Southern California Ballet presents outdoor ‘Coppélia’ in June
Southern California Ballet presents outdoor ‘Coppélia’ in June
Poway News Chieftan | San Diego Union Tribune
by Emily Sorenson
The Poway Center for the Performing Arts will once again have patrons on its premises with two outdoor performances of “Coppélia on the Green” on Saturday, June 5.
Tickets are on sale now for the ballet, performed by the dancers of Southern California Ballet. This is a limited-capacity outdoor event with socially-distanced pod seating. There will be a matinee performance from 3 to 4:30 p.m. and an evening performance from 6 to 7:30 p.m., with a gathering for families in between. The shows will be performed outside the PCPA, 15498 Espola Road in Poway.
“We’re super excited,” said Toby Batley, SCB’s co-artistic director. “We’ve wanted to do an outdoor show for a while.”
Batley said the dance studio received a grant from the Rancho Bernardo Community Foundation about six months prior to the start of the pandemic to put on an outdoor show. It was supposed to be produced last summer, but COVID-19 meant all plans had to be put on hold. “We wanted to still do something,” Batley said. He added this will be the first live event at the PCPA since the start of the pandemic.
The performances will feature 80 dancers from the studio, 40 per show, with some of the studio’s top dancers playing lead roles. Rancho Bernardo High student Madeline Franz will split the role of Swanhilda with Westview High student Lili Olah. Rancho Bernardo High School’s Zach Ong will dance the role of Franz. Poway High and Del Norte High students Cate Whitehead and Emilia Wightlin, respectively, will perform as Dawn. Madeline Franz will also perform as Prayer in the show she is not performing as Swanhilda. Westview High School’s Erika McCann will perform the role in the other show.
The role of Dr. Coppélius will be played by Victor Wisehart, a SCB alumnus who has performed on Broadway and previously performed guest roles in SCB productions.
“Coppélia” is part of a trio of ballets Batley and co-artistic director Martha Leebolt have in rotation as the studio’s spring shows. The others are “Cinderella” and “Alice in Wonderland.” The last time SCB performed the comedy ballet “Coppélia” was in April 2018.
Batley said the performance will be mostly the full show, though it has been pared down set-wise as backdrops cannot be used outside and flying rigs are not possible. The costuming will be the same, however, and the outdoor stage will be the same size as the PCPA’s stage.
The show has been re-choreographed to make it as socially distanced as possible, Batley said. Dancers will not touch, except two dancers, who are both vaccinated. Dancers will also wear masks onstage, he added.
Batley said he and Leebolt began tentatively planning their outdoor show with the City of Poway and the PCPA in January. The studio usually does a spring show in April and an in-house show in September. However, the September show takes a long time to plan, so Batley said it would not be possible to do this year. Instead, the two shows have been amalgamated into their outdoor performance. “Every kid will get a chance to perform,” he said.
Performing a full-scale outdoor show is new for the studio’s students, Batley said. While some have performed at street fairs and other outdoor events, the stage is usually much smaller and it is a small solo performance or small group presentation, not a full show. “It’s going to be cool,” he said. “I think it’s going to be fun.”
Tickets for a single performance are $38 for adults and $20 for children age 16 and under. Tickets to both shows are $70 for adults and $35 for children. All tickets include admittance to the between-show gathering and an individually wrapped dessert. There is also an option to purchase a picnic box to eat at the gathering. Purchase tickets at southerncaliforniaballet.com.