Athletic dancing by a good looking Gene Kelly made the Singin’ in the Rain film iconic. And Kelly’s energy and zest have been recreated in Scottish Ballet’s wonderful Starstruck which rounds off its tour tonight at the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh.
Fabulously created with a collaboration between Kelly’s widow Patricia Ward Kelly and the Scottish ballet, the show was first performed in 2021 as a feature film and one act performance.
Five years later and the ballet’s artistic director Christopher Hampson has built on the love story and created a magical musical where jazz meets ballet.
Old school Hollywood glamour with a celebration of movement and music is what Starstruck is all about and its truly mesmerising.
The story moves between two parallel worlds, gods and mortals, Olympus and the rehearsal room. It’s all about love and how its connection with ambition and creativity and its told in such a gentle way that it’s simply spellbindingly beautiful.
Hampson’s twist on the original builds on the story between the Star Ballerina and a Choreographer and their mythological counterparts, Aphrodite and Zeus.
And it’s all performed with effortless brilliance, with Marlen Fuerte Castro a dream as the Star Ballerina/Aphrodite along with Yuri Marques as the Choreographer/Zeus, their chemistry is spot on and their ballet and timing perfect.
Joined by Hamish Longley (pianist/Eros), Kayla-Maree Tarantolo (sweetheart woman/girl with pony tail), Charley Austin (sweetheart man/lifeguard), Harvey Evans (stagehand/film star), Shelly (Hannah Cubitt), Tasha (Annabelle McCoy) and Karren (Claire Souet), the performance is technically brilliant and full of fun.
Lez Brotherson’s fabulous set works so cleverly as it switches scenes and Martin Yates as guest conductor has the Scottish Ballet Orchestra working in perfect harmony with music by George Gershwin, Maurice Ravel and Frédéric Chopin.
The main characters are supported by the ladies ensemble of Elizabeth Williams, Melissa Parsons, Rishan Benjamin, Antonia Cramb, Urara Takata, Seira Winning, Claire Tjoe-Fat, Mayu Takata and men’s ensemble of Mackenzie Jacob, Lewis Formby, Theo Greenfield, Yipeng Xu, Alfie McPherson, Augustin Cimbault, Rimbaud Patron, Calum Gray and Andrea Azzari.
It’s so lovely to see such vitality and happiness on stage – something which would have had Gene Kelly dancing with delight!
For more information on the Scottish Ballet, please visit: www.scottishballet.co.uk.
Author Bio:
Rebecca Hay is an experienced travel writer and member of The British Guild of Travel Writers. Follow her adventures with her family on Twitter and Instagram @emojiadventurer and on Facebook via EmojiAdventurers2.
Photograph by Andy Ross
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