Overview

Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon

A modern classic, Manon charts the romantic adventures of an irresistibly beautiful femme fatale and her one true love, the impoverished student Des Grieux, from the demi monde of Paris to the bayous of Louisiana. The passion and danger of Manon's central pas de deux have proven irresistible to audiences around the world, and have made it one of the most popular full-length ballets of the second half of the twentieth century. Since its premiere, Manon has recieved critical acclaim in performances by Paris Opera Ballet, Vienna State Opera Ballet, The Australian Ballet, English National Ballet, and the National Ballet of Canada. Houston Ballet and American Ballet Theatre are the only American companies allowed to perform Sir Kenneth MacMillan's Manon.

SIR KENNETH CREATED A BRILLIANT DANCE DRAMA THAT EXPLORES THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN LOVE, SEX, AND THE CORRUPTING POWER OF MONEY. HE REMAINS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CHOREOGRAPHERS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY AND OUR COMPANY PROUDLY REMAINS A LEADING PRESENTER OF HIS WORK.

STANTON WELCH

Synopsis

MAIN CHARACTERS

Manon, Des Grieux, Monsieur G.M., Lescaut, Lescaut’s Mistress

ACT I

Scene one: The courtyard of an inn near Paris.

The courtyard at the inn is frequented by actresses, gentlemen and the demi-monde from Paris. Among them are Des Grieux (a young student), the wealthy Monsieur G.M. and Lescaut, who is there to meet his sister Manon on her way to enter a convent. A coach arrives bringing Manon and an Old Gentleman, who has been very much attracted by her. Lescaut notices this and takes the Old Gentleman into the inn to make an arrangement with him over Manon. Manon remains outside and meets Des Grieux. They fall in love and decide to escape Paris with the help of the money that she has stolen from the Old Gentleman. Lescaut and the Old Gentleman come out of the inn, having made a bargain, and to their dismay see that Manon has disappeared. Monsieur G.M. tells Lescaut that he too is interested in Manon and because of Monsieur G.M.’s wealth Lescaut promises to find Manon and persuade her to accept Monsieur G.M.

Scene two: Des Grieux’s lodgings in Paris

Des Grieux is writing a letter to his father, but Manon interrupts by declaring her love for him. Des Grieux goes to mail the letter and in his absence Lescaut arrives with Monsieur G.M. Manon yields to Monsieur G.M.’s advances. When Des Grieux returns, Lescaut persuades him that there will be great wealth for all of them if he, Des Grieux, will sanction the liaison between Manon and Monsieur G.M.

INTERMISSION

    

ACT II

Scene one: A party at the Madame’s hotel

Manon arrives at the party given by Monsieur G.M. and is clearly torn between the wealth of her companion and her love for Des Grieux, who is also there with Lescaut. Des Grieux tries to persuade Manon to leave with him but she tells him that the time is not right and only will be when he takes more of Monsieur G.M.’s money at cards. Des Grieux is caught cheating and he and Manon rush away.

Scene two: Des Grieux’s lodgings

Manon and Des Grieux once again declare their love for one another but Monsieur G.M. arrives with the police and Manon is arrested as a prostitute. In the ensuing struggle Lescaut is killed.

INTERMISSION

     

ACT III

Scene one: The port

The Jailer of the Penal Colony awaits the arrival of the convicts from France. Manon has been deported to America as a prostitute and Des Grieux has followed her there by pretending to be her husband. The Jailer now turns his interest toward Manon.

Scene two: The Jailer’s room

The Jailer has arrested Manon but offers her rewards in the hope that she will desert Des Grieux and live with him. Des Grieux breaks in and kills the Jailer.

Scene three: The swamp

Manon and Des Grieux have escaped into the swamp of Louisiana. All her former ambitions of wealth and splendor have been renounced for her love of Des Grieux. While eluding their pursuers Manon collapses and dies in Des Grieux’s arms.

Artists

Sir Kenneth MacMillan (1929-1992)

CHOREOGRAPHER, MANON

Sir Kenneth MacMIllan was born in Dunfermline, Scotland, in 1929 and received his dance training at the Sadler’s Wells (now Royal) Ballet School.  In 1946, he became a founding member of Sadler’s Wells Theatre Ballet, a new company formed by Dame Ninette de Valois.  In 1953, Sir MacMillian’s first ballet, Somnambulism, was the hit of the evening, and from then on, he pursued a celebrated choreographic career.  From 1954 to 1965, he created over ten works for the Sadler’s Wells Company, including The Burrow (1958), Romeo and Juliet (1965), and Song of the Earth (1965).  In 1966, he received an invitation to direct the Berlin Ballet at Deutsche Oper in West Berlin.  He took the company over and staged his own productions of The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and Anastasia.  Emerging as the natural successor to Royal Ballet Director Sir Frederick Ashton, Sir MacMillan assumed the directorship at the beginning of the 1970-1971 season.  He continued to choreograph and in 1974 created both Manon and Elite Syncopations, as well as Requiem (1976), and My Brother, My Sisters (1978), for Stuttgart Ballet.  Other works include Mayerling (1978), La Fin du Jour (1979), Gloria (1980), Isadora (1981), Wild Boy (1981) for American Ballet Theatre, Quartet (1982), Orpheus (1982), Valley of the Shadows (1982), and Requiem for Royal Ballet. Sir MacMillan received his knighthood in 1983.

Jules Massenet (1842 - 1912)

COMPOSER, MANON

ARRANGEMENT: Leighton Lucas (1903-1982) with collaboration from Hilda Gaunt

Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are Manon (1884) and Werther (1892). He also composed oratorios, ballets, orchestral works, incidental music, piano pieces, songs and other music. While still a schoolboy, Massenet was admitted to France's principal music college, the Paris Conservatoire. There he studied under Ambroise Thomas, whom he greatly admired. After winning the country's top musical prize, the Prix de Rome, in 1863, he composed prolifically in many genres, but quickly became best known for his operas. Between 1867 and his death forty-five years later he wrote more than forty stage works in a wide variety of styles, from opéra-comique to grand-scale depictions of classical myths, romantic comedies, lyric dramas, as well as oratorios, cantatas and ballets. Massenet had a good sense of the theatre and of what would succeed with the Parisian public. Despite some miscalculations, he produced a series of successes that made him the leading composer of opera in France in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Like many prominent French composers of the period, Massenet became a professor at the Conservatoire. He taught composition there from 1878 until 1896, when he resigned after the death of the director, Ambroise Thomas. Among his students were Gustave Charpentier, Ernest Chausson, Reynaldo Hahn and Gabriel Pierné.

History

MANON REPERTOIRE HISTORY

This was Houston Ballet’s fifth time performing Manon as part of its main season. Other ballets by Sir Kenneth MacMillan in Houston Ballet’s repertoire include Song of the Earth, Gloria, Solitaire, and Elite Syncopations.

MANON PRODUCTION DETAILS

ORIGINAL CHOREOGRAPHER: Sir Kenneth MacMillan (1929-1992) based on the novel Manon Lescaut by Abbé Prévost (1697-1763)

GENRE: Classical Ballet

RUN TIME: Ballet in 3 Acts; approximately 2 hours and 40 minutes

ORIGINAL PREMIERE DATE: March 7, 1974 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden by the Royal Ballet

HOUSTON BALLET PREMIERE DATE: May 19, 1994 in the Brown Theater at the Wortham Theater Center in Houston, Texas

COSTUME DESIGN: Peter Farmer, after Nicholas Georgiadis

SET DESIGN: Peter Farmer, after Nicholas Georgiadis

LIGHTING DESIGN: Christine Giannelli

BENESH NOTATION SCORE: Gary Harris

STAGERS FOR HOUSTON BALLET (2015): Gary Harris and Bruce Sansom

HOUSTON BALLET ORCHESTRA CONDUCTOR (2015): Ermanno Florio

HOUSTON BALLET STAGE MANAGER (2015): Rachael Fernandez

SPECIAL PROGRAM NOTES (2015):  “Houston Ballet’s 2015 performances of Manon sponsored by: The Wortham Foundation, Inc. and Buick LaCrosse”

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