Kenneth MacMillan had previously choreographed the balcony scene for Lynn Seymour and Christopher Gable to dance in September 1964 for Canadian Television. This experience made him seem a good candidate to choreograph the entire ballet for Covent Garden, when the Soviet Union refused to allow Leonid Lavrovsky's classic production to tour to London. MacMillan prepared his version with the blessing of Frederick Ashton.
Premiere performance
Kenneth MacMillan's Royal Ballet production of Sergei Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet premiered at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden on 9 February 1965. Though MacMillan had conceived the ballet for Lynn Seymour and Christopher Gable, for "bureaucratic reasons" Margot Fonteyn and Rudolph Nureyev danced the opening night, to MacMillan's disappointment. Fonteyn and Nureyev brought new life to the characters, as did the set and costume designs by Nicholas Georgiadis; Fonteyn, considered to be near retirement, embarked upon a rejuvenated career with a partnership with Nureyev.
"Romeo and Juliet" was the lead single released from Sylk-E. Fyne's debut album, Raw Sylk. The song was released on January 27, 1998, with production from Gerald Baillergeau and Victor Merritt and a guest appearance from William "Chill" Warner. The song was a massive hit on Mainstream Urban radio stations in February 1998. The music video was released in January 1998 and had heavy rotation on the B.E.T. network. It contains an interpolation of "You Don't Have To Cry" by Rene & Angela.
The song quickly became a success, rising to #6 on the Billboard 100 and #1 on the rap charts. However, her album failed to match the single's success as Raw Sylk struggled sales-wise, and she was dropped from her label, RCA Records. Though her next single, 2000's "Ya Style" found some success on the rap charts (peaking at #17), "Romeo and Juliet" remains both Sylk-E. Fyne and Chill's only top 40 hit on the Billboard 200.
"Romeo and Juliet" was certified gold by the RIAA on March 30, 1998 for sales of over 500,000 copies.
Unlike Tchaikovsky's other major compositions, Romeo and Juliet does not have an opus number. It has been given the alternative catalogue designations TH 42 and ČW 39.
Musical structure
Although styled an 'Overture-Fantasy' by the composer, the overall design is a symphonic poem in sonata form with an introduction and an epilogue. The work is based on three main strands of the Shakespeare story. The first strand, written in F-sharp minor, following Mily Balakirev's suggestion, is the introduction representing the saintly Friar Laurence. Here there is a foreboding of doom from the lower strings. The Friar Laurence theme is heard in F minor, with plucked strings, before ending up in E minor. The introduction is chorale-like.
The song is a moderately up-tempo number, with Stokkan addressing the object of his desires. He sings about his elaborate preparations to "seduce you" - going to the lengths of borrowing clothes to look better. Unfortunately for him, his advances appear to have been over-eager, as he sings "My greatest pleasure was to touch you/My biggest stupidity was to feel you up". His paramour compares him unfavourably to Romeo, telling him that "the Gods shall know that you will never become a/Romeo, Romeo, try to take it easy", even as he is begging on his knees for the relationship to work.
Despite the somewhat unconventional lyrics - Eurovision entries tending to be about requited love - the song is more significant for the appearance onstage of a drag queen, a member of the Norwegian drag troupe "Great Garlic Girls", dressed in stylised clothing reminiscent of the 18th century.
Marvin Dawkins (born 23 October 1980), better known by his stage name Romeo or MC Romeo, is an English rapper and MC.
Biography
Romeo first found fame in the garage group So Solid Crew, having grown up on and around the notorious Surrey Lane, Winstanley and Badric Court estates of Battersea. He subsequently had a solo career. He got his name Romeo due to his smoothness with the ladies.
Romeo released his solo album Solid Love in November 2002, through Relentless records, the label that No Solid had just left for Independiente.
He enjoyed two top 10 singles, "Romeo Dunn'em" which reached No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart in 2002, and secondly a duet with Christina Milian, "It's All Gravy Baby", which reached No. 9 in the UK Singles Chart in the same year.
However, only a disappointing 40,000 copies sold of his album, peaking at No. 46 in the UK Albums Chart. In March 2003, Relentless filed for bankruptcy with debts of £3m.
In 2004, Romeo appeared in the reality show The Games, and returned to the series to compete in the Champion of Champions contest in 2006. Romeo also featured in a gameshow called Fool Around With... Romeo on Channel 4 in 2005, in which he had to guess which girl out of four was single.
SEE ALSO ...Swan Lake (July 1-6) and Romeo and Juliet (July 9-13) ... Romeo and Juliet, created by Kenneth MacMillan in 1965 and in ABT’s rotation since 1985, with its beautiful score by Sergei Prokofiev, will open with Teuscher and Bell in the title roles.
MacMillan’s pieces (Romeo & Juliet, Manon, Mayerling) are some of the most popular at the Royal Ballet, where he was artistic director in the 1970s, but Ballade was danced only once, on a foreign tour 50 years ago.
View image in fullscreen ... The return of Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet marks its 60th anniversary; also 60 years old is John Cranko’s take on Pushkin’s Onegin which will be on the main stage only a few months after its operatic counterpart ... .
Never was a story of more woe told quite so often as that of Juliet and her Romeo... When she finally locks eyes with Romeo (Joseph Taylor) the smile drops in astonishment ... Romeo & Juliet is at Leeds Grand theatre until 16 March then touring.
... over-amplified recorded sound, no sets, but when Royal Ballet principals Yasmine Naghdi and Reece Clarke dance the balcony pas de deux from Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet, all that falls away.
