The Nutcracker
Dec. 12 -26
Keller Auditorium
1 p.m., 2 p.m., 5 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
$12 – $90
www.obt.org
The Christmas tree is lit in Pioneer Courthouse Square and the air has a twinge of snow drifting about. Must be the holidays! Must be “The Nutcracker” time!
In case there are a handful of folks who’ve never been to “The Nutcracker” and never heard the story, it’s a memorable one.
“The Nutcracker” is a holiday fairy tale about a young girl, Clara, and her very favorite Christmas. Her Godfather, Drosselmeier, is a magical, mysterious character in her life. This Christmas he has a special gift for her, a beautiful nutcracker doll. She received the present from him at the annual family party. Very excited about the new doll, Clara wants to stay up all night with it, but her family sends her off to bed. After everyone has left and the family is asleep, Clara sneaks downstairs to look at her nutcracker doll. She eventually falls asleep, and with a little help from Drosselmeier’s magic, her dream begins.
She’s suddenly woken by mice and the Mouse King appears and tries to kidnap her and take her to his kingdom. Clara looks everywhere for her nutcracker, but he is gone. Suddenly, the Christmas tree grows to an enormous height and everything seems out of proportion.
Finally, soldiers appear, and behind them is the Nutcracker. He has come to save her from the Mouse King. First, he must fight the Mouse King. His soldiers and the Mouse King’s mice go to battle. After an exhausting exchange, the Nutcracker defeats the Mouse King. Clara has found her Prince.
Appearing through the smoke is the Nutcracker Prince who has come to take her away to his special land and to show her his magnificent palace. Their journey takes them through the enchanted land of the Snow Queen, Snowflakes and Candyland, where they meet sweets from around the world. They are met by the Sugar Plum Fairy and the beautiful waltzing flowers. Clara does not want to leave her Prince or Fantasyland, but on Christmas Day she awakens under the Christmas tree with all her new friends gone and her family around her.
She is left with the Nutcracker Doll and wonderful memories of her most magical Christmas.
Historically, what today appears as a fairy tale of a young girl’s magical dream began as a morbid story filled with dark undertones. E.T.A. Hoffman, the author of “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King,” never intended the story to be for children, as his words portrayed a bleak view of humanity and relationships. Published in 1816, Hoffman’s tale would undergo revision by Alexander Dumas, eliminating much of the bitterness to adapt the tale as a children’s story. The new version was read with interest by Marius Petipas, the senior ballet master of the Russian Imperial Ballet, who commissioned Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky to compose a score for a full-length “Nutcracker” production. The story would later be simplified into a holiday tale, with the music left intact. In 1892, the first showing of the Nutcracker took place at the Mariinsky Theatre of Russia, home of the Kirov Ballet. “The Nutcracker” made its way to Western Europe in the 1930’s and to America by 1940, performed by Ballet Russe. The first American full length Nutcracker was performed by the San Francisco Ballet, choreographed by W. Christensen. “The Nutcracker” has since become an annual holiday tradition.