Mercutio!

We will be enjoying another performance of Romeo and Juliet this week at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Ravenboy had treated us to many entertaining and playful moments in this ballet, many of them just subtle background scene additions. This time it will be a non-stop barrage of dynamic dancing in the role of Mercutio!

If anyone has forgotten who Mercutio is, he is Romeo's best friend who gets killed by Tybalt thus infuriating Romeo to reignite the feud with Juliet's Capulet family by killing Tybalt. For those who are more familiar with West Side Story, Mercutio is the same role as Riff, Tony's best friend who gets killed in the rumble infuriating Tony to kill Maria's brother, Bernardo.

Below are two rehearsal videos. This was an unscheduled rehearsal for Ravenboy. A tired coworker generously offered his time as a last chance to run the scenes in the studio before going on tour. A very tired Ravenboy took on the chance to have one last moment to polish this integral character.

The first video starts in the ballroom scene just after Romeo (David Hallberg) realizes he is twitter-pated with Juliet (Gillian Murphy). Benvolio (a very enthusiastic Daniil Simkin) and Mercutio quickly separate them and Mercutio does an entertaining dance to distract the guests away from the moment.


The second video shows picks up after Benvoilo does a similar and then Mercutio continues while antagonizing Tybalt (Patrick Ogle).



I can tell this is going to be a totally enjoyable performance and am so excited to share these gems. Thank Luis for recording them for Ravenboy!