Archive for Musicals.Net Musicals.Net |
| Luc |
Nutcracker BalletThe Nutcracker Ballet is playing locally, so I am definitely going to buy tickets.My friend asked me what part we are going to see... Part 1, Part 2, or both. I have no idea what she's talking about, and couldn't find anything on the Internet. Could somebody please help me out with this? 
|
||
| Celeste_SM |
She probably means the first act and the second act. Some ballet companies only do the second act because it has most of the better known music and a lot of action. Some people find the first act boring, in particular the party scene.
The first act is the party scene, plus the dancing dolls, followed by the battle of the toy soldiers and mice, followed by snow. The second act is in "candyland" or some version of a castle, and has all the individual arrangements: Spanish Chocolate, Arabian Coffee, Bon Bons or Merletons, Russian, Chinese, Flowers, etc, and of course the big pax de deux and the dance of the Sugarplum fairy. |
||
| what_the_heck013 |
My personal favorite is the first act. I've seen some great productions of the Nutcracker. | ||
| Ulla Dance Again! |
I just saw a jazz version of The Nutcracker called Clara's Dream, and it was very good. If you get a chance to see it, definitely go.
It's a more modern take on the story, and it includes a lot of tap, swing and lindy-hop, plus excellent jazz renditions of the original score. |
||
| happyguava |
Cool!
I am singing in a production of Nutcracker in a week or so, in the Snowflakes scene. I really like it as a finale to the first act. |
||
| star2ballie |
I've been in the Nutcracker twice...once with the professional company and once with our Jr. Ensemble. For the prof. show, we did the full show. (and I was a snowflake!), and in the Jr. Ensemble show, we did the second act (I was Sugar Plum). It's incredible.
But, yeah. She's probably talking about 1st or 2nd act. Either way, it's totally worth it to see.
|
||
| Robinflamingo |
Nutcracker is one of those things that, even if it isn't a professional company, is still worth seeing because of the "ohhhh factor" - there's nothing like lots of little kids in fancy costumes on stage to put you in the mood for Christmas 
|
||
| LisaKitty |
Hey, cool! Me too!! My production is December 22nd and 23rd. |
||
| Jordan |
Nah, give me Matthew Bourne's 'Nutcracker!' any time.
http://www.amazon.com/Tchaikovsky-Matthew-Bournes-Nutcracker-Anthony/dp/B000ARXF5A/sr=1-9/qid=1165536540/ref=sr_1_9/103-6379316-3429421?ie=UTF8&s=dvd |
||
| demeter_cat2010 |
I've been in the Nutcracker several times with my dance company and I've played a Spanish, Russian, and Chinese dancer as well as a toy soldier. Fun stuff. If you want the whole effect, I'd see both acts. I love them both!
^^ Much love, Liz |
||
| The Drama Queen |
I would have been confused by that question too, because normally when you buy tickets for a show you assume its the full thing. But in the case of Nutcracker, yes, it is different.
The ballet company I take classes with performs it every year, and its a very big thing in our town. This is my fifth year performing in it, and I've worked my way up from being a small rat in the battle scene to being in the advanced dance corps of Waltz of the Flowers. I've always liked the first act alot better because there is an actual story in it, as opposed to the many variations in the Second Act. |
||
| my_work_my_name |
Me too! |
||
| jcstar |
Tchaikovsky hated The Nutcracker and equally hated his Nutcracker Suite. He's probably rolling in his grave everytime it's performed. Poor man.
I love the Suite, but have never heard or seen the full version. I'm a fan of Tchaikovsky and I just said that... oy! Oh well, I'm not sure what to say other than have fun. Andy. |
||
| CaptainBoheme |
This is horribly incorrect. Tchaikovsky certainly had reservations about Ivan Alexandrovich Vsevolozhsky's libretto (commissioned by the great Marius Petipa), based on an adaptation of E.T.A. Hoffmann's Nussknacker un Mauskoenig by Alexander Dumas pere. The Dumas version is much sanitized compared to Hoffmann's layered, pre-Freudian short story, and Petipa's libretto was even further watered down. Tchaikovsky, however, was actually relatively proud of his music (I say "relatively" because the man was simply a miserable person most of his life, and hated just about everything he wrote to some extent), especially the innovative use of toy instruments thoughout the ballet, and the introduction of the celeste (for "Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy") into Russia. The ballet itself was a flop - mostly due to the weak plot which basically dissolves into nonexistance by the second act, and some miscasting of the original performances. Tchaikovsky's score, however, was actually well recieved, for the most part. The suite was premiered some time before the ballet's premiere (on a double bill with his Iolanta, and had been a modest success. My connection to "Nutcracker" is a pretty intimate one. I danced the role of Nutcracker Prince/Drosselmeier's nephew in New York City Ballet's production (choreographed by George Balanchine) when I was nine years old, and later in the production of the same choreography with Pennsylvania Ballet when I was 12, in the same role. I definitely urge everyone within the vicinity of a local production to go see it. For many ballet companies, this is the production they depend on for their bread and butter. |
||
| Celeste_SM |
Here's my question about Nutcracker:
I've read that the dance of the Sugarplum Fairy was written for the celeste, but I've also read that it was written for the glass armonica. Wiki says both in different places. So which instrument was called for in the original score? |
||
| CaptainBoheme |
Tchaikovsky scored it for celeste, but there is apparently a note in the original score that says a piano can be substituted for the then-novel instrument. To my knowledge, that Wikipedia article is the only place that claims that it was written for glass armonica. But, every single recording of the suite and ballet I've heard most definitely uses the celeste. | ||
| shakalakababy |
back when I did ballet I was in the nutcracker for three years (I was a Chinese dancer all three years)
I definitely think you should see both acts to get the full effect. I've never even heard of only one act being done |