The curtain has just come down on the opening night of Romeo and Juliet at the Royal Opera House. Here’s a first look at Marianela Nuñez as Juliet and Federico Bonelli as Romeo in tonight’s cast.
Since its 1965 premiere with The Royal Ballet, Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet has become a great modern ballet classic of the world repertory. The nuanced and detailed choreography gives dancers in the lead roles a wealth of opportunity for differing interpretations of the doomed lovers.
Evocative designs by Nicholas Georgiadis bring the colour and action of Renaissance Verona, where a busy market all too quickly bursts into sword fighting and a family feud leads to tragedy for both the Montagues and the Capulets. Prokofiev’s ravishing score sweeps this dramatic ballet towards its inevitable, emotional end.
| Romeo and Juliet | The Royal Ballet |
| Cast | 10 January 2022 |
| Juliet | Marianela Nuñez replaces Natalia Osipova |
| Romeo | Federico Bonelli replaces Reece Clarke |
| Mercutio | Marcelino Sambé |
| Tybalt | Ryoichi Hirano |
| Benvolio | Téo Dubreuil |
| Paris | Tomas Mock |
| Lady Capulet | Christina Arestis |
| Lord Capulet | Gary Avis |
| Escalus, Prince of Verona | Aiden O’Brien |
| Rosaline | Gina Storm-Jensen |
| Nurse | Kristen McNally |
| Friar Laurence | Bennet Gartside |
| Lord Montague | Bennet Gartside |
| Lady Montague | Annette Buvoli |
| Juliet’s Friends | Mica Bradbury, Leticia Dias, Isabella Gasparini, Romany Pajdak, Charlotte Tonkinson, Yu Hang |
| Harlots | Hannah Grennell, Olivia Cowley, Meaghan Grace Hinkis |
| Mandolin dancers | Joonhyuk Jun, Leo Dixon, Joshua Junker, Harrison Lee, Giacomo Rovero, Joseph Sissens |
| Ballroom Guests, Townspeople | Artists of The Royal Ballet |
Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano’) about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.
His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia’ column for Dancing Times magazine.
