CAPE Town City Ballet has excelled itself with this production 0f Veronica Paeper’s Orpheus in the Underworld. It was last staged 18 years ago, and its revival breathes — no, blows a gust — of fresh air into the ballet. It ticks all the boxes.
Sparkling choreography matched to the style of the 1920s setting. Check. Gorgeous costumes. Check. Spectacular dancing. Check. Breathtaking Art Deco sets. Check. On top of that it’s fun and funny, delivering all-round fabulous entertainment.
The lead roles are shared between multiple dancers; on our night we saw Leusson Muniz as Pluto, Axton Green as Orpheus, CTCB principal ballerina Kirstél Paterson as Eurydice, and Hannah Ward as Calliope. Muniz, a beautifully expressive dancer, is a compelling Pluto and it’s no surprise Eurydice decides to ditch Orpheus (who is more in love with his violin than his wife) and follow Pluto to the Underworld via Olympus. Orpheus appears to be giving zero cares about the situation, and certainly not short of feminine attention, but his overbearing mother Calliope makes a dramatic entrance and insists he go fetch Eurydice and bring her back right now to where she belongs. Naturally, Calliope will go along for the ride.
In the middle act we meet the gods. The elderly gods (Abdul Isaacs, Caesar Elsner and Zachary Healy) provide comic relief at the poolside, synchronised bathing belles, while Luke Wragg as Mercury would have us believe gravity no longer exists on the stage as he traverses it in leaps and bounds. Jupiter (Fanelo Ndweni) is there too, along with Hera and Venus and assorted cherubs, as well as the Mafia in their pinstriped suits and violin cases. Everyone piles into a lift which descends to Hades for the final showdown.
Everyone is determined to have as much fun as possible in the nightclub of the Underworld because if not there, then where? Calliope has too much champagne and performs a tipsy dance. The leads get to show off their solos, and Pluto um, indicates, what makes him so special. It’s a riotous act, complete with Can Can dancers, for a decadent finale.
Bursting with tongue-in-cheek humour, glamour and larger-than-life characters, Orpheus in the Underworld is set to Jacques Offenbach’s dazzling score in a vibrant orchestral arrangement by Michael Tuffin, performed by the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Brandon Phillips.
The ballet is designed to appeal to newcomers and ballet lovers of all ages. Set in the stylish 1920s, sets and costumes are by Peter Cazalet with additional audio visual effects by Kirsti Cumming. Paeper, who directs the ballet, created it in 1982 when icons such as Phyllis Spira, Eduard Greyling and Triegaardt starred in the principal roles. Another former CTCB principal dancer, Robin van Wyk, stage-manages the production.
Some fun facts: Former CAPAB and Cape Town City Ballet (CTCB) principals Laura Bosenberg and Janet Lindup return to the stage for special guest appearances, taking on the roles of the Old Lady and the Lady with the Dogs respectively. Additionally, CAPAB luminaries Elizabeth Triegaardt, Clare Shepherd-Wilson, Keith Mackintosh and Lindup coached CTCB dancers in various leading roles that they once performed namely Hera, Calliope and Orpheus, bringing decades of experience and theatrical flair to the production.
