The Nutcracker at BAM - magical holiday perfection

If you're going to be in New York City this holiday season (shockingly, many tourists do this very thing each year!) this native New Yawker has an awesome tip for you. At least if you'd like to squeeze a performance of The Nutcracker into your festivities, without having to hock your plane tickets and hitchhike home.

 

Now I'm a huge, longtime fan of Balanchine's NYC Ballet production at Lincoln Center--there's nothing quite like it--but if you've got young kids, it's pretty hard to justify the $110-150 for orchestra seats. If you can even find them now.

As an alternative, allow me to put in a plug for the amazing Nutcracker at BAM, at the wonderful Brooklyn Academy of Music. Alexi Ratmansky's adaptation performed by the American Ballet Theater is so charming, engaging and even, yes, humorous, I didn't notice a single child sleeping through the dance of the snowflakes.

Which happens to be fairly dramatic, by the way. Who knew beautiful snowflakes could be so cold? (Pun intended.)

This version opens in the kitchen of the house before the party, from the point of view of the cooks and staff, and with some mischievous house mice taking on a larger role before we even discover them as fighting brigade. The young dancers playing Clara and her Nutcracker Prince are just wonderful to watch, and in fact, there are some future stars among the young party guests as well, who've got darn good comic timing.

By the time the snowflakes fail at keeping Clara and the Prince apart, intermission hits, and the audience is ready for more.

Nutcracker purists will be intrigued by many of the differences in the BAM production, but I was pleased to realize how much I enjoyed everyone one of them--the Arabian duet is now a wry piece featuring a sheik and five mildly jealous wives. The choreography of three Russians takes inspiration not just from acrobatics, but from the Three Stooges (they were my six year-old's favorite). And the dance of the flowers will keep you smiling with the addition of four hilariously costumed male bees.

(I may not be the only one who took those bees as a subtle nod to Brooklyn's own diverse Mermaid Parade-esque cast of characters. Or am I reading into it?)

Here the Sugarplum Fairy is more like a benevolent matriarch, not a prima ballerina--it's really the grownup Prince and Princess who steal the show in the final act. I caught the exquisite Yirko Kajiya and Alexandre Hammoudi in the roles and if their final pas de deux doesn't make every little girl in the world want to be a ballerina, I don't know what will.

So yes, you will miss the magic of Lincoln Center's growing Christmas tree, but there's plenty of magic to be found here too.

Besides, I confess there's something wonderfully unpretentious about the whole performance, from the multiracial corps, to the joyous kids in the audience--not an Eloise wannabe in her $400 designer toddler gown to be found.

As for the ticket prices, even the best orchestra seats at BAM are just $90, but you can find balcony seats with a full view as low as $25. And lest you're afraid to cross a river out of Manhattan, BAM is super close to the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges, and nearly every subway line will get you within a block or two.


Can you tell I really really love this show? We went for the second time this year. We're already counting on 2012. -Liz

Find tickets now for the Nutcracker at BAM's Howard Gilman Opera House which runs through 12/31/11. It's recommended for children 4+ but a well-behaved three year-old could make it through. Hurry, there are 15 performances left this year!

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