BWW Reviews: Houston Ballet's Spectacular ROMEO AND JULIET Pleases

Over three years and millions of dollars in the making, Stanton Welch's take on ROMEO AND JULIET is magnificent. This is not empty praise for the Houston Ballet's artistic director. Plot complexities aside, ROMEO AND JULIET is a simple story: two teens are in love in a world where their love is impossible. And for all of the spectacle, Welch trusts this simple story.

Welch's choreography is arresting. His choreography for the corps de ballet is both coordinated and synchronized, but also asynchronized and visually interesting. Molte Grazie to Guidi di Bagno who worked on her creations for eighteen months. Her sets and costumes provide depth to the storytelling. Young, silly Juliet is pretty in pink, becoming ever more scarlet-clad as she marches toward her demise. Each screen is a Renaissance painting unto itself. And, lest you think the work is all intellectual, sometimes it's just gosh- darn pretty. I nearly clapped with glee to see the golden headpiece that frames the regal costuming of Lady Capulet (Jessica Collado).

Connor Walsh embodies Romeo with the precise articulation coupled with ease that he is known for. Karina Gonzalez excels as Juliet. She flaunts her emotional range and becomes the silly, young girl playing tricks on her nurse, the wide-eyed burgeoning woman taken away by a handsome stranger, then a protective wife.

The two are even better in tandem. Welch gives Gonzalez and Walsh passionate, sensual choreography, like the pas de deux in Act I that shows two hormone- crazy teens amongst the sweetness of new love.

Readers of my reviews may recognize my love for secondary characters with personality to spare, so it should come as no surprise my love for the rich characters that surround Romeo and Juliet. Christopher Coomer as Tybalt is truly a villain. Romeo's friends Oliver Halkowich (Benvolio) and Derek Dunn (Balthazar) are silly and fun at the ball. The bawdy, ribald tavern keeper's daughters - Jacquelyn Long as Katerina, Melody Mennite as Miranda, Emily Bowen as Viola provide plenty of merriment with their antics. Then there's Jared Matthews as Mercutio, equally as bawdy and ribald, with his dance acrobatics at the carnival. If you like grand pirouettes, you're in for a treat.

The generosity of this production spreads to the drama or volume of the production. In fact, I wager that the audience will be divided on this point. I, for one, am a proponent of the drama. It was wrung out, yes but it was drama weaved deeply within the fabric of the play, and the score. There is no fault in exploring each moment to its fullest.

All the pieces fit together to create a wonderful telling of a good story. At any point during the ballet, I could sit back and marvel at the largesse. The Houston Ballet company dancers and their dedication to their roles coupled with Welch's skillful coaching produce great acting as well as dance performances make for a modern, magnanimous, humorous and touching ballet. It is as satisfying for the romantics at heart as it is for those who believe love is manufactured by corporations to sell more specialty cards.

Houston Ballet's ROMEO AND JULIET runs from February 26 - March 8. 7:30 p.m. on February 26, 28 and March 6. 2:00 p.m. on March 1, 8, 2015. 1:30 p.m. on February 28. Brown Theater at Wortham Theater Center, 501 Texas Street at Smith Street.

This performance lasts approximately three hours. There will be two intermissions lasting twenty minutes and fifteen minutes.

Ballet: Romeo and Juliet Choreographer: Stanton Welch Dancer(s): Artists of Houston Ballet Photo: Amitava Sarkar

Ballet: Romeo and Juliet Choreographer: Stanton Welch Dancer(s): Artists of Houston Ballet Photo: Amitava Sarkar

Ballet: Romeo and Juliet Choreographer: Stanton Welch Dancer(s): Karina Gonzalez with Barbara Bears (background) Photo: Amitava Sarkar

Ballet: Romeo and Juliet Choreographer: Stanton Welch Dancer(s): Connor Walsh, Jared Matthews and Artists of Houston Ballet Photo: Amitava Sarkar

Ballet: Romeo and Juliet Choreographer: Stanton Welch Dancer(s): Connor Walsh, Christopher Coomer and Artists of Houston Ballet Photo: Amitava Sarkar

Ballet: Romeo and Juliet Choreographer: Stanton Welch Dancer(s): Karina Gonzalez and Jessica Collado Photo: Amitava Sarkar

Ballet: Romeo and Juliet Choreographer: Stanton Welch Dancer(s): Jessica Collado and Karina Gonzalez Photo: Amitava Sarkar

Ballet: Romeo and Juliet Choreographer: Stanton Welch Dancer(s): Karina Gonzalez and Connor Walsh Photo: Amitava Sarkar