{"id":155335,"date":"2025-09-19T17:30:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T17:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/155335\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T17:30:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T17:30:12","slug":"the-ballet-review-ozzy-osbourne-tribute-goes-down-a-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/155335\/","title":{"rendered":"the Ballet review \u2014 Ozzy Osbourne tribute goes down a storm"},"content":{"rendered":"

This marriage between the heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath and classical dance may seem an unlikely prospect, but Birmingham Royal Ballet\u2019s three-act spectacle scored a hit when it was first performed in 2023. <\/p>\n

And the company\u2019s revival tour, which kicked off this week, certainly went down a storm in Birmingham, where the four original band members, all working-class lads, were raised. Home town pride goes a long way. So does a climactic opening night guest appearance by Tony Iommi, legendary lead guitarist, primary composer and this show\u2019s musical consultant.<\/p>\n

The performance would probably still have received a standing ovation without him, although I\u2019m not convinced it deserves one. It is, however, an undeniably bold and unabashedly commercial venture involving three choreographers and three composers, led, respectively, by the Swedish dance-maker Pontus Lidberg and the British composer\/orchestrator Christopher Austin. You don\u2019t have to be Sabbath savvy to enjoy their collaboration, though I suspect it helps.<\/p>\n

In a brief pre-show speech, BRB\u2019s artistic director, Carlos Acosta, dedicated the performance to Ozzy Osbourne, the band\u2019s lead vocalist, who died in July. Osbourne features on the soundtrack of the first and weakest act, singing lyrics from the early Sabbath classic War Pigs.<\/p>\n

But Ra\u00fal Reinoso\u2019s choreography for 17 black-clad dancers \u2014 including Yaoqian Shang and Javier Rojas as a lovestruck couple who dance with their lips locked together, either beleaguered or mirrored by other figures \u2014 is underpowered, and the ensemble\u2019s rudimentary moves under-rehearsed. A quick spurt of balletic razzle-dazzle arrives too late.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Javier Rojas and Yaoqian Shang are the lovestruck couple<\/p>\n

JOHAN PERSSON<\/p>\n

The Brazilian choreographer Cassi Abranches does better with the 14-strong cast in 1970s garb who pepperfoot through act two. Ava May Llewellyn stands out in a solo with a swagger that the show often lacks. Still, grounded by autobiographical voiceovers from band members and Sharon Osbourne, Ozzy\u2019s widow, this act is better judged and has the most substance.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Read more theatre reviews, guides and interviews<\/a><\/p>\n

The final act knees-up has the most breadth. Kudos, too, to dancer Riku Ito\u2019s buoyant interaction with shaggy-haired guitarist Marc Hayward: Black Sabbath\u2019s back catalogue lends itself to orchestral interpretation. <\/p>\n

The Royal Ballet Sinfonia, conducted by Austin, sparkles throughout, and the production values \u2014 unimaginative costumes aside \u2014 are high. Given its source material, this ballet would benefit from a more raucous energy, but it is entertaining for all that.
\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606\u2606
130min
Hippodrome, Birmingham, to Sep 27. Tour continues to Nov 1. brb.org.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This marriage between the heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath and classical dance may seem an unlikely prospect, but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":155336,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,341],"class_list":["post-155335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155335"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155335\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}