Let’s face it: However lovely as holiday confectionery, “The Nutcracker” is sadly lacking in drama. The Act II divertissements are just the most obvious and official of the ballet’s many, many distractions from the absence of story.
Add the fact that “The Nutcracker” is a moneymaker for most troupes, and you’ve got the potential for an uninspired product. Most stagings incorporate lots of young dancers, often students from the company’s school, mining our natural affection for kids to soften and warm the hovering emptiness.
The Joffrey includes nearly 60 youngsters in each show and adds the enticements of boatloads of professional dancers, knockout costumes and sets, blizzards of stage snow and confetti, and the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Scott Speck with impeccable authority and enthusiasm. Moreover, at least on opening night, the Joffrey’s 27th annual “Nutcracker,” through Dec. 28 at the Auditorium, seemed more than ever comic.
That’s one good way to distract viewers. Stage business is another, and this year the Act I busyness seemed to rival that of “The LEGO Movie.” Not that that’s a bad thing. The children’s cast, as directed by Katie Kirwan, were more than usually charming in the party scene. The baggy little mice in the Stahlbaums’ living room skittered adorably, and their warrior counterparts attacked fiercely while remaining, well, mice. Mother Ginger’s energetic children gave their Broadway-style antics all that razzmatazz.
On opening night, the featured performers’ slight exaggerations likewise boosted the ballet’s comic appeal. As Drosselmeyer, Fabrice Calmels used his long limbs and his height (at nearly 6’7″, he’s the globe’s tallest ballet dancer, per the Guinness Book of World Records) to make the magical godfather hugely theatrical. Maybe he’s just naturally more commanding than your average Drosselmeyer, but Calmels’ magnificent gestures underlined the character’s flamboyant displays of power.
Elivelton Tomazi das Gracas, recently promoted from the Joffrey trainee program, proved a big find in three roles requiring major buoyancy: Fritz, Clara’s ebullient if bratty brother; the Snow Prince (das Gracas drew cheers with his jumps); and one-half of the Tea From China divertissement.
Similarly, Victoria Jaiani and Temur Suluashvili nailed three very different partnerships, as the solid Stahlbaums, the stately Snow Queen and King, and the Coffee from Arabia belly dancers, complete with veil and campy seduction. Jaiani and Suluashvili excelled at the released ribcages, the come-hither looks, heightened to comic effect when they took their bows.
Really, how can the Sugar Plum Fairy and Nutcracker Prince compete, at least in comic terms? But Jeraldine Mendoza was sublimely dainty, Dylan Gutierrez powerful in his solos, especially the space-gobbling leaps.
Joffrey Ballet “The Nutcracker”
3.5 stars
When: Various days and times through Dec. 28
Where: Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress Pkwy.
Running time: 2 hours
Tickets: $32-$134 at 800-982-2787 or ticketmaster.com
