Drama, enchantment and stunning choreography – Dorothy and the Prince of Oz
by Rob Howard
Associate Editor
“First timers will enjoy the flow of story with familiar characters, the music, the sets, costumes and puppetry,” says Marcello Angelini, Artistic Director of Tulsa Ballet, describing their new ballet, Dorothy and the Prince of Oz.
“Ballet aficionados will appreciate all of the above plus the complexity of the choreography. Children will enjoy the fairytale characteristics of this new work; adults will enjoy the romance and athleticism of the production.”
A world-class artistic team is bringing the work to Tulsa February 10-12 for its world premiere. Love, romance, betrayal and drama; Tulsa ballet patrons will get it all. Angelini is delighted with the result, which has been in development since late 2014.
Dorothy faces the tornado in “Dorothy and the Prince of Oz.” Photo provided.
The ballet found its inspiration in the last of L. Frank Baum’s Oz books, Glinda of Oz. Angelini told The Gayly,“In this story Dorothy goes back to the land of Oz to save it from an ensuing war. In the meantime, she also falls in love for the Prince of Oz, who is the son of Queen Diamond and King Sapphire.
“What we did, rather than taking one of the books and adapting it for dance, we charged Oliver Peter Graber, the librettist of the Vienna Staatsoper, to read all 14 books, recommend one or two that would be suited to be adapted into ballets and then, once the basic story was chosen, Oliver added about 30 percent to the initial structure.”
“Since the book was written in 1900, [Graber] chose music from that time to accompany the ballet,” says Angelini. “However, for the 30 percent of the story that he wrote, he also composed the music. The final score is just like the libretto, part of it is an adaptation of existing music, the rest is brand new.”
It is a challenge to tell a story that most people are not familiar with through dance without words. Angelini describes the challenge, saying, “Telling a story through dance is the ultimate frontier for a choreographer. Today you need to do it through movement, action and choreography. Thankfully we have a great team working on this project, between the sets, costumes, projections, puppetry, music and choreography the work will look great!”
The use of puppetry is an intriguing addition to a ballet. Angelini explains, “For some of the characters, and some of the scenes, we felt it was necessary to add a touch of magic, the kind of magic that audiences are used to see in movies like Harry Potter. Having beings that are not human in a story that talks about the fantastical adds an element of enchantment to the work.”
The brand-new, $1 million ballet is a joint production with Columbus, Ohio’s BalletMet. Choreography is by BalletMet’s Artistic Director, international master Edwaard Liang.
Dorothy and the Prince of Oz will have four performances at Tulsa PAC’s Chapman Music Hall, February 10 and 11 at 8 p.m., and 11 and 12 at 3 p.m. Tickets are available online at www.myTicketOffice.com and www.tulsaballet.org, by phone at (918) 749-6006, or in person at the Tulsa Ballet and the Tulsa PAC box offices.
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Copyright 2017 The Gayly - 1/31/2017 @ 8:03 a.m. CDT