Who Mourns for Marie?

Aside from going to one production in the Richland High auditorium when I was about 12 (and which I may have slept through part of, since 12-year-old boys generally don’t care much about ballet), the only version of The Nutcracker I’ve ever seen is the PNB Stowell-Sendak version.  It was a bit shocking in recent years to discover just how different the “traditional” Nutcracker is, both in art and, surprisingly, in plot.

Having just seen the new PNB version of The Nutcracker, with new art by Ian Falconer and the traditional choreography/plot by Balanchine, I now feel qualified to offer a comparison between the two, because I know you care what I think about it, and because I might as well add “art critic” to my list of hats that I’ve worn on this blog.  Note that this is obviously my opinion, and tastes may vary.  I’m also doing my best to avoid a “change is bad” perspective.

Obviously, if you want to see this without any spoilers or foreknowledge, then don’t keep reading…

Art

As might be expected when switching art designers from Wherethe Wild Things Are to Olivia the Pig, there’s a significant difference in set design, color scheme, costumes, etc.

This is obviously much more of a personal taste than most things, which is why I’m putting it first, but I certainly preferred the old art scheme.  There’s nothing WRONG with the new art, certainly: it’s bright and cheerful, it’s cohesive, and it looks good.

There are some nice touches, too: Drosselmeyer’s coat lining is the same as Clara’s dress; the main entryway looks very nice, and there’s a neat trick with three drawn chairs and one real one; the costumes are quite well done (for some reason, the flowers in the second act particularly caught my eye; the long skirts were very light and floaty (some sort of organza?) that made for a nice effect you didn’t see elsewhere in the show); and the set for the second act was one giant confection.

However, it just seems to lack the… richness of the Sendak designs.  Both fit their respective plots, though (more on that later), and wouldn’t fit the other if they were reversed, so it works; I just don’t like it as much.

Also, the Chihuly Winter Star was entirely underwhelming.  I’m not a huge Chihuly fan to begin with, and it did look nice, but this certainly didn’t merit accolades like ”amazing” or “dazzling”.

Technical

There were a couple high points in the new production that I thought topped the Stowell/Sendak version.  First, this production plays more with the full-stage screens that can be opaque or translucent depending on the lighting, which gets used to great effect, especially in the keyhole scene at the beginning.  And the sleigh at the end is simply spectacular, and is well beyond anything the Stowell/Sendak version did.  Also, if you look closely through the glass doors in the back of the room in the first act, you can see snow falling through the trees, which is a very nice touch. (Emily pointed this out to me.)

However, the rest of it pales in comparison.

While fun, the film that plays during the overture isn’t really necessary, and feels like a sop to people who can’t enjoy ballet for what it is.

The Stowell/Sendak version had those screens at the beginning of the acts and the end of the show which seemed to be solid, with windows partway up that they opened for Clara’s bed and the ship, and the doors at the bottom for the skit at the beginning.  It was a cool effect, and I’m sorry to see it go.

Second, while the new Mouse King certainly fits the “seven-headed” description from the original text better, it simply looks paltry compared to the gigantic Mouse King of the previous version.  With the head on one side of the stage and the tail coming in from the other, it was a great illusion of an ENORMOUS Mouse King, and a not-that-much-larger-than-the-other-mice-(although-with-significantly-more-heads) Mouse King just isn’t as impressive.

And finally, the growing room.  This just simply was not as good.  Not a huge difference in some of the surrounding furniture, although I seem to recall the Stowell/Sendak version making a slightly smoother transition.  And the giant suspended dancing clock can be cool or goofy, depending on your tastes (I liked it), and there’s nothing like that in the new version.

But the tree.  Oh, the tree.  In the new version, it looks like most of the tree “texture” is actually projected onto the tree with a light, and the tree itself is a big piece of fabric.  That does make it easy to lift it smoothly upwards and have additional fabric come out of the folds below, and the result is fairly pleasing.  But.  But!

The old tree, and the way it gradually unfolded and got bigger and bigger until it swallowed almost the entire back of the stage, and how solid it seemed?  That was magnificent.  In the program, Balanchine is quoted as responding to criticism regarding how much of his budget he spent on the tree (half of it) by saying, “The tree is the ballet.”  It’s still true now, and seems like it perfectly exemplifies the difference between the two productions.

Plot

I realize it can seem a little funny to talk about plot in a ballet, where at least half of the show is simply throwing the dancers out on stage to do their thing, but the changes, as minor as they seem superficially, actually add up to a huge difference in the themes and meaning of the ballet.

The Stowell/Sendak version is generally regarded as being a bit darker than the usual Nutcracker, and not without reason or with reference to just the color palette.  But perhaps “grown-up” would be a better description.

Rather than just being the kindly godparent that he is in the standard Nutcracker, the Stowell/Sendak Drosselmeyer is vaguely sinister, and Clara is appropriately cautious of him.  He clearly doesn’t like how shy she is with him, and eggs Fritz on in some of his misbehavior (which I also actually like better than the way Fritz is simply pretty much a jerk in the new version).

One of the biggest losses to me is the Pirlipat scenes.  These are the small skits both right after the overture (which Clara dreams), and again when Drosselmeyer is presenting his gifts.  In both cases, Clara is given a clear warning of what the Mouse King can do to her (we’ll set aside the gender and body image issues of being “turned ugly”), and it’s Drosselmeyer who orchestrates this.  It’s not clear if it’s intended to be a discouragement or a warning, which adds to the sinister feeling.  (From the original backstory, it would definitely be more of a warning, but that would make Drosselmeyer better than people in his position, who tend to simply throw the heroine into their cause without really warning them what they’re up against, lest they refuse to participate.)

Despite these warnings, though, Clara still chooses to attack the Mouse King to rescue the Nutcracker, which makes her actions much braver than they are in the new version, which has no such warnings.  And that bravery is a big step in her growing up, as shown by her change into an older version of herself directly after.

Drosselmeyer’s edge also makes him a perfect choice for the menagerie that Clara and the Prince visit in the second act.  First of all, the Pasha (who is clearly intended to be a dream version of Drosselmeyer) makes much more sense than the Sugar Plum Fairy, who we’ve never met before, so we get some much needed continuity (it also lets Clara dance the pas de deux with the prince instead of the Fairy, which also makes much more sense).

Second, the use of the Pasha in the second act, along with the ending, also provides some actual meaning to the second act.  Much as Drosselmeyer set up the circumstances for Clara to “grow up”, he’s there in the second act to show her the temptations of being older.  And in the end, Clara demonstrates that she’s still just a child at heart when she’s unable to give up those temptations in the face of her responsibility to get on the boat, and the dream ends with her back in bed as her younger self again.

In contrast, the new version has none of this meaning.  Clara remains the same age, the Sugar Plum Fairy is just there to show Clara some fun, innocent things, and then the dream ends.  The whole thing can be summed up by “There’s a party, and then Clara has a dream with mice and candy.”  It’s wholly insubstantial, and ultimately unsatisfying. 

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So there you go.  Don't get me wrong, the new Nutcracker is still fun!  It's still quite a spectacle, and I definitely think it's worth seeing at least once, if for no other reason than to make up your own mind.  And you might even like it better!  I won't judge.  But to me, the new Nutcracker is a bit of a disappointment, at least in comparison to the old one.  That may simply be a coincidence of comparison, and this one may be way better than other traditional versions.  But as it stands, this definitely feels like a step down.

Unfortunately, I doubt we'll be seeing the Stowell/Sendak version again for quite some time.  They spent 4 years and a lot of money to do a good job putting this together, so they're hardly going to swap it right back out (nor should they!).  It would be nice to see it back at some point in the future, though.  Not only on its own merits, but because it's also just fun knowing that we had one of the most distinctive Nutcrackers out there.