Tuesday, July 08, 2008

The Merry Window


So I know this is a little weird, but I went to the Ballet last week.  A work friend (Paul Chernick - Lynn, you will remember him as he spilt wine all down the front of your white blouse at the Hollywood Bowl) was in town and wanted to go out.  He suggested the ballet.
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Well we went to see The Merry Widow.  Let me say I was surprised.  I think I have only seen things like Swan Lake and the Nutcracker.  Things with frou frou and stupid outfits no one would wear.
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Now I agreed that these two in the picture (Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Beloserkovsky) aren't dressed for saturday night out at Applebees, but they aren't in Swan costumes either.
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The Merry Widow is a ballet based (as near as I can tell) on a 1905 Operetta and more actually on a 1934 Jeanette McDonald movie (with a technicolor updating with lana Turner in 1950s).
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The theme and flow is very 1930s movie sensibility.  You know, rich widow as the only source of money  in a tiny kingdom, wild plans to marry her off to a local to save the tax revenue, stupidly pompous but handsome Frenchman, mistaken lover's identities, quarrels, and all ends well in love.  The sets and costumes, by the way, were so over the top technicolor it was eye popping.
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Irnia and Maxim (pictured) played the leads and were beautiful at it.  I guess in real life they are an "item" as they have a joint web site.  It was totally fun and I was happily surprised.