“Attack it!  Attack it!”

In Darren Aronofsky’s 2010 psychological thriller horror film Black Swan, Nina’s ballet instructor urges Nina to show him a side to her that she has never known.  It’s the side that lets go.

American Repertory Theater’s musical Black Swan may be a bit different than the movie in some respects, but the message remains the same.

With Sonya Tayeh’s taut direction and dynamite choreography and Or Matias’s foreboding music direction, American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) continues the world premiere of psychological thriller horror musical, Black Swan live and in person at Loeb Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts through Sunday, July 12.  The action is not limited to the stage and this mature production within a production runs approximately 2 hours and 10 minutes with one intermission. Click here for more information and for tickets.

The arts can be brutal, competitive and fickle.  Especially with the art of ballet, it requires a unique kind of discipline, sacrifice and determination under the constant pressure of perfection.

Black Swan started out as a 2010 Academy award-winning psychological thriller horror film featuring a stellar cast that included Natalie Portman as Nina, Mila Kunis as Lily, Winona Ryder as Beth and the incomparable Barbara Hershey as Nina’s mother Barbara.  It’s a mesmerizing yet unsettling film loaded with literal and figurative twists and turns through the eyes of sweet dancer Nina whose reality sporadically becomes skewed as the film progresses.

In the process of making the film, Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis endured rigorous training and followed a strict diet. Kunis had never danced in her life.  Both trained for four months on an intense schedule seven days a week and five hours a day which also included Portman swimming a mile every day.  Portman lost 20 pounds from her already tiny frame and Kunis tore a ligament, dislocated her shoulder and has visible scarring from training. Kunis also vowed she will never dance again and it was the hardest thing she had ever done. 

Based on Jen Silverman‘s book of this musical, a story by Andres Heinz and the Academy Award-winning psychological thriller horror film, this world premiere musical boasts some lighter and more humorous moments while its intensity is laid out from the first scene featuring ambitious characters consistently competing with each other.  They are driven by the arduous drive to survive, succeed, and gain power.  It is no wonder that the lyrics and dialogue in this new musical are rife with powerfully visceral action words such as tear, scratch, scrape, twist, elongate, crack and attack as the dancers rehearse on a grueling three week deadline for a new production.  It makes the audience feel this painstaking process.

For those who have not seen the brilliant yet disquieting film, the film and musical are not a musical for the faint of heart. They explore the dark crevices of mental illness and obsession while emphasizing the struggle and ferocious determination it takes to become the best. 

However, the Black Swan musical does not just speak to the art of ballet, but the savage journey one takes to become the best at their craft which often involves relentless focus, determination and sacrifice.

 AMP featuring Marissa Todd’s vast and layered Scenography accompanied by Chris Fisher and Skylar Fox’s masterful illusion design exacts a ballet studio with moving Barres, a regal gala featuring a tremendous and glimmering chandelier, a wild psychedelic club scene with a dizzying disco ball, and a transformative and ominous forest.  I was fascinated to see how various illusions from the film would translate into a stage production and the results are riveting combined with Lillis Meeh’s stunning blood imagery and Ida Saki’s powerful and athletic performance.

Isabella Byrd’s crackling and flashing lighting devastates and intrigues in this moody tale alongside Kai Harada’s haunting and foreboding fiddle laden rhythms.  Shiona Turini’s colorful and dynamic wardrobe varies from silk and sequined gowns to creatively daring statement ensembles. 

In a pastel leotard, Melanie Moore climbs into the skin of anxious and gentle Nina, a New York City ballet dancer aspiring to become the company’s principal dancer.  A perfectionist wrapped in a cluster of timid uncertainty, Nina is childlike, delicate, naïve, impressionable and sheltered under the guidance of her protective mother Barbara, in an increasingly searing performance by understudy Mehry Eslaminia (usually depicted by Kate Jennings Grant).  Barbara is fixated on Nina becoming the star ballerina she was prevented from becoming and Nina longs to please her mother. Moore is excellent as Nina, a beautiful dancer and her sympathetic naiveté draws you into her world of uncertainty and longing.

When a bold new choreographer LeRoy, portrayed with easy charm, charisma and sharp comic timing by Amber Iman, arrives to stage a new version of Swan Lake, Nina thinks this might be her chance to shine.  When Jada Simone Clark breezes in as mysterious and effervescent free spirit dancer Lily, she catches Nina and LeRoy’s attention.  LeRoy is driven by something to prove and Iman and Thom Sesma as company director Jacques share a tense and interesting power dynamic underneath their lighter and more humorous moments. 

Tory Trowbridge delivers a chilling performance as worn principal dancer on edge, Beth McIntyre. Consistently aware of her position, McIntyre is sympathetic in her desperation to hold onto her place in the company and her distressed exchanges with Moore will leave you on tenterhooks.

While the film draws a clearer picture of Nina’s journey, Black Swan musical is intense, haunting, visceral and intriguing deciphering Nina’s precarious state of mind and how it is executed onstage.  The conclusion remains stunning.  I agree with the moderate differences in the musical than the film for the most part.  However, much of the film hinges on the traditional ballet production than a modern new vision which seems like it doesn’t quite fit.  In the film, Aronofsky takes the dark nature of this renowned classic and turns it on its ear while enhancing this dancer’s journey running intermittent parallels with Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. Aronofky also produces this musical so I am surprised by this change. Though this musical is no romance, it is no less a transformational piece rooted in the desire to become who you believe you are meant to become at whatever the cost.

American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) continues the world premiere of psychological thriller horror musical, Black Swan live and in person at Loeb Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts through Sunday, July 12.  Click here for more information and for tickets.