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An awesome and ridiculous film that leaves you thrilled beyond the point of your natural endurance
2012
Theatre
The show has suddenly become quite wonderful, and the galvanising factor is the terrific stage debut of Melanie C
Blood Brothers
Music
The British pop music industry may be eating itself but if Muse are the pick of what it can offer the world in 2010 then British music is in rude health indeed
Muse
I was smitten by both Gilberts enormous luxuriant moustache and the intelligence and nuance of this highly entertaining play
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Always been a fan but never seen them live. I was ecstatic to be part of this epic event. WOW!
London,
Sarah Frater's rating
Reader rating
Dir: Wayne McGregor (dir), Christopher Hogwood (cond).
Cast: Sarah Connolly (Dido), Lucy Crowe (Belinda), Lucas Meachem (Aeneas), Danielle de Niese (Galatea), Charles Workman (Acis), Paul Agnew (Damon)
Description: Wayne McGregor's interpretations of Purcell and Handel's Baroque operas in collaboration with the Royal Ballet. Conducted by Christopher Hogwood. Starring Sarah Connolly as Dido and Danielle De Niese as Galatea.
Trains: Tube: Covent Garden 
Phone: 0207304 4000
Website: www.roh.org.uk
Email: onlinebooking@roh.org.uk
Extra info: Food, Air Conditioning
Moving moment: Edward Watson and Danielle De Niese in Acis and Galatea
Dance fans who have followed Wayne McGregor from community dance maker to Royal Ballet resident choreographer via The Place and Sadler’s Wells won’t be surprised he’s now directing opera.
His directorial first at the Opera House is in some ways a low-risk debut, in that neither Dido and Aeneas nor Acis and Galatea are Opera House regulars, nor do they look costly productions.
He approaches the two operas very differently. In Dido, he keeps the singers centre stage with the dancers moving mostly as a group in interludes. Stylistically, the choreography is in sync with the production’s implacable gloom, with bleak urban sets, sombre costumes and severe dancing.
In Acis and Galatea the mood is pastoral and optimistic and the lead characters have dancer doubles who perform as near equals. The dancers are in flesh-coloured unitards that suggest the vulnerability and sensuality of the nude. Both ideas allow McGregor to explore motive and psychology. The two Galateas (Danielle de Niese/Lauren Cuthbertson) emphasise the extent of her amorous longing, while the brutish Polyphemus (Matthew Rose) contrasts with the nobility of his dancer double (Eric Underwood), a difference the giant poignantly laments.
Acis and Galatea marks a shift for McGregor. His signature articulations, extreme extensions, swooping spines and jutting hips are still strikingly visible but so are more expressive gestures and longer, more classical lines.
From a production-wide perspective, some Acis sequences are overburdened with activity. This leaves the dancers looking busily hollow and diffuses the impact of the singers. However, little distracts from the excellent OAE led by Christopher Hogwood.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
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