Paul Kolnik News

October 31, Halloween. I was walking to City Center for the opening of 'Balanchine: The City Center Years.' But then I began thinking of Stephen Sondheim's 'Follies.' You must all know the musical. Everyone returns for a reunion, only to be met with ghosts and remembrances of their past lives. After all, City Center is where New York City Ballet began in 1948. I wondered who I would encounter? I saw Allegra Kent. I think I saw two other members of the company who danced on New York City Ballet's opening night 70 years ago? But perhaps I'd encounter some of the other principal dancers of that time: Maria Tallchief on the stairs? Or Tanaquil Le Clercq at the bar? Or Frank Hobi? Francisco Moncion? Nicholas Magallenes? Yvonne Mounsey? Diana Adams?

Lincoln Center Theater presents The Hard Problem, a new play by Tom Stoppard, to be directed by Jack O'Brien.

My theatre life subject for today is one I've wanted to interview for a long while now. Tiler Peck is one of those performers that automatically brings any stage to life from her first entrance and keeps you captivated until her final bow.

An admission. I didn't go to the New York City Ballet fashion gala. Why? Because I didn't care. The New York City Ballet is probably the only company in the world that never had to pander to an audience seeking couture thrills, at least when Balanchine was alive. I know that's changed and the company has to bring in the bucks, but when the draw seems to be clothes and not choreography, it gets me thinking. What's in store for us?

Broadway San Jose, a Nederlander Presentation, welcomes the return of Broadway's record-breaking, Tony Award-winning musical smash CHICAGO to San Jose's Center for the Performing Arts(255 S. Almaden Blvd.) for a limited engagement from Thursday, November 15 through Sunday, November 18, 2018. With a legendary book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, CHICAGO is now the #1 longest-running American musical in Broadway history-and it still shows no sign of ever slowing down!

New York City Ballet announced today the programming for Principal Dancer Joaquin De Luz's farewell performance, which will take place on October 14 at 3pm, closing the Company's 2018 Fall Season. After a 15-year career with New York City Ballet, for his final performance De Luz will dance 'Theme and Variations' from George Balanchine's Tchaikovsky Suite No. 3, Jerome Robbins' A Suite of Dances, and Peter Martins' Todo Buenos Aires. Also on the program will be Balanchine's Concerto Barocco, a personal favorite of De Luz's, which he will not perform that afternoon.

Na-Young Jeon is a Dutch-Korean actress and singer. She's played Fantine in Les Miserables in the West End and has been a part of the Miss Saigon UK Tour, and is currently playing Tuptim in The King and I at London Palladium.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's latest seven-performance stint at New York City's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts reinforced that the beloved company brings an unrivaled level of artistry and athleticism to everything they do – from classical ballet to jazz and contemporary.

Choreographer Jerome Robbins was born in New York City in 1918. On this, the occasion of what would be his 100th birthday, the New York City Ballet, for whom he choreographed and became Associate Artistic Director, presents Jerome Robbins 100 with five different programs. On Friday, May 18, 2018, I was in the David Koch Theater to see program #5.

New York City Ballet's Centennial Celebration at the Koch Theater in Lincoln Center of the 100th anniversary of Jerome Robbins' birth honors the prodigiously gifted dancemaker, the company's Co-Founding Choreographer, with a ballet lover's feast of five programs from May 3rd to May 20th 2018. The run include two world premieres as well as 20 ballets by Robbins. He died in 1998 at the age of 80, but “Robbins 100” shows beyond a doubt that his legacy endures.

As the weather warms up, the flowers stretch from their soil towards the sun in all their glory. So do the dancers of New York City Ballet. On May 1, 2018, the company celebrated the experimental prowess of great 21st Century Choreographers in a three-piece program to showcase both the present and future definitions of “ballet.”

For his Centennial, the New York City Ballet chose to honor its former co-ballet master in chief by highlighting his range through three works: the modern and minimalist 'Glass Pieces,' the fun and light-hearted 'Fancy Free,' and the classical and elegant 'The Four Seasons.' Each is distinct, and collectively the productions and the wonderful performances bring to life the work of a master.

The New York City Ballet has completed its annual pilgrimage to the Kennedy Center. This year the venerable company brings an offering of Balanchine, Martins, Peck, and more Balanchine to Washington. The choreography was well danced, and the orchestra sounded excellent. But compared to years past, the simplicity and repetitive nature of this program left me feeling underwhelmed.

Two-time Tony Award Winner Norbert Leo Butz is about to take the stage again this year in the Broadway Revival of My Fair Lady as Alfred P. Doolittle -- a part that won George Rose the Tony back in 1976. Butz is one of only nine actors who have won the Best Actor Tony twice (alongside stars like Nathan Lane). As he prepares to take stage yet again, let's reflect on his career: all twenty two years of it!