Mix of tradition, innovation delights ‘Nutcracker’ audience
For the third consecutive year, BalletMet Columbus and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra delivered a magical performance Saturday with their presentation of artistic director Gerard Charles’ version of the holiday favorite, “The Nutcracker.”
The family-friendly production had scores of children on the edges of their seats at the matinee performance in Shea’s Performing Arts Center.
The ballet opened with the lush crimson interior of the Stahlbaum home, complete with a roaring fireplace and a grand staircase that wound around a tall Christmas tree, past an inconspicuous painting of a snowy forest scene with a castle in the background that later in the act would be brought to life.
A host of colorful guests arrived for a lavish party, including the magician uncle of the ballet’s protagonist, young Clara (Bridget Kuhns). Uncle Drosselmeyer, danced effectively by BalletMet’s Jimmy Orrante, thrilled those onstage and in the audience with a succession of magic tricks.
Filled with humor, marvelous detail and wonderfully developed characters, the ballet’s first act was a mix of the best “Nutcracker” traditions, with some contemporary tidbits to appeal to a varied audience.
The party scene ended with young Clara drifting off to sleep with her gift from Drosselmeyer of a nutcracker soldier. Awakened by scurrying mice, Clara is whisked into a raucous battle scene where her Nutcracker Soldier comes to life and leads an army of toy soldiers against the mice, defeating them and their mouse king (Jackson Saver).
The ballet’s first half ended with a glistening snow scene, in which a corps of snowflakes danced and Clara was transformed from a young girl into a young woman (Jamie Dee). She and her Nutcracker Soldierturned-Prince (David Tlaiye), boarded a sleigh to the land of the Sugar Plum Fairy.
Unlike the ballet’s first act, its second act favored inventiveness over tradition. Beginning with a slightly jumbled version of Tchaikovsky’s familiar score for the ballet to accommodate Charles’ alternate scene order, the second act featured the usual succession of ethnic dances brought forth by the Sugar Plum Fairy (Adrienne Benz) to entertain Clara and the Prince,
including a high-flying Russian dance and a sultry Arabian dance that featured a corps of dancers manipulating a large, billowing sheet of fabric and a sensual performance by lead couple Carrie West and Adam Hundt. Most noticeably out of place with Nutcracker tradition (but irresistibly cute) was Charles’ treatment of the “Dance of the Reed Flutes,” which was turned into a dance of preteen court pages.
Solid performances were turned in by all of BalletMet’s dancers and the BPO, with kudos to Dee, Tlaiye, Orrante, Jon Drake (as the Sugar Plum Fairy’s Cavalier) and Benz, who after a listless “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” variation, blazed through her pas de deux, with Drake, in stellar fashion.
Of the plethora of “Nutcracker” ballet productions that grace stages across the country during the holiday season, BalletMet’s may not be the flashiest, most traditional, or most filled with bravura choreography, but you’d be hard pressed to find one with more charm, magic and holiday spirit.
Review
“The Nutcracker”
Featuring the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and BalletMet on Saturday in Shea’s Performing Arts Center.
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