381. Carmen – Northern Ballet Theatre at the Swan Theatre, High Wycombe, 6^th May 1999

The always stunning and elegant Northern Ballet Theatre brought their production of Carmen, choreographed by one of our favourite dancers, Didy Veldman, to the 1999 Swan Dance season. Set in Rio de Janeiro, in 1999, this Carmen was a packer in a cigarette factory, Jose was a police officer and Escamillo a Rock Star. A fantastic re-imagining of the classic work, with superb performances by Charlotte Broom as Carmen and Daniel de Andrade – who today is Northern Ballet’s Artistic Associate – as Jose.

382. Nederlands Dans Theater NDT2 – Swan Theatre, High Wycombe, 23^rd May 1999

Another wonderful tour from the NDT’s youth company. The programme started with Round Corners, choreographed by Johan Inger, then we saw Déjà vu, choreographed by Hans van Manen, Skew-Whiff, choreographed by Paul Lightfoot, and finally Indigo Rose, choreographed by Jiri Kylian. It’s always a privilege to see this amazing company.

383. La Sylphide – Ballet de l’Opera National de Paris at the Palais Garnier, Paris, 18^th June 1999

Moving past a fairly bland revival of Anthony Shaffer’s Sleuth at the Wycombe Swan, starring Peter Bowles and Michael Maloney, our next show was a glamorous visit to the Palais Garnier in Paris, during a wonderful ten day holiday in the French capital. La Sylphide, with choreography by Pierre Lacotte, was given a tremendous, pure production, with Fanny Gaida dancing the title role, Manuel Legris as James and Delphine Moussin as Effie. I had never seen a production quite like it. And since then we’ve always tried to see a ballet at the Palais Garnier if we go to Paris.

384. Rent – Shaftesbury Theatre, London, 19^th August 1999

Rent had already been playing at the Shaftesbury for more than a year by the time we finally got around to seeing it. It was a great production, but for some reason – probably my age and latent conservatism – I’ve never quite got on with it as a show. Three of the roles – Mark, Mimi and Maureen – were played by understudies; I’m not sure if that played a part in how the show came across. Whatever, this production by Michael Greif, is a major part of musical theatre history.

385. Rambert Dance Company 1999 Autumn Programme – Swan Theatre, High Wycombe, 14^th & 16^th October 1999

Rambert returned to Wycombe with two programmes – so we saw them both. The first programme started with Gaps Lapse and Relapse by Jeremy James, followed by my all-time favourite dance, Christopher Bruce’s Ghost Dances, and finally The Golden Section choreographed by Twyla Tharp.

The second programme was the full-length dance God’s Plenty, Christopher Bruce’s dance exploration of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. The classic company included Paul Liburd, Hope Muir, Matthew Hart, Laurent Cavanna, Christopher Powney, Glenn Wilkinson, Vincent Redmon, Didy Veldman, Marie-Laure Agrapart, and Rafael Bonachela.

386. The Lion King – Lyceum Theatre, London, 19^th October 1999

A good friend worked for one of the companies that sponsored The Lion King, and as a result he received an allocation of tickets for its first night, and he kindly invited us! So we walked on the red carpet (briefly) and went star-spotting in the bar. The show was good too! The original cast featured Josette Bushell-Mingo, Rob Edwards, Roger Wright, Martyn Ellis and Paul J Medford. Very enjoyable!

 

387. Mark Morris Dance Company – Swan Theatre, High Wycombe, 23^rd October 1999

I’ve always really liked the choreography and style of Mark Morris, so it was great to catch this brief tour, over from the United States. The programme was Dancing Honeymoon followed by The Argument; then after the interval, Bedtime followed by Grand Duo. All pieces were choreographed by Mark Morris. Hugely entertaining!

388. Closer – Milton Keynes Theatre, 13^th November 1999

We didn’t get to see the original West End run of Patrick Marber’s Closer so when this tour was announced it seemed like the perfect opportunity to plug that gap. A harsh and uncomfortable play, but beautifully performed and produced, with Amanda Ryan, Barnaby Kay, Darrel D’Silva and Lizzy McInnerny.

389. Richard Alston Dance Company – Swan Theatre, High Wycombe, 3^rd December 1999

We were really looking forward to seeing the return of the Richard Alston Dance Company, on what had already become a regular annual event. The programme was: Red Run, followed by Light Flooding into Darkened Rooms (which we had seen the previous year), and Roughcut. All pieces were choreographed by Richard Alston. A Sudden Exit had been scheduled for this performance but was replaced by Light Flooding at the last minute. The company was led by Martin Lawrance, but all the dancers were magnificent.

390. Comic Potential – Lyric Theatre, London, 29^th December 1999

Passing over yet another visit to see Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, this time visiting Milton Keynes, and with Simon Cooper and Tom Ward in the iconic roles, our next show was the most recent Alan Ayckbourn to hit the West End, Comic Potential. Janie Dee and David Soul (yes Hutch himself) led the excellent cast that also featured Matthew Cottle. Low paid actoids have replaced actors in this sci-fi comedy set in a TV station of the future. Rather weird, but tremendous fun!