Ballet dancers spend an unusual amount of time on their toes, much like the coworker who creeps up behind your chair every day just to watch you for a while. Gaze at grace with this GrouponLive deal to see Manassas Ballet Theatre's performance of La Boutique Fantasque and other pieces at Merchant Hall at Hylton Performing Arts Center. For $39, you get two tickets for seating in the orchestra section (up to a $99 value, including all fees). Choose between the following shows:
- Saturday, March 9, at 7:30 p.m.
- Sunday, March 10, at 3 p.m.
Doors open 30 minutes before the show.
The Plot
La Boutique Fantasque spins a whimsical tale set in an enchanted toy shop in 19th century France. The merry shopkeeper specializes in mechanical dancing dolls, to the delight of his international clientele. The stars of the show are the can-can dancers, a male and female pair who spark the interest of both a Russian and an American family. The customers agree that the Americans will purchase the male doll and the female doll will go to the Russians, but as night falls on the shop, the toys come to life and lament that they are to be parted. When the sun rises again, they have struck on a plan to stay together—though their kindly shopkeeper might wish he had been informed. Manassas Ballet Theatre’s fleet-footed dancers present the family-friendly piece alongside original contemporary works.
The Music
When composing the dainty instrumental score to La Boutique Fantasque, Ottorino Respighi relied on the works of one of the classic greats of comic musical theater: Gioachino Rossini, author of The Barber of Seville. Incorporating a number of the 19th century maestro’s piano works, the music whisks audiences through a whirlwind European tour of Spanish, Russian, and French folk dances. Like the dolls in the ballet, the score has taken on a life of its own and has been recorded by ensembles such as the Boston Pops Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, and the BBC Philharmonic.
Hylton Performing Arts Center
When visitors enter the two-story lobby of the Hylton Performing Arts Center, their eyes dart from the purple carpeting to the stately pillars—all accented by light streaming in from the windowed exterior. Inside the 85,000-square-foot events center, ballet performances unfold in the dramatically modern hall, toes tap along with cabaret shows in the intimate theater space, and exhibits by local artists and dexterous stagehands open windows to other worlds in the second-floor art gallery.
