I attended the Saturday matinee performance with my Mom. We were both equally moved by Juliet's performance and that was about it. The orchestra was definetly the supporting star during this show. Ulbritch woo-ed the crowd with his athleticism, but as far as adding to the story, it was just another guy jumping around. But his large thunderous applause was much warranted for his display of dance.
I found the corps rather distracting during the ballroom scene. They acted as if it was an updated 21st century version of R+J rather than the time period it was from. Some were playing with their masks or noticably making noises or strange gestures that did not suit their character. Their was however one girl in the corps that knew how to use her eyes during the great waltz music that was rather captivating. Unfortunately I can not place her name.
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I saw more goofing off and arm flailing than I would have liked to see. If these are two families at odds end with each other, it was no apparent at all. It looked like school children playing during recess.
Romeo had his moments, but they were not consistent throughout the entire performance. I disagree with your assessment of the balcony scene. I felt this was the strongest and most pure scene of the whole ballet. I did not find anything awkward about it at all. Then again it is a matter of taste.
Soto was... Well let's just say waiving your finger in the air many times rather quickly does not tell me you are mad. Maybe it would work for Fritz in The Nutcracker, but I need more during R+J. Kistler was good. Not much to say about her.
Attendance was great. Very few empty seats. It was a sea of heads judging from my 3rd row seat.
The orchestra really did outshine much of the dancing and the conductor was well received during his bow. I enjoyed watching him conduct without a baton but rather his hands dancing and moving melodically to Prokofiev's