Nutcracker
Music by Tchaikovsky
Choreographed and Staged by Kathleen Waltz
True to classical ballet theater, League City Ballet's production of the holiday classic The Nutcracker has it all -- a cast of more than 40, dazzling sets and costumes, magical effects, beautiful music, and exceptional dancing. It's the Holiday show to see!
A Ballet in Two Acts, and Four Scenes
Based on E.T.A. Hoffmann's The Nutcracker and The Mouse King (1816)
Synopsis
Act I
Scene I
A holiday party at the Stahlbaum home
Scene II
The battle scene; Clara’s dreamland
Scene III
A winter wonderland
Act II
The land of the sweets
Act I
Scene I
It is Christmas Eve and a light snow has begun to fall.
Mr. and Mrs. Stahlbaum add last minute decorations to the magnificent tree in their living room. Their children, Clara and Fritz, are excitedly waiting for family and friends to arrive. When they do, the parents gather the children around the tree. The tree is a marvel, with branches full of sugar plum candies, delicate ornaments, sparkling candles, and marzipan animals.
The parents toast the elders and then -- finally! -- give the children their gifts. The presents are traditional, and very much appreciated: beautiful dolls for the girls, and toy swords and stick ponies for the boys.
The children anxiously wait for Fritz and Clara’s Uncle Drosselmeyer to arrive as he always brings something delightful to entertain everyone. Uncle Drosselmeyer is a clever clockmaker and magician. To help the children pass time, Mr. Stahlbaum requests for them to dance, prompting Fritz to lead the boys in a military march that turns into a dance for the all of the children with Mr. and Mrs. Stahlbaum prompting the adults to join in festivities. The dancing is abruptly ended when Uncle Drosselmeyer arrives.
Uncle Drosselmeyer is also Clara’s godfather. Tonight he has brought more than his usual array of magic tricks. The children are delighted and curious about the different boxes he has brought and he gathers them around to begin entertaining them.
The children settle down after Drosselmeyer performs magic tricks for them, which is just the beginning of his "show." To the party he has brought a puppet box, an oversized doll house, and a large box tied with a satin bow. He proceeds to tell them a story through puppets of a prince who slays an evil Rat King in order to save a princess. Then introduces his latest inventions by taking the Harlequin and Columbine doll out of the oversized doll house box. In the third box is a soldier doll. The guests are awed as the mechanical dolls are each wound up and seemingly spring to life in a dance.
Once the dolls are returned to their boxes, Drosselmeyer brings out more gifts for Clara and Fritz. The first is a beautiful toy horn, which he gives to Fritz, then he unveils his final gift for Clara.
The gift is a charming wooden doll with big expressive eyes, a fuzzy white beard, and a special talent for cracking nuts. Drosselmeyer demonstrates its abilities before giving the Nutcracker to Clara. As she admires the Nutcracker's dashing uniform, the very jealous Fritz pulls the wooden figure away. He and Clara get have a tug of war over it until Fritz throws the Nutcracker to the floor, and stomps on it!
Drosselmeyer scolds Fritz and then tries to comfort Clara. He carefully wraps the Nutcracker's now-broken jaw with his handkerchief, and returns the doll to the heartbroken little girl. Her friends cluster around her, and Drosselmeyer presents Clara with a special bed for the injured Nutcracker.
The boys return one last time to disrupt the girls, but their play ends when Mr. Stahlbaum invites everyone to dance a final dance of the evening, in tribute to Fritz and Clara’s grandparents.
When the dance ends, the guests bid farewell and the children reluctantly leave. Clara and Fritz are taken to their beds by the maid and the Stahlbaums enjoy the last peaceful moments of the evening as midnight draws near.
Act I
Scene II
The excitement of the evening has been too much for Clara, who is unable to fall asleep. She sneaks back to the tree to visit her beloved Nutcracker and finally falls asleep curled up on the chair with the doll clutched to her heart.
Within moments, a dark shadow -- Drosselmeyer! -- crosses the room. He looks for the Nutcracker in the special bed, but it's not there. He notices Clara in the chair and moves to her side. Drosselmeyer loosens the Nutcracker from her grasp, waves his hands as if performing more magic to repair the doll, then carefully replaces the Nutcracker beside her.
All of the sudden, the lights flicker and wake a startled Clara. She sees a larger than life mouse run behind the grandfather clock! She runs to hide behind the Christmas tree but huge rats enter the room and frightens her terribly! They begin stealing all of the gifts from under the tree.
As she backs away the evil Rat King appears and orders his rats to take over the household. Drosselmeyer reappears and magically transforms her Nutcracker doll into a life-size soldier. He then uses his magic on the Christmas tree to make it grow even larger, and life-sized soldiers appear.
The Rat King challenges the Nutcracker to stop him from his mischief, and the Nutcracker responds with the crack of his shot from his musket. The rats scatter but regroup quickly for the upcoming battle. Then Nutcracker then calls the toy soldier infantry and battalion into battle. Leading his troops, the Nutcracker makes charge after charge. The infantry and battalion put up a good fight but are no match for the over-sized rats and their King. The rats one by one surround the soldiers and carry them all away – The rats then begin surrounding the Nutcracker and Clara, and just when it looks as though the Rat King will win the battle, Clara distracts the Rat King by throwing her shoe at him. When she thinks she has failed with her distraction and the Nutcracker cannot be saved she collapses to the floor is dismay. To save Clara, the Nutcracker in one last effort raises himself up and kills the Rat King with a sword through the heart.
Act I
Scene III
Clara’s bravery has transformed the Nutcracker into a real Prince. The Nutcracker Prince goes Clara and introduces himself as the prince who will one day be King in the Land of Sweets. He then calls on his magical sleigh which will take them to the palace. Carefully guiding her sleigh, their journey begins and Clara is first taken to a winter forest where the Snow Queen and her cavalier greet them. They watch as the snowflakes come to life in a sparkling dance of snowflakes. They pass through the flurry and begin their journey to the Land of Sweets to meet the Sugar Plum Fairy.
Act II
Golden-winged angels prepare the enchanted Marzipan Castle for the arrival of the Sugar Plum Fairy, who reigns over the Land of the Sweets. She soon enters and, bearing her magic wand, sweetly dances with the little angels before summoning the other members of her kingdom to join her.
Clara and the Prince come upon the gathering, and are warmly greeted. The Sugar Plum Fairy welcomes them to the Land of the Sweets and invites the Prince to tell his tale. He describes the battle: how the toy soldiers fought the rats, and how he accepted the Rat King's challenge to fight for Clara’s safety. Finally, he tells of how Clara saved his life.
The Sugar Plum Fairy is impressed by their courage. She praises the Prince and his Princess, and then leads them to a special throne, specially set to give them the best view of the celebration, which is about to begin.
It's a celebration of things delicious! Sumptuous Spanish Hot Chocolate heat up in a spicy fandango... Chinese Tea charmingly warm the atmosphere with dancing dragons. Russian Candy Canes exuberantly perform jumps and twirlsbefore their royal guests. Marzipan Merlitons remind Clara of the decorations on her Christmas tree and, with great fanfare, Mother Ginger reveals her ginger chiildren who dart out and dance in pairs inviting Clara to join their fun!
Next, a beautiful group of dancing flowers, in a whirl of brilliant pinks and green, make their entrance. Clara and the Prince can almost taste the sugar petals and honey dew nectar through the blooms in the Waltz of the Flowers.
Now comes the time when the Sugar Plum Fairy, in a candy piny and golden tutu, is escorted by her Cavalier to perform for her guests. They begin their classical pas de deux with soft adagio movements, and build to an exciting crescendo. Clara and the Prince are overwhelmed, hoping someday to dance as magically as that. Everyone joins in for a lively finale, a blaze of color and celebration.
As the time to leave draws near, the Sugar Plum Fairy leads her guests to a magic sleigh. The Prince and Princess wave goodbye and are flown to where the moon meets the sun.
Just before the day beaks and everyone else is awakened, Clara wakes from her magical dream and runs to find her Nutcracker Doll—not where she left him in his bed—but mysteriously waiting for her in the middle of the room!
