Swan Lake imports this year ranged from the proverbial sublime to ridiculous. Though I’m not usually a big fan of ballet, all the white feathers and unison corps work in the Kirov’s production at the Auditorium last month made me feel snuggled in luxurious pillows. But there was no danger of falling asleep given the incisive performance of Odette/Odile. The only false note came at the alternative “happy” end (a false note in itself), when the Prince tore off the evil Rothbart’s wing and beat him to death with it. As my companion said, “That was just so ghetto!” The ridiculous, of course, was Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake at the Cadillac Palace Theatre in February. Male swans weren’t the problem–earthbound performances and overwrought plot twists were.
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Imagine Tap! had a backstory worthy of a movie: a bunch of buddies in the tap-dance community decided to put on a show. But these tappers, three of them Chicagoans, are nationally known and highly accomplished. The vignettes, directed by Broadway star Derick K. Grant, were polished, appealing, and often funny. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this revue, which played the Harris in July, turn up on the Great White Way.
