ABT: PRINCIPAL CASTING FOR SWAN LAKE AND ONE-NIGHT ONLY ALL-AMERICAN CELEBRATION AT CIVIC OPERA HOUSE
2010-02-22 6:17:21 PM
Program part of ABT 70th Anniversary Celebration; Tickets on sale NOW!
CHICAGO - Principal casting has been announced for the full-length classical story ballet, Swan Lake, presented by American Ballet Theatre (ABT), America's National Ballet Company®, at the Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive, in seven performances only, April 15 - 18, 2010. The company’s Chicago engagement, the first since 2008, opens with an All-American repertory program featuring works by Jerome Robbins, Paul Taylor and Twyla Tharp, Wednesday evening, April 14, 2010.
Swan Lake, presented in four acts, is the tragic tale of Odette, the beautiful Swan Queen who is imprisoned under the spell of the evil sorcerer von Rothbart. Swan Lake is considered the ultimate power struggle between good and evil, paired with the promise of everlasting love.
The principal roles of Odette/Odile and Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake will be danced in Chicago Thursday-Sunday, April 15-18 by: Paloma Herrera and Ethan Stiefel (Opening Night, Thursday, April 15 at 7:30 p.m.); Michele Wiles and Cory Stearns (in his debut as Prince Siegfried, Friday, April 16 at 2:00 p.m.); Gillian Murphy and Jose Manuel Carreño (Friday, April 16 at 7:30 p.m.); Julie Kent and Marcelo Gomes (Saturday, April 17 at 2:00 p.m.); Veronika Part and Roberto Bolle (Bolle makes his Chicago debut, Saturday, April 17 at 7:30 p.m.); Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Beloserkovsky (Sunday, April 18 at 1:00 p.m.); and Michele Wiles and Cory Stearns (Sunday, April 18 at 5:30 p.m.).
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This production of Swan Lake, choreographed by ABT Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie, after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, was first staged by American Ballet Theatre in 2000, and features scenery and costumes by Zack Brown and lighting by Duane Schuler. Swan Lake will be accompanied by a live orchestra performing Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky’s most admired score.
ABT will open its Spring 2010 Chicago engagement with a one-night-only All-American Celebration highlighting choreographers Jerome Robbins, Paul Taylor and Twyla Tharp, Wednesday, April 14 a 7:30 p.m. The mixed repertory program will feature the Chicago Premiere of Tharp’s The Brahms-Haydn Variations (2000), a ballet for thirty dancers featuring music from Johannes Brahms’ Variations on a Theme by Haydn for Orchestra. Principal casting for The Brahms-Haydn Variations includes Gillian Murphy, Jose Manuel Carreño, Julie Kent, Sascha Radetsky, Michele Wiles, Cory Stearns, Hee Seo, Gennadi Saveliev, Sarah Lane, and Carlos Lopez. Also on the bill, Paul Taylor’s Company B (1991), a lively and nostalgic work featuring songs by the Andrews Sisters; and Jerome Robbins’ first ballet, Fancy Free (1944), set to the music of Leonard Bernstein and telling the story of three sailors and the two girls they meet on a hot summer night in New York during World War II. The three sailors will be danced by Daniil Simkin, Carlos Lopez, and Sascha Radetsky. Notably, Simkin and Radetsky will be making their debuts in these roles, and this performance marks Simkin’s first in Chicago.
Tickets for American Ballet Theatre's All-American Celebration, April 14, and Swan Lake, April 15-18, are on sale now and range in price from $20 - $125. Tickets can be purchased by calling 1-800-982-2787; visiting the Civic Opera House box office; or online at www.ticketmaster.com.
Swan Lake is generously underwritten by The Rosh Foundation. Company B is generously supported by a gift from Marjorie S. Isaac in honor of ABT Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie. Fancy Free is generously underwritten by an endowed gift from Avery and Andrew F. Barth, in honor of Laima and Rudolf Barth.
Saks Fifth Avenue is a Sponsor of American Ballet Theatre's Costume Fund, J.P. Morgan is the Leading Corporate Sponsor of Make a Ballet, American Airlines is the Official Airline of ABT, LVMH Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessey Inc. is the Official Sponsor of ABT II, and Northern Trust is the Leading Corporate Sponsor of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School. Additional support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Recovery Act, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
For more information on American Ballet Theatre's 2010 spring program at the Civic Opera House, April 14-18, 2010, please visit www.abt.org.
