Dance Reviews

Dec 18, 2000 - Nevada Festival Ballet's Dreamy New "Nutcracker" a Winner for All

By Jack Neal

Of mice, music, children and fantasy, Americans love "The Nutcracker" at Christmas time and America's "The Nutcracker" productions are wildly and wonderfully diverse. And diversity is what Nevada Festival Ballet's new choreographer and impressario Lesley Bandy Beardsley has used, along with zillions of children (each one, hopefully, a mini Ticketron outlet), to adorn her revamped, lovely to look at, delightful to behold, bran-new "Nutcracker."

Beardsley's view of Tchaikovsky's immortal ballet is a combination of fun, spectacle, story, shtick and classical dance. It's a grand view that takes E.T.A. Hoffman's age old story and pumps it up with lots of twists, turns and gorgeous dance.

What makes Beardsley's "Nutcracker" so inviting is its overlay of whimsy on what is already a whimsical dream about a girl's Christmas Eve fantasy. Buying into Clara's dream then heightening its telling with surprises is what makes Beardsley's show tick as smoothly as her production's impressive grandfather clock. In one fell swoop of story telling NFB's new "Nutcracker" isn't just good, it's transporting.

Clara, as the show's heroine is called, is a young girl whose family is giving a party around a splendid Christmas tree. A strange and unusual guest named Drosselmeyer arrives and presents Clara with a nutcracker in the shape of a young man. Late at night, Clara slips quietly downstairs to retrieve her nutcracker and falls asleep. She awakens to find Drosselmeyer casting spells everywhere. The tree flashes and grows to a tremendous size. The toys come to life and a fierce battle ensues between the house mice and the toy soldiers.

With Clara's help, the nutcracker slays the mouse king and is transformed into a handsome prince. Off Clara and the prince go through a lovely forest snow fall into an enchanted land, where they're greeted by the Sugar Plum Fairy. After an array of fantastic dances, Clara and her prince ride off in the glow of yet another wondrous night-before-Christmas adventure.

What draws audiences first and foremost to this bit of rich seasonal fluff ( much of it nostalgic, for adults love "Nitcracker" as much as children), is Tchaikovsky's entrancing and inviting score. Rich in melody, exotic in its harmonies, infinitely attractive because of its miniature musical conceptualizations, "Nutcracker's" music is sublime from start to finish. Unfortunately, and the production's one glaring drawback, this year Tchaikovsky's entrancing score is on tape, it's not live. Fortunately, the management of that tape is by Mickey Laverine, a musician who makes the score's reproduction as close to the real thing as theater sound systems allow. In the not too distant future, let's hope, Reno audiences can look forward to anniversaries of this new NFB production, when a live orchestra will adorn Miss Beardsley's rich visual presentation.

Clara is danced by Gabriela Simich, a radiant, lyric and most magnetic young dancer. Her handsome and gallant Nutcracker Prince is Jonathan Dummar, who is Clara's perfect consort both in sureness of dance and elegance of youthful dashing masculine figure.

Stacy Bleser dances the Snow Queen. From the moment she glides on stage there's no doubt Bleser's Snow Queen is a gentle ruler. For the epitome of eloquence in dance one has to look no further than Shannon Lilly's Sugar Plum Fairy and Peter Parker's Cavalier. Both dance with a creamy smoothness, yet their smoothness is invested with the bravado and variety that is the spice of art as well as life. Their grand pas de deux is the production's dance highlight; superb classical dance, managed superbly with suave theatricality and dazzling virtuosity. Le Nugyen is a solid and most attractive Dew Fairy. Bill Quinby brings flamboyance and dash to the magical Drosselmeyer for a standout performance.

In the ballet's many vignettes of dance, Marty Lewis's Mouse King and Mama Ginger are both well thought-out and brought-off droll comic turns. Vanessa Wong's Chinese Lady is elegant as are snow soloists Jenny Bailey and Cassie Blazer. Meredith Kerr dances a very special and extraordinary Arabian dance. Brandy Collins and Emi Kumataka plus six miniature tumblers bring exceptional verve to the Russian Dance. Kelsey Campbell is a knockout Jack-in-the-Box, an irresistible doll among dolls (the dolls of Vanessa Abare and Brooke Siem are knockouts themselves) that can't be overlooked. Nor can any of the other 90 pus performers on stage. Kudos also to the company's corps de ballet. Its dancing has never been better.

"The Nutcracker's" sets are simple but attractive, especially as lit by lighting wizard Michael Fernbach whose work is once again superb. Also on the major plus side are Karen Wong's lavish costumes, themselves sumptuous visual knockouts.

This Nevada Festival Ballet production, which opened Friday night (12/17/99) at the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts, is a dream of a "Nutcracker" that carries Clara's dream to new heights of surprise and wonderment.

"The Nutcracker" continues Saturday (12/18) and Sunday (12/19) at 2 and 8 p.m. and Monday (12/20) at 8 p.m. The company hosts special tea parties for children and their chaperones following both matinee performances. The Pioneer Center is located at 100 South Virginia Street, Reno. For ticket information call 775-686-6600 or 775-785-7915.