Warren Carlyle Will Help New York City Ballet Celebrate Jerome Robbins
Jerome Robbins—the legendary choreographer who changed the way the world thought about both Broadway and ballet—would have been 100 years old next year. That’s the kind of anniversary that calls for a great party. And New York City Ballet, one of Robbins’ homes, definitely knows how to throw great parties.
NYCB will actually be honoring Robbins for three whole weeks during its 2018 spring season, dancing 19 different Robbins ballets. But the centerpiece of the celebration, the company just announced, will be a new work staged by Tony Award winner/all-around Broadway rockstar Warren Carlyle, who’ll assemble extracts from eight (!) of Robbins’ most famous musicals.
NYCB isn’t unfamiliar with Robbins’ Broadway-style choreo: It’s performed West Side Story Suite, featuring the danciest parts of the iconic show, since 1995. But this new work, incorporating choreo from On the Town, Billion Dollar Baby, The King and I, Peter Pan, West Side Story, Gypsy, Funny Girl, and Fiddler on the Roof, sounds like next-level stuff. “It will be 40 minutes of razzmatazz fun,” Carlyle told the New York Times.*
The NYCB dancers are definitely up to the challenge. Many of them, most notably Megan Fairchild, Tiler Peck, and Georgina Pazcoguin, already have Broadway credits on their resumés. And Amar Ramasar and Brittany Pollack are set to make their Broadway debuts in Carousel, choreographed by fellow NYCBer Justin Peck, next March. (Here’s hoping they’ll be able to cab over to Lincoln Center to dance in Carlyle’s Robbins spectacular!)
*[The world would be a shinier, happier place if we all used the word “razzmatazz” more, amirite?]
