The Nut(hic!)cracker

Ed and I almost didn't make it to The Nutcracker. I was casually sorting mail at the kitchen counter after work when Ed wandered in. He asked me what time the ballet started, and I, accustomed to 7:30 start times, shrugged. Moments later, tickets in hand, he was chasing me down the stairs to change because the curtain was, in fact, at 6:00! We had six minutes to spare when we got off the subway, and sank into our seats just a few minutes before the lights dimmed. Phew.

I enjoyed the show from the first few notes of the overture. Though I've only seen The Nutcracker once (that I recall), I just about wore out a narrated audio tape of it when I was younger and so am very familiar with the music and the story. The structure reminded me of A Midsummer Night's Dream, a ballet we saw a while ago: The plot begins and ends in the first act, and the second act seems to exist only as an excuse to showcase the dancers' talents. The only traditional ballet in Act I was the dance of the snowflakes, at the very end. Bits of paper floated down on them as they danced, covering the stage with a thin, ethereal layer.

Dance of the Snowflakes

The battle

In Act II, set in the Land of Sweets, Clara and the Prince are welcomed by the Sugar Plum Fairy. They are treated to various candy- and sweet-themed dances to celebrate their arrival. Most of the numbers are very short, and, unlike in Act I, most of the dancers are adults. Ed enjoyed this act more than the first since it contained more actual ballet instead of children running around pantomiming. I wasn't sure which act I preferred, but we both agreed that the mice were the best part of the show. They were played by children, and the over-sized bellies of their costumes was a pretty funny contrast to their scrawny little arms and legs. We both enjoyed watching them scurry around the stage.


I'd never seen so many children in the audience at Lincoln Center, though I suppose one should expect that when one goes to The Nutcracker. For the most part, they were well-behaved, but one kid sitting far to our left had to be bodily lifted and removed from the theater by his exasperated-looking father. I heard lots of shushing throughout, and much more whispering than any other show I've attended in New York. This wasn't limited to the children either; the two older women to my left were pretty chatty, too.

Mother Gingerbread and her children

I couldn't complain too much, though, as I committed my own behavioral faux-pas. Sometime during the dance of the marzipan shepherdesses, I got the hiccups. They persisted through several more dances, and I was mortified. The second they started, the music seemed to get-and stay-much softer, and I was sure that everyone in the theater could hear me. Ed, ashamed of the spectacle I was creating, hid his face. Finally, sometime during the dance of the flowers, I decided to stretch out my diaphragm by taking a huge gulp of air and holding it for as long as I could. This seemed to work, to my vast relief. Ed told me after the show that he thought he was going to have to leave, not because I was mortifying him as I'd suspected but because he wasn't sure he'd be able to contain his laughter. He was incredulous that I had not felt him shaking with his suppressed guffaws. Apparently he was not covering his face at all, but rather trying to block the ear closest to me so that he wouldn't hear my frantic "hic"s and burst out laughing. Nothing like sympathetic support from your better half.


I enjoyed The Nutcracker very much. I was impressed by the professionalism of the children dancing in it, some of whom were as young as seven, and it was fantastic to hear the score performed live. The sets, which included a massive Christmas tree that rose out of the stage in a seemingly endless column of green, and the elaborate, lacy images that adorned the the Land of Sweets, were pretty spectacular as well. I loved the costumes. I loved the scene with the sleigh at the end. I certainly recommend this show for anyone who finds themselves in New York at Christmastime, though I do not recommend the hiccups.

Clara and the Prince ride out of the Land of Sweets at the end of the show