim Beloserkovsky, Xiomara Reyes, Herman Cornejo, Angel Corella and Sascha Radetsky. On Wednesday, May 21, Misty Copeland and Craig Salstein will dance the roles of Gulnare and Birbanto for the first time at the matinee, and Mikhail Ilyin will debut as Birbanto at the evening performance. On Thursday, May 22, Gennadi Saveliev will dance the role of Conrad for the first time. The matinee performance on Saturday, May 24 will feature debuts by Cory Stearns as Conrad and Jared Matthews as Lankendem.
On Tuesday, May 27, the Company will give the first of eight performances of Swan Lake, with Michele Wiles, David Hallberg and Marcelo Gomes in the leading roles. Choreographed by Kevin McKenzie after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, Swan Lake is set to a score by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky and features scenery and costumes by Zack Brown.
Superfund Asset Management, Inc. is the sponsor of American Ballet Theatre’s 2008 Spring Season at the Metropolitan Opera House. Saks Fifth Avenue is the Leading Corporate Sponsor of American Ballet Theatre’s Costume Fund. American Airlines is the Official Airline of American Ballet Theatre. ABT’s 2008 Spring Season is also made possible with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
Tickets for American Ballet Theatre’s 2008 Metropolitan Opera House season, priced $25-$106, are available at the Met box office or by phone at 212-362-6000. Performance-only tickets for the Opening Night Gala are priced at $28-$145. The Metropolitan Opera House is located on Broadway between 64th and 65th streets in New York City.
Complete casting follows:
| FIRST WEEK | |
| Mon. Eve., May 19, 6:30PM | OPENING NIGHT GALA THE MERRY WIDOW, Act II Hanna solo and Pontevedrian Dances – Herrera, Cornejo; SWAN LAKE, Act III von Rothbart solo – Hallberg; SPLENDID ISOLATION III (Company Premiere) – Dvorovenko, Beloserkovsky; DON QUIXOTE pas de deux – Murphy, Stiefel; THE DYING SWAN – Vishneva; JUDGMENT OF PARIS (Revival Premiere) – Moore*, van Hamel*, Mathis*, McKenzie*, Barbee*; GISELLE, Act II pas de deux – Ananiashvili, Corella; LE CORSAIRE, Act I Lankendem’s variation – Cornejo LE CORSAIRE pas de deux – Reyes, Carreño; ONEGIN pas de deux – Kent, Gomes; ETUDES excerpts – Wiles, Corella, Radetsky |
| Tues. Eve., May 20, 8 P.M | LE CORSAIRE – Dvorovenko, Beloserkovsky, Reyes, Cornejo, Corella, Radetsky |
| Wed. Mat., May 21, 2 P.M. | LE CORSAIRE – Kent, Hallberg, Copeland*, Radetsky, Stiefel, Salstein* |
| Wed. Eve., May 21, 8 P.M. | LE CORSAIRE – Herrera, Gomes, Riccetto, Carreño, Corella, Ilyin* |
| Thurs. Eve., May 22, 8 P.M. | LE CORSAIRE – Murphy, Saveliev*, Reyes, Cornejo, Corella, Lopez |
| Fri. Eve., May 23, 8 P.M. | LE CORSAIRE – Wiles, Hallberg, Copeland, Radetsky, Carreño, Salstein |
| Sat. Mat., May 24, 2 P.M. | LE CORSAIRE – Dvorovenko, Stearns*, Copeland, Matthews*, Corella, Ilyin |
| Sat. Eve., May 24, 8 P.M. | LE CORSAIRE – Herrera, Gomes, Riccetto, Carreño, Stiefel, Radetsky |
| SECOND WEEK | |
| Mon. Eve., May 26, 8 P.M. | LE CORSAIRE – Murphy, Saveliev, Reyes, Cornejo, Carreño, Lopez |
| Tues. Eve., May 27, 8 P.M. | SWAN LAKE – Wiles, Hallberg, Gomes |
| Wed. Mat., May 28, 2 P.M. | SWAN LAKE – Herrera, Stiefel, Saveliev |
| Wed. Eve., May 28, 8 P.M. | SWAN LAKE – Dvorovenko, Beloserkovsky, Radetsky |
| Thurs. Eve., May 29, 8 P.M. | SWAN LAKE – Vishneva, Gomes, Hallberg |
| Fri. Eve., May 30, 8 P.M. | SWAN LAKE – Kent, Corella, Matthews |
| Sat. Mat., May 31, 2 P.M. | SWAN LAKE – Part, Hallberg, Gomes |
| Sat. Eve., May 31, 8 P.M. | SWAN LAKE – Murphy, Carreño, Radetsky |
*Please note: First time in a role:
Mon Eve., 5/19 – Moore, van Hamel, Mathis, McKenzie and Barbee in Judgment of Paris
Wed. Mat., 5/21 – Copeland (Gulnare) and Salstein (Birbanto) in Le Corsaire
Wed. Eve., 5/21 – Ilyin (Birbanto) in Le Corsaire
Thurs., 5/22 – Saveliev (Conrad) in Le Corsaire
Sat. Mat., 5/24 – Stearns (Conrad) and Matthews (Lankendem) in Le Corsaire