BWW Reviews: Bourne Amazes and Thrills with New SLEEPING BEAUTY

Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty/new scenario, direction and choreography by Matthew Bourne/music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky/Ahmanson Theatre/through December 1 only

No matter how you feel about the vast number of liberties Matthew Bourne takes in creating his scenario for The Sleeping Beauty, you must admit the end result is vibrantly imaginative, magical and fascinating to watch. Now at the Ahmanson Theatre for two weeks only through December 1, Sleeping Beauty does indeed have beauty in more ways than one.

Subtitled A Gothic Romance, the work is a total re-envisioning with a dark haunting look and one curiously interesting feature I will allude to in a moment. Bourne was not content to utilize the Grimm fairy tale alone, so intensely researched every version, including the Disney film, and then added his own unique creativity to the mix, keeping the Tchaikovsky ballet, which was a collaboration with choreographer Marius Petipa, as the base and background musical score. Gothic, as Bourne has put in one very intriguing feature at the end of Act I. He has included a vampire to bite Leo (Dominic North), Aurora's childhood sweetheart, so that he will be alive 100 years later when his princess Aurora (Hannah Vassallo) awakens from her deeply-induced, curse-laden sleep.

Bourne's work is a phenomenon as it includes four different dance styles, one for each act. Act I (1890) is classical ballet for Aurora's birth - the baby, by the way, is a deliciously adorable puppet, who even climbs the curtains when left to her own devices. Act II (1911) features the waltz. Act III is a free-spirited style inspired by Isadora Duncan and Act IV (present time) a boldly confrontational and sensual movement. Meshing all these divergent styles together boggles the mind, but it is fluidly executed, moving briskly and smoothly from start to finish.

The cast for opening night were supreme and includEd Vassallo in the title role, as well as North, Christopher Marney s Count Lilac, Adam Maskell, tall and striking as the darkly evil fairy Carabosse and her son, the equally villainous Caradoc, Edwin Ray as the King and Daisy May Kemp as the Queen. The 24-member ensemble are artistically brilliant, with several of the members covering the major roles from performance to performance. Lez Brotherston's sets and costumes covering this vast amount of time are incredibly gorgeous. A word of praise as well to Paule Constable for his wonderful mood lighting and Paul Groothuis for his magnificent sound design. To say the least, the Tchaikovsky score is over the moon beautiful. In the first act, I felt like I did as a child watching The Nutcracker, mesmerized by toys given birth to every intensely dramatic beat of music.

Matthew Bourne and his New Adventures company bring a touch of magic to the Ahmanson for a brief amount of time. Sleeping Beauty is thrilling, a production unlike any you have ever seen. So go, go, go to the Ahmanson now to purchase tix through Sunday December 1 only!

http://www.centertheatregroup.org/

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