Susan Sarandon’s first New York stage appearance in a decade (when she was on Broadway in Ionesco’s Exit the King) is the obvious reason to see Happy Talk. In Jesse Eisenberg’s slight comic drama, Sarandon plays Lorraine, a narcissistic actress—is that redundant?—who tries to ignore life’s awfulness from intruding on her well-being in her own home: her (unseen) elderly mother is in a sick bed and her husband Bill, suffering from M.S., often sits in a state of near-catatonia in the living room.

 

A strong season of American Ballet Theatre at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center continued impressively on the evening of Thursday, May 30th, with the Tharp Trio, three compelling dance-works by the innovative choreographer, Twyla Tharp, who has had a long association with the company.

 

Her classical antecedents can be detected in the first piece, the lovely The Brahms-Haydn Variations—originally titled Variations on a Theme by Haydn, after the orchestral work by Johannes Brahms to which it is set—which was given its world premiere by Ballet Theater in the year 2000. The stylistic influence of a choreographer like George Balanchine here provides a contrast with the more contemporary inflections of Tharp’s most celebrated productions. The excellent primary cast included Misty Copeland, Joo Won Ahn, Skylar Brandt, Arron Scott (replacing an injured Herman Cornejo), Stephanie Williams, Blaine Hoven, Zhong-Jing Fang, Calvin Royal III, Sarah Lane, and Gary Pogossian, with strong support from the admirable corps de ballet.

 

There is an explicit link with the historical ballet vocabulary in the second work on the program—the company premiere of Deuce Coupe from 1973, a piece with many beautiful elements set to music, sometimes glorious, by the Beach Boys—in that, throughout, the marvelous ballerina Christine Shevchenko performs steps from the classical ballet dictionary. However, along this one can simultaneously observe the populist choreography that has brought Tharp her greatest fame, with for example three Broadway shows set to music by Billy Joel, Bob Dylan, and Frank Sinatra. The penultimate sequence, “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” was an example of one section that was especially powerful. The massive cast is too large to enumerate so I will only cite some of the more noteworthy dancers, including Stella Abrera, Royal, Isabella Boylston, Copeland, Catherine Hurlin and James Whiteside.

 

The most representative work on the program was the last, the mesmerizing In the Upper Room from 1986—set to wonderful music by Philip Glass—a not unworthy successor to the Jerome Robbins master work, Glass Pieces of 1983. Again, the ballet featured a huge cast from which I will only mention some of the most memorable: Devon Teuscher, Brandt, Duncan Lyle, Hoven (again replacing Cornejo), Cassandra Trenary, Scott, Boylston, and Thomas Forster. The conclusion elicited an enthusiastic ovation with which the choreographer thrillingly appeared on the stage.

 

A terrific season at American Ballet Theatre at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center continued marvelously on the evening of Tuesday, May 28th, with Whipped Cream—one of the finest productions in the company’s repertory—beautifully choreographed by Artist in Residence, Alexei Ratmansky, and set to a wonderful, underrated score from 1924—here excellently conducted by Charles Barker—by the great Richard Strauss, who also penned the original libretto. The current production was commissioned by Ballet Theater, premiering in 2017, with outstanding sets and costumes designed by Mark Ryden and effective lighting by Brad Fields.

 

The performance I attended was graced by a superb cast, with the astonishing Daniil Simkin brilliantly recapitulating the role he created and was born to play: the Boy. His delightful partner was Sarah Lane as Miss Praline, also repeating a role she originated. The riveting Stella Abrera recreated her role as Princess Tea Flower, effectively partnered by Calvin Royal III as Prince Coffee, in a part originated by the incomparable David Hallberg.

 

Thomas Forster—who has shone this season—and Luis Ribagorda together thrilled as Prince Cocoa and Don Zucchero respectively. Catherine Hurlin dazzled as Mademoiselle Marianne Chartreuse, complemented with enchanting comic aplomb by Duncan Lyle as Ladislav Slivovitz and Marshall Whiteley as Boris Wutki, the personification of vodka. Alexei Agoudine was perfect in the dual role of the Chef and the Doctor. Again, the exquisitecorps de balletwere immensely charming.

 

Strauss’s neglected ballet was not a success in its time and one can only be awed by Ratmansky’s ingenious reinvention, which ranks among his supreme achievements and which deserves to become a classic.