Reviewing the Drama: Broadway, Off-Broadway, Ballet, Movies, and TV Reviews

Helping to kick off New York City Ballet's Here and Now Festival, which celebrates modern choreographers' works, was an all-Wheeldon program. During the evening, fans got to watch four ballets by the Tony-winning choreographer , who was the company's first resident choreographer. The evening began with Mercurial Manoeuvres , which, notably, is the last ballet Wheeldon choreographed for the company while still one of its principal dancers. A ballet for 21 dancers (set to Shostakovich's "Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Minor, Opus 35"), this has a decidedly militaristic feel in the ensemble moments. (Watch, for example, the dancers' arms—they move with precision like the hands on a clock. It's exact and clipped.) That's beautifully juxtaposed with the grace and softness of the utterly impressive pas de deux (danced on Saturday by Tiler Peck and Tyler Angle ). Both types of dancing—ensemble and pas—are mercurial. The ensemble keeps changing forma...

History was made at New York City Ballet on Thursday (April 2 7 ) night as the venerable dance company presented its first–ever all–Peck program, an evening dedicated to ballet's golden boy, Justin Peck , a soloist with the company and its resident choreographer. It was a momentous occasion for the toast of the town, who, still under 30, is seen as a ballet wunderkind and, perhaps, the superhero who is going to bring ballet back to popular culture. Peck has been choreographing for NYCB (and others) for just five years, yet he's already created 13 ballets for the company (with a 14th set to premiere in May), including one that was the subject of the documentary Ballet 422 , his ode to his hometown, Paz de la Jolla . Peter Martins had his pick of Peck's many creations, but for the first all–Peck program, he chose four works: In Creases , the first ballet Peck made for NYCB; The Dreamers , a pas de deux; New Blood , one of Peck's collaborations with fashion designer...

Tuesday and Wednesday in the Park with Jake and Annaleigh When (affordable, performance-only) tickets went on sale for City Center's one-night-only gala performance of Stephen Sondheim 's Sunday in the Park with George , starring Jake Gyllenhaal ( Nightcrawler , Little Shop of Horrors ), they sold out in minutes. Due to ticket demand, two additional benefit performances have been added, Tuesday, October 25, and Wednesday, October 26. Tickets to these performances go on sale to the general public at noon on Wednesday, July 20, but City Center members will have pre-sale access beginning at noon on Monday, July 18. (Gala tickets for the original Monday, October 24, performance are still available, and are on sale now.) In addition, it was announced that Tony winner Annaleigh Ashford ( You Can't Take It With You , Masters of Sex ) will join Gyllenhaal as George's muse, Dot. This will mark Ashford's Sondheim debut. Visit the City Center website to learn more and ...

Spring ballet outing three of five was a success. The afternoon began with Peter Martins 's Barber Violin Concerto , a ballet I'd never seen before. Set to Samuel Barber 's "Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Opus 14," this ballet dazzles not just because of the dancing but also because of the music. The ballet begins with the curtain down while the solo violinist ( Kurt Nikkanen on Saturday afternoon) playing a few beautiful bars, setting the stage for the aural experience ahead. His virtuosity becomes even more apparent as the piece continues, with fabulous aggressive sections matched by the choreography. Martins created a ballet for four dancers, a classical couple and a modern couple. When I looked at the casting and saw Megan Fairchild and Jared Angle as one couple and Sara Mearns and Russell Janzen as the other, I thought I knew which would be which. I was pleasantly surprised to find out I was wrong. Mearns and Janzen enter first, playing...

New York City Ballet is back in full swing. For the first of my five ballet outings this spring, I got to see four ballets, three of which I hadn't seen in at least two years. We began with Bournonville Divertissements , which was paired with La Sylphide last spring . These are selections from August Bournonville 's repertoire, and feature music by Holger Simon Paulli and Edvard Helsted. (Based on Bournonville's choreography, Bournonville Divertissements was originally stage by Stanley Williams; it was later staged for NYCB by Nilas Martins.) As divertissements should be, all four movements are presentational, mostly meant to be pretty and pleasant and fun. The first movement is "Ballabile," led by Erica Periera and Troy Schumacher , and it's the most presentational of all. From my view, it actually looked a little sloppy, and like the men were having trouble partnering with the women. Of course, that's part of the choreography (all I had to do ...