NUTCRACKER

BY ED BRUCE edbrucevegas@yahoo.com

LAST NIGHT I WENT TO SHANIA TWAIN.....SHE HAD 8 STRING PLAYERS UP FRONT....I NEVER HEARD A NOTE.....(NEEDLESS TO SAY I DID NOT STAY LONG).....THE DRUMMER KILLED ALL THE VOCALS AND THE STRINGS.......TONIGHT I WENT TO THE NEVADA BALLET THEATRES PRODUCTION OF THE NUTCRACKER....THEY HAD 20 STRING PLAYERS...THEY PLAYED THE CLASSIC TCHAIKOVSKY BALLET THEME....I HEAR EVERY NOTE..(NEEDLESS TO SAY I STAYED TO THE END).

THEY STARTED 9 MINUTES LATE !

I AM SO GLAD I WAS BORN AFTER TCHAIKOVSKY (105 YEARS TO BE EXACT) SO I CAN ENJOY THE CONTINUINGLY IMPROVING GENIUS OF HIS MUSIC.....THERE IS A DIFFERNCE BETWEEN MUSIC AND NOISE...(SEE ABOVE) !

WITH THIS CLASSIC SOUND THEME WHATEVER DANCE THEY DO UNDER IT.....IT  CAN PLAY WELL.....GOOD THING BECAUSE TONIGHT I SAW A NUTCRACKER I HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE !  IF YOU WERE NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE TRADITIONAL STORYLINE YOU WOULD NOT HAVE GOT THE PICTURE FROM WHAT WE SAW TONIGHT.....THEREIN LIES THE CREATIVE EYE OF THE CHOREOGRAPHER....NBT'S JAMES CANFIELD HERE.   SEEMED LIKE CANFIELD WAS IN LA LA LA LA LAND SOMETIMES TONIGHT...NOT NECESSARILY BAD AND SOMETHING CREATIVELY NEW AND A CERTAIN MUST SEE...THIS WAS OPENING NIGHT.

BEING OLD AND A TRADITIONALIST I AM NOT MUCH FOR CHANGE AND THIS NON STANDARD INTERPRETATION WAS SORT OF SHOCKING....NOT NECESSARLY BAD.....JUST DIFFERENT.

NBT STANDARD COSTUMING ALWAYS AN A+ AND NO DIFFERENT TONIGHT....THIS COSTUME DESIGN THAT IS SUCH A WORLD CLASS TRADITION FOR THIS COMPANY JUST SETS A POSTIVE MOODY LOOK FOR THE BALLET AND ESTABLISHS QUALITY.

THE FOUR STORY DOLL HOUSE THAT WAS INTRODUCED LAST YEAR IS A WONDERFUL OPENING LOOK....THAT WITH THE COSTUMES AND TCHAIKOVSKY YOU ARE  PRETTY MUCH SET TO GO...

FIRST HALF 49 MINUTES....THEN THE WORLDS LONGEST INTERMISSION ....32 MINUTES ...(WHAT DO THEY DO ? )...34 MINUTES IN THE SECOND  HALF THATS 83 MINUTES OF DANCE 41 MINUTES DEAD TIME ...YOU DO THE MATH ITS A TWO TO ONE RATIO.

WHEN THE OPENED THE SECOND HALF....I THOUGHT CANFIELD HAD INCORPORATED SHOWGIRLS IN LEIU OF BALLERINAS....WOW ....THEY WERE HUGE AND BETTER THAN AVERAGE DANCERS....AND...AND AND THE DANCING TONIGHT NOT AT THE LEVEL OF THE NBT'S LAST TWO PERFORMANCES....NOT BAD....JUST SOME TOO OFTEN UNEVENESS AND STUMBLES.

I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN PARTIAL TO DANCING BEARS AND TONIGHTS BEAR (IVAN FERGUSON) JUST PERFECT....AS WERE THE HARLEQUIN DOLL...(KYLE WEIGHT) AND THE COLUMBINE DOLL (HANNAHSCHILLER) ....SALUTE !

NO STUMBLES FOR THE 39 PIECE (20 STRINGS) ORCHESTRA.....JACK GAUHAN...MUSIC DIRECTOR/CONDUCTOR.....NO FLAWS HERE.....I LOVE YOU.....NOT AS MUCH THOUGH AS I LOVE TCHAIKOVSKY.

  WE JUST COMPLETED A SAFARI TOUR AND ONE OF THE GUESTS WAS A HARP PLAYER AND I TOLD HIM OF MY LOVE OF HARP MUSIC AND THE  UPCOMING NUTCRACKER.  HE SAID YOU WILL HEAR A LOT OF HARP IN THAT.....I DID......HARPIST KIM DELIBERO YOU WERE ON TOP OF YOUR GAME TONIGHT....THANKS.

THIS NUTCRAKCER JUST CREATIVELY DIFFERENT.....I HAVE SEEN THIS ALL OVER WITH TRADITION...HORSES ON THE STAGE....SMALL PRODUCTIONS AND THEY ARE ALL FINE AS LONG THE TCHAIKOVSKY MUSIC RUNS TRUE.

NBT ....YOUR NUTCRACKER RECOMMENDED TO THE WORLD.

THE NUTCRACKER GOES THROUGH DECEMBER 22......702 749 2847...GO

88 B+