Romeo and Juliet
National Ballet of Odessa

The National Ballet Theatre of Odessa, in Ukraine, came back to town with an expansive production of their version of that doomed love affair between Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet. The story is one we all read in school, or maybe the play which The Bard adapted from the story originally put out in the 1500’s

Sergey Prokofiev put the ballet together into which he fused some work he had previously scored. But, it moves the story along with a playing time of about 2 hours. One thing I wish the company would think about is performing a ballet such as this with super-titles telling the audience what was happening. For while we recall the gist of the story from the days of our youth, most of us can’t recall which family is which, where they are, or who that apothecary might have been. It’s not quite like a Swan Lake or Nutcracker.

Yes, the leads are star-crossed lovers from two families in Verona who are like the old version of the Hattfields and McCoys; .and nothing seems to come out right in the end, as if it were a Hallmark film.

This production came to the Fox for a one-time performance on Sunday the 12th. And it is quite a bit of work. It is hard to imagine how they did all the set installation in fewer than 24 hours, when you reflect on the fact that they played the night before in Savannah, and after the show here they packed up to hit the road to Kentucky. They may have two sets and grips working so that they do the move-in prior to their cast coming to town. But, either way it is a lot of hard work for a cast of more than two dozen dancers.

If they come back next year, give them a try.