“Omigod, that’s Misty Copeland!”Walking the Red Carpet to the Tony Awards on June 7, Misty Copeland attracted almost as much attention as Broadway veterans Kelli O’Hara and Sutton Foster and pop superstar Jennifer Lopez. Not much of a surprise, because the 32-year-old Missouri native had just been named the first African-American principal dancer in the 75-year history of American Ballet Theatre after starring to acclaim as Odile in “Swan Lake.” The ambitious overachiever was also included on Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2015 list, had a best seller with her memoir, “Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina,” and was profiled on “60 Minutes.”She will now lend that buzzed-about clout to the Broadway revival of “On the Town,” in which she will be starring as Ivy “Miss Turnstyles” Smith for twelve performances between August 26-September 6. In the show, a photo of Ivy in a subway car incites the ardor of Gabey, one of the three sailors at liberty in Manhattan and looking for romance. The producers of the revival are hoping that Copeland’s Ivy will draw her substantial fan base to the musical, which has been struggling at the box-office, just as she has drawn new audiences to ballet.“We are so thrilled to have Misty joining us at this momentous time in her career,” said lead producer Howard Kagan, noting that the original 1944 production featured the Japanese-American dancer Sono Osato in the role of Ivy Smith as part of a racially diverse ensemble. “So it seems fitting that this incredible talent, who has broken barriers in the dancer world, will make her Broadway debut in this show.”Copeland will be the third ballet dancer in the role that demands not only choreographic prowess but also a fair amount of singing and acting. Megan Fairchild, a principal dancer with New York City Ballet, created the role of Ivy in the revival, and will continue with the production until August 9. (Her replacement until Copeland takes over has yet to be announced.) When Fairchild went on vacation, Tiler Peck, a NYCB principal dancer, briefly took over for her sister-in-law. (Peck is married to Megan Fairchild’s brother Robert, who is starring in “An American in Paris.”) Copeland’s decision to bow on Broadway in “On the Town” is a savvy one. She is known as a gutsy and disciplined performer who is keen on taking on new challenges. But at 32, she must also be aware that the shelf life of a ballet dancer is limited, and thus the role of Ivy Smith provides a good stepping-stone to a theatrical career. The profusion of ballet dancers in theater this past season can only be seen as an attempt to expand their respective career opportunities. Starring opposite Robert Fairchild in “An American in Paris” is Royal Ballet dancer Leanne Cope, and Peck also starred in Susan Stroman’s “Little Dancer,” a new musical about Edgar Degas’s muse which bowed at the Kennedy Center. All of these performers have acquitted themselves admirably, with Fairchild and Cope earning Tony Award nominations for “An American in Paris.”Copeland’s anxiety about being able to act the part was allayed in no small measure by her friend the actor Taye Diggs, who is also a cousin of her boyfriend Olu Evans, a lawyer with whom she lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Copeland told the New York Times that after Diggs saw her as Juliet in ABT’s production of “Romeo and Juliet,” he said of her upcoming challenge as Ivy, “I think you’ve got this…”
↧