American Ballet Theater Moves Its Spring Gala to YouTube
American Ballet Theater, whose 80th anniversary season was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, will move its spring gala online with quarantine performances by Tony Bennett, Cynthia Erivo and the company’s dancers.
With the cancellation of the company’s season, originally scheduled to open next week, as well as canceled tour stops in the United States and Middle East, Ballet Theater said it was expecting to lose $18 million in revenue. The relief fund was established in March, with a goal of raising $1 million by May 11.
The gala will be something of a highlight reel and showcase of its support network, with tributes from guests including Katie Couric, Jennifer Garner and Liev Schreiber — and from the choreographer Alexei Ratmansky, the company’s artist in residence, whose “Of Love and Rage” was to have its New York premiere this season.
Ms. Erivo, the Tony Award and Grammy winner, will open the evening singing “America the Beautiful” to a montage of Ballet Theater dancers in quarantine. Mr. Bennett will perform “Fly Me to the Moon” to choreography by Jessica Lang, adapted from her work “Let Me Sing Forevermore” and recorded in Central Park with the soloists Catherine Hurlin and Aran Bell, a couple sheltering in place together.
Other works on the program include Ms. Lang’s “Our Common Fate,” set to David Lang’s “the national anthems” and featuring Ballet Theater dancers and members of the Studio Company performing virtually. And the tap choreographer Michelle Dorrance will adapt her 2018 work “Dream Within a Dream (deferred),” concluding with footage of the nightly 7 p.m. cheer for front-line workers in New York City.