Displaying items by tag: Nutcracker

There is something magical about Chicago at Christmastime. Even if there is no snow on the ground, there is an energy in the atmosphere, peaceful and whimsical. Whether you take in the colorful zoo lights at The Lincoln Park Zoo, or stroll the Christkindl markets downtown, or ice skate in the shadow of Wrigley Field, there is magical nestled in every corner of the city. December winds bring a chill to The Windy City and signals the arrival of the holiday season with lights, cozy fires, warm drinks, and the most cherished of holiday traditions, The Joffrey Ballet’s The Nutcracker, now playing at the Lyric Opera.

For those who are unfamiliar with The Nutcracker, the fairy-tail-like ballet follows the story of a young girl named Clara who receives a nutcracker doll on Christmas Eve from a magical guest at the party. Clara's reality and dreams merge as she and her nutcracker embark on a magical adventure. The nutcracker transforms into a prince, and Clara and the prince travel to the Land of Sweets, where they meet the Sugarplum Fairy.

Joffrey’s Nutcracker follows a similar storyline with a magical Chicago twist. On a magical Christmas Eve, mere months before the opening of Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair, Marie and her mother, a sculptress creating the fair’s iconic Statue of the Republic, partake in a festive celebration with a surprise visit from the mysterious Great Impresario. That evening, after awakening to an epic battle between Toy Soldiers and The Rat King, Marie is swept away by a Nutcracker Prince on a whirlwind journey to the dreamlike fairgrounds of the World’s Columbian Exposition with sprawling attractions represented by countries from around the globe. Set to Tchaikovsky’s classic score, The Nutcracker features a celebrated creative team, including two-time Tony Award®-winning choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, Tony Award®-nominated set and costume designer Julian Crouch, Caldecott Medal Award-winning author Brian Selznick, Obie and Drama Desk award-winning puppeteer Basil Twist, Tony Award®-winning lighting designer Natasha Katz and Tony Award®-winning projection designer Ben Pearcy. 

I have been seeing The Nutcracker every holiday season, moving from dancing in the ballet and watching in the wings, to the balcony seats to enjoy the performance. There is nothing quite like The Joffrey’s rendition of the classic ballet. The Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 storyline works incredibly well with the production, from the humble beginnings of fair workers and their families, a kind and wealthy benefactor bequeathing the nutcracker doll, and a dreamlike world with Clara exploring the World’s Fair and all it had to offer. The 1893 World’s Fair inspired Frank E. Baum, utilizing the famed White City of the fair to inspire the Emerald City of Oz in The Wizard of Oz. The fair introduced the world to the Ferris Wheel, brownies, cracker jack popcorn, and the zipper. There were countries and states represented that visitors could only dream to have visited, right in their own backyard. Historical documents and first-hand accounts mention how magical and awe-inspiring the fair was, it’s easy to see how The Joffrey could look at the fair as a backdrop to The Nutcracker and see magic.

But even with the artistic direction The Joffrey took, it still begs the question of why do we see the same performance year after year after year? Artistic Director Ashley Wheater, MBE pondered the same thing. “I have asked myself, ‘How can we make this a special experience for people who have seen the Nutcracker before and for those attending for the first time?’,” says Wheater. “Part of the beauty of this Nutcracker: it is a Chicago story! We set the scene during an important time in the history of our city: the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1892. We identify with the working spirit of the people. We understand that joy can be found in simple things. We appreciate that magic is all around us, if only we look. The real “magic” of this Nutcracker, though, is that it changes every time we watch it. Each of us in the audience is different. We have loved, lost, struggled, succeeded, grown. We bring our own story to the theater. The beauty of live theater is that no two performances will be the same.”

The year’s opening night of The Nutcracker was nothing short of magical. Joffrey’s current company has to be one of their best in years with outstanding principles including Amanda Assucena, the mother and sculptress for the Fair (the Sugar Plum Fairy) and Alberto Velazquez, the Great Impresario of the Fair, and the darling Anabelle de la Nuez as Marie (Clara) and Maxwell Dawe as The Nutcracker. Each scene is a feast for the eyes with the entire company dancing exquisitely amount wreaths, glittering snow, and before giant Ferris wheels. Whether this is your first time seeing The Nutcracker, or your hundredth, there is nothing in the world like Joffrey’s Nutcracker. It is truly one of a kind and the perfect addition to any holiday plans. But much like The World’s Fair of 1893, the magic won’t be here forever, so don’t delay and get your tickets today.

The Nutcracker is now playing at The Lyric Opera House, (20 North Wacker Drive, Chicago) through December 28^th. The Performance run time is 2 hours, includes one 20-minute intermission. Tickets are available at www.joffrey.org.

The month of December means one thing for ballet companies across the country: The Nutcracker. To audiences, this holiday classic brings the classic story of Clara and her Nutcracker Prince coming to life and journeying to the land of sweets. For young dancers, however, The Nutcracker is a culmination and celebration of a year of hard work; hours of work in the studio, rounds of auditions, and weeks of preparation, ending in a handful of performances amidst the glittering lights of the stage. For the Ruth Page Center for the Arts dancers, their company shined bright as they performed the holiday favorite on the NEIU stage, kicking off the holiday season with bright and burgeoning talent.

The Ruth Page Center for the Arts is a Chicago ballet company developing great artists and connects them with audiences and the community.  With a primary focus on dance as a necessary art form, its programming ensures that children and dance artists have a place to train, work and perform at the highest level of excellence. This year's performance of the Nutcracker was a full-length production choreographed by Ruth Page herself and featured the elite Ruth Page Civic Ballet Training Company along with international guest artists.

Growing up I spent most of December in the wings, watching our prima ballerinas dance The Arabian Coffee, The Mirliton, and The Waltz of the Flowers, but this December I sat next to an excited grandfather who whispered feverishly when his granddaughter took the stage as a young BonBon with Mother Ginger. His pride and excitement watching her dance was magical, and more wholesome and heartwarming than I’ve ever felt during a professional performance. The youngest dancers in the company performed as young soldiers battling with The Nutcracker against the Mouse King, while some of the elite and guest artists performed as the Sugar Plum Fairy, the thrilling Russian dance, and Spanish Hot Chocolate. The corp supported each number well with effortless performances throughout the two acts. Dancers of all ages, races, and sizes were represented in this production and audiences whooped, cheered, and applauded loudly and proudly for their stars.  I can only imagine what my own mother felt when she watched me perform when I was younger. 

Ballet is one of the hardest arts, not only for the dancer physically and mentally but also for family budgets and time commitments. The thousands of dollars a year for premier training are daunting and dancers now need to commit young to develop the requisite skills the art demands. It can be taxing on the dancer and the family for different reasons. But in the end, The Nutcracker is a challenging ballet to put on stage with planning often beginning mid-year and dancing roles auditioned in early fall. Foundational training continues with the addition of extra rehearsals to learn and understudy The Nutcracker roles. By the end of November, ballet members and staff are exhausted. But as the holiday season ushers in, and the final dress rehearsals wrap, the company takes to the stage and all the hard work, sacrifice, and dedication to this craft is brought center stage.

There are always options to see incredible companies such as The Joffrey perform this classic, but nothing brought about the holiday spirit more than the young artists of the Ruth Page Center for the Arts. Make it a part of your holiday tradition in the future to support this charming company. Now, more than ever, we owe it to our youth, to the arts, and to the ballet, to shine back the light they bring to us each holiday season. Here’s wishing The Ruth Page Center for the Arts, their dancers, and you and yours, a most magical holiday season.

For more information on the Ruth Page Center for The Arts and tickets to upcoming performances, including their Grayslake Dec 17th performance of The Nutcracker, visit http://www.ruthpage.org/.

As I ascended Madison Street early Saturday afternoon, my daughter’s hand in mine, Samuel Insull’s Civic Opera House rose up before us, throne-like, a sight that once greeted me daily in our old world with its bustling downtown and delights we took for granted. But our excitement — not just to visit the Joffrey Ballet’s new home, but to visit theater, arts, entertainment, anything — was matched by the excitement of every single theatergoer who’d dressed up and come downtown for the return of the Joffrey’s Nutcracker, a tradition I hope none of us will take for granted again.

The last time I attended the Joffrey, the company was still in the grand old Auditorium Theatre, one of my favorite buildings (and theaters) not just in Chicago, but anywhere. But this weekend, as I set foot in a theater for the first time since early March 2020, I was also for the first time visiting the Joffrey’s new home at the Lyric Opera. And what a return it was.

Just seeing the bustling, eager crowd in the lobby — their faces masked and their vaccination cards visible, but their holiday finery just as prominently on display as in years past — marked a return. Maybe not to normal. But maybe, I hope, to something as good… or better. A normal we appreciate.

Because I know, after seeing the Joffrey’s Nutcracker for the first time in two years, I will never not appreciate this annual tradition for the treasure it is.

The Joffrey’s take on Tchaikovsky’s holiday chestnut has become a treasured tradition itself — in its sixth year now, minus 2020 — its story by beloved children’s author Brian Selznick set amid the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893.

And the return of the winter wonderland of the World’s Fair proved as magical as I’d hoped, a spark in the audience and a spring in every company member’s step, as we’re transported not just back to pre-2020 Chicago, but a Windy City circa Christmas 1892. Yumi Kanazawa’s young Marie navigates the rat-infested streets beneath the grand Ferris Wheel and towering White City. Dylan Gutierrez’s Great Impresario — the Fair’s fictional architect — makes an appearance before arriving at the hovel Marie shares with her mother and brother in the shadow of the White City.

There, the spectacle begins with a holiday celebration, the Impresario delivering gifts (including the titular Nutcracker), children and the cast dancing, and members of the Lyric Opera Orchestra appearing onstage with violin, clarinet, and accordion as an in-house chamber trio. We’re treated to the comforts of this traditional holiday tale — a broken toy, a young girl’s dream, soldiers and mice battling, and finally a gondola to carry us to Act II.

During intermission, I was able to take in the refurbished building itself. My daughter noted that “it looks old, but new, too.” And, perhaps for the first time ever, I marveled at the lines for the bathroom and the bar, just soaking in the wonder of being part of a day at the theater.

After intermission, Act II brings a new wonderland, a new world — the White City of 1893 Chicago. Set to the Tchaikovsky’s festive second act score, the exotic sights and sounds of the World’s Fair enchant, as they did in previous versions, or as they did more than a century ago. Yoshihisa Arai’s hilarious Mother Nutcracker oversees the children’s ensemble playing hilarious cracking walnuts; Fernando Duarte’s Chinese Dancer parades along with paper dragons; Edson Barbosa’s rootin’, tootin’ Buffalo Bill Cody and his showgirls bring the fireworks. And, as in previous years, the highlight of the Fair’s attractions are the Arabian Dancers, here played by Victoria Jaiani and Temur Suluashvili. The only dancers almost as enchanting are Gutierrez’s Impresario and Jeraldine Mendoza, as the Queen of the Fair, who close out the show.

This presentation of the Joffrey Ballet’s Nutcracker has the same grace and beauty, the same spectacle, as one would have expected in previous years. But while the audience was treated to the same attention to perfection as audiences of the past enjoyed, a new home for the Joffrey and a new sense of appreciation for its continued excellence make this year’s Nutcracker a must-see.

I arrived at the Auditorium Theatre — one of my favorite buildings in this city of ours that has so many historic buildings each with so many stories — prepared to enjoy an evening with that old Holiday chestnut, The Nutcracker. Little did I know that for the third year in a row, the Joffrey Ballet would be presenting Tchaikovsky’s work with a twist — as a story by Brian Selznick set in Chicago during the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893. Now, being a history buff, the setting (or settings, since I was already aware of the theatre’s history) perked me up upon reading the program pre-show. And seeing the name of the story’s author, this author of children’s books was excited to see what Selznick, a personal favorite, had in store. I wouldn’t be disappointed with the wonder and whimsy headed my way.

Right away, instead of a bourgeois European Christmastime, we’re transported to working-class Chicago circa Christmas 1892. A Victorian-clad girl played by Amanda Assucena navigates the rough and rat-infested streets of a Windy City that’s awaiting the completion and opening of the great World’s Fair in the coming year, its towering Ferris Wheel overlooking the knot-holed fences and rag-covered rapscallions she passes. A Dickensian rat catcher and the Fair’s Impresario are two recurring characters we meet before Marie arrives at the meager shack she shares with her mother and brother in the shadow of the White City.

There, the family is visited by various other working-people and immigrants for a holiday celebration. And soon, the Impresario himself, played by Miguel Angel Blanco, arrives with gifts, including a Nutcracker for young Marie. From here until the end of Act I, this Nutcracker shares much with traditional productions, with a broken Nutcracker, a nighttime dream, rats and soldiers a-fighting, and a magical gondola arriving to take Marie and the transformed Nutcracker off to a winter wonderland.

But after the intermission, Act II brings a very different wonderland — the White City of 1893 Chicago. First off, the magic comes from the strength of Tchaikovsky’s music. Every time I hear the melody after melody, each of them recognizable, of the second half, I’m reminded of just how ubiquitous this work is. Each piece has become embedded in society’s consciousness ever in the 125+ years since they were penned and premiered. And each piece is played wonderfully by the Chicago Philharmonic (three of whose musicians take the stage in the first half as players at the house party).

The World’s Fair setting, however, allows each piece a new meaning, as what were then (again, 125 years ago) exotic people dance along to Tchaikovsky’s original works. Highlights include Fernando Duarte as a hammy and hysterical Mother Nutcracker (thronged by the children’s ensemble playing hilarious cracking walnuts); Hansol Jeong’s Chinese Dancer, accompanied by the ensemble as paper dragons; and Rory Hohenstein (who was also the rat catcher) as a rootin’, tootin’ Buffalo Bill Cody surrounded by three frolicking showgirls (Lucia Connolly, Dara Holmes, and Joanna Wozniak) who would definitely attract fairgoers in 1893 or today. But the highlight of the Fair’s attractions are the Arabian Dancers, played by Jeraldine Mendoza and Dylan Gutierrez. Mendoza contorts, writhes, and dances as Gutierrez lifts and balances and turns — and the audience erupted when their dance was done all too soon.

The only dancers almost as enchanting as Mendoza and Gutierrez are Victoria Jaiani (who also plays Marie’s mother) and Blanco, as the Queen of the Fair and the Impresario. They close this Nutcracker with the kind of grace and beauty one would expect not just from such a beloved ballet, but from such an accomplished ballet company. So, while the Joffrey’s take on The Nutcracker might be different, it is as enchanting as ever, as professional as one would expect, and the perfect way to begin the holiday season in the White City of Chicago.

There's nothing more cloying than an evening of bad holiday theatre. Each December countless Chicago theaters put up their annual Christmas shows. Some are better than others. For a reliable standard, Joffrey Ballet's "Nutcracker" is a safe bet.

For 2016, Joffrey presents an entirely new version of the classic Tchaikovsky ballet. Conceived by English choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, this new production is sleek and tailor-made for Chicago. An interesting variation on ETA Hoffman's original Russian fairy tale. In this version, Marie is from a working class family and it's set during the construction of the Chicago World's Fair. The dance sequences in the second act are Clara's dreams of what the Columbian Exposition will hold. Wheeldon's aesthetic borrows from holiday favorites like "A Christmas Carol" and "Meet Me in St. Louis" Sets by Julian Crouch combine the classic imagery of the original and newer conventions like projections. Accompanied by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, this "Nutcracker" is a little more grown up than the pastel versions you might remember.

The talent will be of no surprise to Joffrey regulars. Dancing the part of Marie is Amanda Assucena. Her performance portrays the lead character with a more teenage curiosity about romance. Miguel Angel Blanco dances a variation of Uncle Drosselmeyer, otherwise known as the Impresario of the Fair. It's playful and a little creepy. In the dream sequence, Christine Rocas and Fabrice Calmels turn up the heat as the Arabian Dancers. Wheeldon's choreography creates quite a spectacle and the large cast sequences are magical.

For those bored with run-of-the-mill "Nutcrackers" (a dime-a-dozen this time of year), this brand new production at The Joffrey will leave an impression. It's refreshing to see a local cultural institution take what they know works and turning it on its head. If only more of Chicago's tried and true holiday shows would take the same path, maybe we wouldn't dread them so much.

Through December 30th at Joffrey Ballet. 50 East Congress Parkway. 

Twas a cold winter evening,

In Chicagoland,

On the way to the Auditorium theatre,

For a performance quite grand.

The guests took their seats,

The stage decked in splendor,

Anxiously awaiting their journey,

Expecting ballerinas so tender.

Then up went the music,

And down went the lights,

As we were whisked away

To the Nutcracker that night.

All know the story,

The Nutcracker’s tale,

From the grand ball to the Sugar Plum Fairy,

Danced by a young Mikhail (Barishnikov ;-) )

The Joffrey performed the ballet,

With intricate care,

To keep with traditions,

So all ages could share.

Spanish Chocolate, Arabian Coffee,

Chinese Tea and Russian Candy,

Danish Marzipan, Mother Ginger,

It was all just dandy!

But the waltz of the snowflakes

And the waltz of the flowers,

Is where this ballet

Holds all of its power.

The dancers on pointe,

In their tutus and tights,

Twirling and leaping,

Twas a majestic sight.

The Joffrey Ballet is performing,

A holiday tale to remember,

For all to enjoy,

While it runs through December.

So off to The Joffrey!

Don’t miss it this year,

Fill up your holiday,

With Nutcracker cheer!