'Klezmer Nutcracker' The Shirim Orchestra with Ellen Kushner who narrates her tale 'The Golden Dreydl' at several of the performances. (Globe Staff photo)
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Go Nuts!
Alternative Nutcrackers dance to the beat of a different drum
By Denise Taylor, Globe Correspondent, 11/29/01
In the magical world of "The Nutcracker" it seems anything goes. A slipper fells a seven-headed king, a Christmas tree grows skyscraping tall, toys come to life, and candy dances. So why can't the Sugar Plum Fairy do the watusi?
Well, venture beyond the classic ballet and she can, and Clara can hokey-pokey, Drosselmeier cq can dance to hip-hop, and the whole mouse army can don Rollerblades and hurl cheese bombs. For some artists, the Nutcracker is all about time-honored, cherished traditions - breaking them and making them.
This year, London wins for outrageousness with the All-Nude Nutcracker (a desperate cry for donations to the costume budget?). San Francisco's Dance-Along Nutcracker takes the prize for inclusiveness. The annual sold-out bash draws a gay, straight, and family crowd, which pirouettes and flails to the Tchaikovsky score - many in ill-fitting tutus.
Here at the season brings equally innovative treats. We have the world's only "Klezmer Nutcracker" for Hanukkah and the first ever (we think) all-tap-dance jazz version too. The audience acts out the show in a kids' version. And a new tradition is bound to be born when Anthony Williams premiers his "Urban Nutcracker," which incorporates ballet, funk, swing, and scooters. Don't wait for Uncle Drosselmeier to give you your tickets. These novel nutcrackers are sure to sell out.
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When and Where
"The Golden Dreydl" Shirim Orchestra,narration by Ellen Kushner: Dec. 1, 7:30 p.m.; Dec. 2, 2 p.m. (sold out), at Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center; $20, $18, $12; 617-965-5226.
Also Dec. 9 in Glendside, Penn. (215-572-7650); and Dec. 16, Merkin Hall, New York City (212-501-3330).
Radio broadcast: Dec. 16, 2 p.m., on WGBH-89.7 FM; On the web.
Klezmer Nutcracker Concert Shirim Orchestra performs the Klezmer Nutcracker suite and other holiday tunes. Dec. 25, noon, at Coolidge Corner Theater, 290 Harvard Ave., Brookline; $15, $10; 617-734-2501 or www.shirim.com.
Also Dec. 22-23, Jewish Community Center, Washington, D.C. (800-494-8497).
Children's Interactive Theater Abbreviated "Nutcracker" Dec. 8-9, Dec. 16, 11 a.m. at The Lyric Stage, 140 Clarendon St., Boston; $7, under 2 free; 617-437-7172 or 617-426-0622 (Once Upon a Time Productions).
"The Urban Nutcracker" Dec. 21, 7 p.m.; and Dec. 22, 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. The Strand Theater, 543 Columbia Rd., Dorchester; $20, $15, $10; 617-282-8000, ext. 18.
"Clara's Dream: A Jazz Nutcracker" Nov. 30, 7 p.m.; Dec. 1, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Hopkins Center, Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H.; $22, $12; 603-646-2422 or www.dartmouth.edu/pages/hop/index.html. This sells out quickly.
Also Dec. 22: 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. at The Music Hall, 28 Chestnut St., Portsmouth, N.H. $16-$27. 603-436-2400 or www.themusichall.org.
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Waltzing rugalah
What do you get when a klezmer band takes on the holidays? Why a raucous, vampy, and simply infectious "Klezmer Nutcracker," complete with the dance of the potato latkes, waltzing rugalah, and marching Maccabees.
And what do you get when novelist, public radio host, and storyteller Ellen Kushner enters the picture? "The Golden Dreydl," an enchanting Hanukkah fairy tale, which Kushner tells live to music from the "Klezmer Nutcracker." In the story, little Sarah lands in a world populated by demons, a fool, the Queen of Sheba, and a dancing dreidel come to life as a girl.
The Shirim Orchestra provides the klezmer - Eastern European Jewish party music that sounds like a mix of Dixieland jazz, Middle Eastern melodies, and a circus band. "Think `Hava Nagila' and `Fiddler on the Roof' - that sort of vibe," says band leader Glenn Dickson.
Since 1996, Shirim has regaled crowds with a Christmas Day concert featuring their klezmerized version of Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite." "People love it," says Dickson. "It definitely sounds Jewish. It sounds klezmery. But it's familiar."
Although translating an orchestral score into a piece for banjo, clarinet, trombone, piano, drums, and tuba sextet may seem like a bit of a stretch, Dickson says the piece was ripe for klezmerizing: "A lot of klezmer is Russian and a lot of Tchaikovsky pieces have Slavic and Russian influences in the scales and rhythms. Classical European composers were influenced by the same folk music that klezmer was."
Last year, "Dreydl" premiered to rave reviews, with Kushner narrating and Shirim performing an expanded version of its "Nutcracker."
"It has some emotional resonance that really hits people beyond the cleverness of it," says Dickson. "To claim this part of the Christmas tradition and turn it into a Jewish story and music is a fun thing. It makes people feel good."
"Golden Dreydl" author Kushner also aimed to fill a cultural gap. "I grew up just loving children's fantasy. I loved fairy tales and C.S. Lewis's Narnia books, and I loved `The Nutcracker' and all these wonderful very Christian-based myths and legends. At the same time, I had a family that was very Jewish and interested in Jewish tradition. I never found that in the fantasy stories. So I wanted to create a story not just for Jewish kids - C.S. Lewis and `Nutcracker' are not just for Christian kids - but I wanted to create a Jewish context for a story of the holiday."
Kushner succeeds in making "The Golden Dreydl" stand on its own. "At first it was tongue in cheek. The hero is not Clara, she's Sarah. She doesn't go to a Christmas party, she goes to a Hanukkah party, where not her Uncle Drosselmeier but her Tante Miriam gives her a magical present. It's not a nutcracker, it's a dreidel. But from that point on we kind of left `The Nutcracker' behind.
"We decided that this was a modern kid," says Kushner, "and she should go out and have adventures and save the world and fight monsters, but the adventures she has in this magical land all come from Jewish folklore, tradition, and ethics."
Kushner and Shirim collaborate again for this year's performances of the "Golden Dreydl. The combination is so engrossing, you'll never miss the dancers. But a full stage production is brewing. The New York-based Amy Marshall Dance Company planss a dance production next year.
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Ricard Foster plays the Rat King in the Strand Theater's production of "The Urban Nutcracker." (Globe Staff photo)
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The 'UN' of `Nutcrackers'
When it comes to the traditional "Nutcracker," Anthony Williams has every right to say been there, done that. During his decades-long career with the Boston, Joffrey, Royal Winnipeg, and Norwegian National ballets, he danced nearly every classic role from the Nutcracker doll to the Snow King and Cavalier. But rather than let it end there, Williams conjured up a Nutcracker of his own.
"The Urban Nutcracker" is a joyous, daring fusion of the old and new. The score intertwines the best grooves from Duke Ellington's jazz version of the suite with the most enchanting moments from Tchaikovsky's. The choreography does a similar balancing act, melding the grace of classical forms with the raw energy of urban dance. Barefoot jazz routines morph into ballet en pointe and on to flamenco, funk, and tap.
"I didn't want to spin it around so it was completely urban or contemporary," says Williams. "As a kid I was so caught up in the `Nutcracker' music. It was just so beautiful. . . . But I also thought it would be good to do something fresh."
With choreographic help from former fellow Boston Ballet dancers Terry Gordon and Leslie Woodies; Phunk Phenomenon's Ricardo Foster; and Savion Glover disciple Khalid Hill, Williams did just that. Party guests swing dance, a Dew Drop Fairy does the dew drop bop, and the mouse brigade hip-hops to battle.
Writer David Rottenberg took the same hybrid approach to spiff up the libretto. The basic story remains true to the ballet, but it breaks out of its insular Victorian setting to downtown Boston 2001. Taking a last-minute shopping trip, Clarice (the Clara character), little brother Omar (Fritz), and Mom weave through a city scene teeming with urban energy. Scat singing, percussion, and tap street acts add to the bustle.
Drosselmeyer, and his sidekick Minimeyer, wow the family with magic, so impressing Mom that she invites them to their holiday party. For Clarice, Christmas will never be the same after Drosselmeyer shows up at her apartment, gives her a magical gift, and leads her through the big-screen TV set to a fantasy world.
"I want to reach a more diverse audience," Williams says. "I was the first African-American dancer with the Boston Ballet. In the '60s, '70s, '80s, and even '90s, the audience was pretty much nondiverse." His audience-building strategy: Produce a show with broad appeal, stage it at the Strand Theatre in diverse Dorchester, keep prices low, and enlist dancers of every hue. "This is a Nutcracker that's fully multiracial - it's a United Nations of Nutcrackers," he says.
Besides casting as leads Kellye Saunders and Donald Williams, both principals with Dance Theatre of Harlem, Williams brought in apprentices and about 40 local kids. Many of the children study at his nonprofit dance school BalletRox, which enrolls students of all backgrounds and offers scholarships to those who otherwise couldn't attend.
Williams hopes his "United Nations" of professionals inspire the others. "To be blunt, if you're black and you constantly see a white Sugar Plum Fairy, a black girl is not going to feel that she can aspire to be a black Sugar Plum Fairy. There are black Sugar Plum Fairies, but it's very rare," says Williams, who adds that many acclaimed minority dancers are already calling him about next year's show.
"The Urban Nutcracker" brings Williams full circle. He grew up in Jamaica Plain's Bromley-Heath housing project; a ballet scholarship was his ticket out of a precarious life. Through BalletRox scholarships and "The Urban Nutcracker," Williams gives back to kids in his community.
"Take C.J.," says Williams of Cjaiilon Andrade. "He plays Omar. He's one of my original scholarship kids. From the beginning he was a sparkling star. He does the splits and has a huge jump. But he's someone that might have fallen through the cracks otherwise. We try to provide a little sanctuary and inspiration for these kids. That's the real story and the mission."
Leave it to the kids
As fanciful and magical as the "Nutcracker" is, it's hard for a young child to sit through it. Last year my otherwise angelic 4-year-old niece was so overtaxed that when the Peppermint Sticks twirled back on for the finale she blurted out "Not them again. Would somebody please get them off the stage." The fact that everyone within shouting distance snickered rather than sneered is a good indication they could feel her pain.
The Once Upon a Time theater company has a solution: an interactive "Nutcracker" for ages 4 to 11 that is just 45 minutes long. Squeaking like a Mouse King, singing along, and shouting out is not only allowed, it's encouraged. Better yet, kids from the audience get to don costumes and join actors on stage to perform the show. From the Sugar Plum Fairy to the Nutcracker Prince, stars are born with each performance - no dancing required in this dramatic version.
"It's very different from regular theater," says Once Upon a Time founder Deborah Wrighton. "Usually people sit back and participate on an intellectual level by watching . . . but the natural reaction of young children is to speak out or to physically react to what they see. Participatory theater acknowledges that and uses the children's reactions to help propel the story forward."
You would think that it takes "Nutcracker"-style magic to keep kids from propelling the story backward or into chaos. But all it takes is three skilled actors: one to scout the audience for volunteers and the others to play the Mother and Drosselmeier. "You have to know the tricks of the trade," says Wrighton, who stages interactive classics like "Cinderella" and "The Jungle Book" year-round at the Lyric Stage. "If they get too interactive, we know what to do. You'd be amazed how well a line like `Listen, did you hear that?' works to quiet them down."
The children's roles are designed to make improvising easy. "They don't have to say anything," says Wrighton. "Little girls play the roles of the life-sized dolls. When they are on stage, the mother says `the dolls twirled around' and the girls twirl around. Or she'll say, `they showed their happiest faces,' and they will."
Surprises do happen, though. "We never know what they are going to give us," says Wrighton, "We were doing `Sleeping Beauty.' The child playing the princess pricked her finger at the spinning wheel and fell asleep right on cue. Then the fairy godmother is supposed to have the spell so the princess doesn't die but will sleep for a hundred years. When I went to find this fairy in the audience, the little boy playing the prince that day raced on stage and kissed the princess. So, in effect we skipped over two pages of text and went right to the end of the story. The audience loved it, and after the show his grandmother told me that he had gotten up that morning and said, `I am going to kiss a princess today and save her life.' "
Not every child craves such responsibility and Once Upon a Time plans for this. Three-dozen kids help decorate the Christmas tree, which is played by some lucky - and very tall - adult volunteer. After the show, everyone is welcome to try on costumes and snap souvenir photos.
Tap to it
Ever since tap artist Drika Overton heard Ellington's jazzy "Nutcracker" Suite, visions of Sugar Plum Fairies have tap danced in her head. Last year, her dream of staging a tap dance take on the ballet came true. "Clara's Dream: A Jazz Nutcracker" debuted with sold-out performances at the Music Hall in Portsmouth, N.H. The Paul Arslanian jazz sextet accompanied greats of the tap world as they shim-shammed, Lindy-hopped, and tap-tangoed their way to standing ovations.
More than the spirited song and dance diverges from the ballet. "Clara's Dream" is a coming of age piece set partly in the steamy 1940s club world. Clara's square parents are holding her back. But once she falls asleep, a zoot-suited Jazz Nut (instead of the Nutcracker) woos her into a Cotton Club-style jazz joint where she encounters street urchins, party girls, and her bebopping Auntie. "It's about how Clara finds her voice in the world of jazz," says Overton.
The show is like a Cliffs Notes history of tap dance. "Clara's Auntie is this magical character who brings her gifts, the Irish and African dolls, to life. The dolls do Irish step dance and African dance, which are the genesis of tap and jazz," says Overton.
Sekou Sylla, a former principal dancer with Les Ballets Africain, performs the show-stopping, mostly airborne African dance routine. "We wanted Sylla because the African influence is a really important part of the history," says Overton. "Jazz and tap as American art forms are not generally taught in our schools. This is a small attempt to throw it out to the world."
As the story unfolds, the main dancers and collaborators perform nearly every tap style. "I bring in the Latin-inspired jazz style," says Overton. "Brenda Bufalino is a virtuosic bebopper. Josh Hilberman is one of the best improvisers of his generation. Bob Thomas brings in wild eccentric Lindy hop and swing, and Dean Diggins, who is a Paul Draper protege, does classical tap. We go from the traditional to the modern and back."
None of this would have happened, though, without Arslanian's mostly original jazz score. Back when "Clara's Dream" was just a gleam in Overton's eye, composer and pianist Arslanian agreed to tackle the jazz orchestration. "I'm a sucker for the dancers," says Arslanian, who has worked with Gregory Hines, Savion Glover, and Boston's Dance Umbrella over the last 30 years.
"About 70 percent of the music is original," says Arslanian. "I took three of the Ellington pieces as is and reworked them for a six-piece ensemble. For the rest I listened to Tchaikovsky, read the original score, and tried to base the variations on his melodies. Then I collaborated with the dancers to match the feel of each song with the dancer so it would work for them."
The mix of dramatic plot and tap dance is unusual. "Normally tap dance is in a variety show format," says Arslanian. "But `Clara's Dream' puts the dance and the music into a context. It gives the dancers a chance to present tap in a way that audiences normally wouldn't see. And I get a chance to bring jazz to an audience that ordinarily might not go out to hear it."
If all goes as planned though, we might see a local tap show revival that would make Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly shuffle for joy. Overton and friends intend to jazz up a non-holiday classic next year.
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