Ethereal, elegant and uplifting. We know ballet can be all of those things.
In his unexpected and perhaps unlikely adaptation of Mary Shelley’s famous 1818 novel “Frankenstein,” choreographer Liam Scarlett showed it could be so much more — dark, menacing, even shocking, yet still beautiful and alluring.
Just in time for Halloween (the scheduling was hardly a coincidence), the Joffrey Ballet presented the belated Chicago premiere of this imperfect yet in many ways extraordinary story ballet Thursday evening at the Lyric Opera House.
The Joffrey is just the third company to produce this work, a co-production of the Royal Ballet in London, where it debuted in 2016, and the San Francisco Ballet, which presented the American premiere a year later. Its delay in coming to Chicago no doubt had to do with the COVID-19 shutdown but also other unfortunate circumstances.
Scarlett, a once-skyrocketing ballet wunderkind who premiered his first ballet at the Royal Ballet when he was 24, died by suicide in 2021. Never-substantiated allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior had led to his banning from the Royal Ballet in 2020, and the Royal Danish Ballet canceled a production of “Frankenstein” shortly before his death.
“Frankenstein” has its flaws. For starters, it runs about two hours and 45 minutes, which is a bit too long. The setup takes too much time in Act 1, and an ensemble scene at a tavern is completely superfluous.
We want to get to the section when the monster — the Creature, as Shelley called him — is cobbled together and brought back to life, and that culminating scene in Act 1 pays off with a suitably Rube Goldberg laboratory with an impressive barrage of flashes, sparks and mini-explosions (light-sensitive audience members, beware). At first, nothing happens. Then, the Creature’s arm jerks up in a startling and provocative movement that sets off all that is to follow.
At the same time, this adaptation, which follows much of Shelley’s original but also takes liberties, also offers some narrative head-scratchers. Why, for example, is William, Victor Frankenstein’s young brother, left all alone during the middle of his birthday party so the Creature can conveniently kidnap and kill him?
In the end, such drawbacks are easily overlooked because of the effectiveness of the essential elements of the story and the first-rate performances of the 54-member cast, especially Jonathan Dole’s towering portrayal of the Creature.
The visual imagery that most people have in their mind of “Frankenstein” comes from the 1931 film with Boris Karloff as the clunky, hulking monster. Any subsequent adaptation has to embrace this depiction or offer a strong alternative.
This ballet opts for the latter, with the Creature depicted as a bald, light-skinned being with blood-stained, sewn scars running across his body. He is not so much a monster but an other, whose unsightly appearance makes him an outcast.
In one of the work’s pivotal scenes in Act 2, the Creature finally makes his full appearance with a long solo, at first seeming a bit ungainly and unsure but never clumsy as he rubs his hands over his body and tries to understand who he is.
Then, he reads Frankenstein’s scientific notes and discovers how he was created, and his movements become convulsive and frantic as if he were trying to get out of his own skin.
Dole brings enormous technical artistry to this role, but, more important, he powerfully conveys the hurt, twisted emotions and deep humanity of this lost being.
Amanda Assucena shines as Elizabeth, the fiancée and then wife of Victor, whose guilt-ridden decline is aptly conveyed by José Pablo Castro Cuevas. Other notable performances include the fleet-footed and acrobatic Xavier Núñez as Victor’s friend Henry, Jeraldine Mendoza as the caring Justine and Sheppard Littrell, a Joffrey Academy pre-professional, in a polished, convincing turn as William.
The rich, atmospheric, almost cinematic score, with its evocative use of piano, celeste and vibraphone, was provided by American composer Lowell Liebermann. It is vividly realized here by the 54-piece Lyric Opera Orchestra and Joffrey music director Scott Speck.
The focus Thursday evening was rightly on “Frankenstein” and not the controversial artist behind it. If this gripping and touching production holds any sway, more companies are sure to stage it.
