NYCB – Nutcracker Opening Night 11/26

As you can see, when Haglund got home from NYCB’s Opening Night of The Nutcracker, somebody was waiting for a complete report on the mice.  And he was not happy to hear that the mice, led viciously and ruthlessly by Justin Peck, nearly made off with the Nutcracker Prince on the very first night.  They were only seconds away from kidnapping Marie, too, when all of a sudden, someone from the front of the 1st Tier yelped, “There’s steam coming out of the Bunny’s ears!”  Indeed there was.  And then miraculously, the Bunny powered toward the Mouse King, grabbed the royal rodent’s tail, and pulled it downstage, completely distracting the critter just long enough for the Nutcracker Prince to wrestle away.  But it was close, way too close for comfort.  No doubt this will all be reported later tonight on Fox News.

The opening performance had the feel of new gears coming together for the first time that might need to run once or twice before they mesh smoothly.  But for the most part, it was a wonderfully enjoyable evening.  The kids dominated the first act and were fabulous.   Young Fritz was cinnamon-haired Gregor MacKenzie Gillen who was charming in his efforts to get one of the little party girls to dance with him.   Fiona Brennan and Jonathan Alexander as Marie and the Nutcracker Prince drove the dream forward with aplomb and polish.

 

In Act II, Teresa Reichlen was a sensual Coffee while Daniel Ulbricht’s elevation in his split leaps in Tea caught the audience by surprise.  Ashley Bouder was a sparkling Dewdrop surrounded by waltzing flowers led beautifully by Lauren King and Ashley Laracey.   The Sugar Plum and Cavalier were Jenifer Ringer and Jared Angle.  Can’t say that they were a good match.  Jenifer was lovely in her variations, but Jared’s feet were disinclined to point – a lot; and his legs were disinclined to stretch – a lot.  The Cavalier’s white tights and white shoes made it impossible not to notice.

The choreography of Act II is over-loaded, way over-loaded with first arabesque sautes and saute de chat.  The choreography for the Sugar Plum Fairy's and Cavalier's solos and PdD doesn't, in Haglund's view, compare favorably with the Baryshnikov version which is far more musical, inventive, and magical.  It may have been a mistake to have watched the YouTube video of Gelsey Kirkland and Baryshnikov in the PdD several times this week before embarking on the season's first live performance.  If you want to make the same mistake, go here.

 

Haglund thought the orchestra, conducted by Clotilde Otranto, sounded a little thin.  The violin soloist, Kurt Nikkanen, didn’t produce the passionate phrasing that Nicolas Danielson did last year.

 

[Excuse me, somebody wants to interrupt with a question]  “With all those mice racing around, why are there no cats in The Nutcracker?”  Answer:  In some Nutcracker production somewhere, there are cats – surely there are cats.

 

Haglund is happy that Nutcracker season is finally here and bestows this lovey pink flowered Pump Bump Award to the Walz of the Flowers and Dewdrop: