Every now and again a sequel comes along that surpasses the original. I’m not suggesting that Angelina Ballerina’s Big Audition is The Godfather: Part II of children’s ballets, but its potential appeal seems greater than that of Angelina’s Star Performance.
That’s saying something. Made in partnership between English National Ballet and the international children’s entertainment producers HIT Entertainment, the first show had its premiere in 2007. It subsequently racked up almost 350 performances during three UK tours. Add in visits to Melbourne and Dubai and the total global audience amounted to nearly 200,000 people.
There’s no reason to believe that ENB’s second investment in the Angelina franchise won’t do as well, or better. Both productions are based on the adventures of the titular, tutu-clad mouse created by Katharine Holabird (author) and Helen Craig (illustrator). Their furry heroine’s gentle adventures have been documented in a series of enormously popular books. Clearly her ambitions know no bounds: in the autumn Nick Jr will broadcast the first CGI-created Angelina television series.
This is good news for ENB, HIT and all the manufacturers of merchandise tied to the character. Not to forget Angelina’s fans. Certainly the choreographer Antony Dowson and ENB’s creative team haven’t done so. Look beyond the commercial trappings and what you see in Big Audition is an entirely diverting little two-act performance virtually guaranteed to charm an army of small children — boys, note, as well as girls — and their minders.
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This time Angelina gets an audition at the prestigious Camembert Academy. The first act, set in her local ballet class, is tolerably cute. The second ups the ante by showing us the audition. There’s loads of dance throughout, and far more varied than in the first Angelina ballet. I was particularly taken with a light satire of modernist pretensions involving an oversized wedge of cheddar. The show itself isn’t a bit cheesy; it’s scrupulously well danced and mimed by a lively cast in pointy-faced masks and padded costumes. Plainly this dance-loving rodent, as they say in the business, has legs.
Tours to Aug 12: ballet.org.uk/angelina