Joffrey Ballet artistic director Ashley Wheater has been doing “The Nutcracker” for six decades. He performed in the ballet for the first time at age 6, dancing in the children’s cast of Rudolph Nureyev’s production for the Royal Ballet.
Wheater performed in the oldest American production of the ballet “many, many, many times” while a dancer at San Francisco Ballet. William Christensen’s version, first created in 1944, is now in the custody of Ballet West in Salt Lake City. There were “Nutcrackers” with the Australian Ballet and “Nutcrackers” with the Joffrey. (He originated the Snow King in Robert Joffrey’s 1987 production.) In the ‘80s, he also moonlighted as a guest artist in Ruth Page’s “Nutcracker,” performing more than a dozen shows a year at Chicago’s Arie Crown Theater. And now, the Joffrey is preparing to celebrate 10 years since its new production by Tony Award-winning choreographer Christopher Wheeldon was unveiled.
“Yeah, I’ve done a lot of Nutcrackers,” he said. “I’ve always felt really good about ‘The Nutcracker.’ It is such a great introduction to the ballet world. For me, it’s always had magic.”
The Joffrey’s production reimagines the story of a rich little girl showered with candy and gifts to that of a modest immigrant family living in a shanty house on the edge of Chicago’s Columbian Exposition. The White City, as the pop-up fairgrounds in Jackson Park were called for the 1893 World’s Fair, and its multi-cultural pavilions serve as the backdrop for this authentically Chicago “Nutcracker,” which saw its best attendance ever last year.
Despite myriad interpretations, the popular ballet’s premise basically stays the same: Clara (sometimes named Marie) falls asleep after her family’s Christmas party and wakes up in a fairy land of sweet treats — a location that can vary from under the Christmas tree to up in the sky or another realm entirely. She lives happily ever after, sort of, with a wooden nutcracker doll who magically turns into a prince. Based on E.T.A. Hoffmann’s dark short story, some choose to dial up the creepiness in this ballet. Many perceive it as a coming-of-age tale.
Chicago has many “Nutcrackers” to choose from, and Joffrey’s is not the only one celebrating a milestone this year. Ruth Page’s “Nutcracker” turns 60, making it among the country’s oldest productions. Like Wheater, Ruth Page Artistic Director Victor Alexander was a guest professional who performed in the ballet beginning around 2002. He’d just arrived in the U.S., immigrating from Cuba, and was shocked by its popularity.
Now, he gets it, taking his responsibility over Chicago’s oldest “Nutcracker” quite seriously. Ruth Page’s production took a short break in 1997 — audiences had plummeted with the Joffrey Ballet’s arrival in 1995 — and relaunched in the early aughts with a revised production incorporating actors in the first act party scene, who narrate portions of the story.
“It makes it more kid-appropriate for families that have never been to ‘The Nutcracker’ before,” Alexander said. “It’s a good way for those families to get into it and understand it better.”
A slate of incredible international guest artists performing the lead roles is a big part of this “Nutcracker’s” appeal. And in the past two decades, Chicago’s ballet audiences have shown they’ll show up for all sorts of “Nutcrackers;” Ruth Page has built back up to three weekends of performances at three different venues, plus a couple of mini shows at the Beverly Arts Center.
“It has been an amazing experience for me,” Alexander said. “The idea of finding people that used to see Ruth Page’s “Nutcracker” in 1965 — that was the first “Nutcracker” they saw, and now they’re bringing their grandson or granddaughter. That is amazing. You don’t find that every day.”
Ballet Chicago launched three decades ago when Richard Ellis (a fixture in Ruth Page’s “Nutcracker” from 1970-1997) and Christine DuBoulay Ellis passed their ballet school to Daniel Duell and Patricia Blair.
“We opened our school in January of ’95. In fall of 1996, we began assembling highlights of a ‘Nutcracker,’ which we presented as a couple of showings in the one studio we had atop 185 N. Wabash,” said Duell.
Duell danced for George Balanchine in the New York City Ballet, Blair for NYCB alum Edward Villella in Eglevsky Ballet. Their pre-professional program is modelled on that lineage — including aspects from Balanchine’s “Nutcracker.” The production has grown from that one-room studio showing to nearly a dozen shows, running two weekends, split between the Athenaeum Center in Lakeview and the Harris Theater downtown. Ballet Chicago’s production is unique for having pre-professionals cast in every part.
“You know how the dance world is — they all talk,” said Blair. “Ballet Chicago kids are very aware that their counterparts don’t get to do anything like this.”
Such as performing for thousands of adoring audience members, including a robust Gift of Dance program inviting high schoolers, kids with disabilities, veterans and low-income families to the production. New this year, Ballet Chicago has launched a sensory-friendly production and will film a performance to air at Lurie Children’s Hospital for children unable to attend in person. On Christmas Eve, Ballet Chicago dancers will visit the hospital in costume for a “Nutcracker” party.
In Milwaukee, “The Nutcracker” is the only ballet that runs longer than one weekend. The new car smell still hasn’t worn off Milwaukee Ballet’s extravagantly refreshed production, which artistic director and choreographer Michael Pink said he’s still tinkering with.
“There’s still a little honeymoon period going on,” he said.
Pink’s priority is the story. His “Nutcracker” gives sisters Clara and Marie (yes, this one has both), brother Fritz and love interest Karl copious stage time and lots and lots of dancing. Despite giving his “Nutcracker” an expensive glow-up with elegant new sets and costumes, the more beloved aspects of his 2003 production remain untouched.
“I had just arrived from Europe and I think it just happened,” he said. “I think because I wasn’t trying to make a major statement — I was just trying to give more dance opportunities — it kind of worked.”
For professional companies, “Nutcracker” also serves as a strategic chance to test new dancers in soloist and principal roles.
“That’s the single most advantageous thing,” Pink said. “That’s equally as valuable as making a few million dollars at the box office.”
In her book “Nutcracker Nation,” author Jennifer Fisher pondered “The Nutcracker’s” staying power in America. For companies across the country, the ballet is an economic driver that allows them to take risks the rest of the year. For some, “Nutcracker” is what keeps the whole enterprise going.
“For Americans, it is truly about family,” Wheater said. “It seems to be that they can share, at any age, the joy of going to the theater for two hours and being swept away.”
A big part of “Nutcracker’s” enduring legacy is its music, according to Joffrey music director Scott Speck, who has now conducted a few hundred “Nutcrackers.” He cut his teeth on Christensen’s “Nutcracker” at San Francisco Ballet before joining the Joffrey in 2010.
Completed in 1892, it was one of the last things Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky wrote, “and of course, it went on to become the most popular ballet of all time,” Speck said. “This is such a masterpiece.”
It’s also difficult, which Speck said makes it all the more satisfying for the musicians.
For Speck, as with every person interviewed for this story, “Nutcracker” isn’t something they have to do — it’s something they get to do.
“If there’s anything I want to do a thousand times, it’s that,” he said.
The Joffrey Ballet presents “The Nutcracker” Dec. 5-28 at the Lyric Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive; tickets $49-$241 at 312-386-8905 and joffrey.org
Ballet Chicago’s “The Nutcracker” runs Dec. 12-14 at the Athenaeum Center, 2936 N. Southport Ave., and Dec. 19-21 at the Harris Theater, 205 E. Randolph St.; tickets $25-$94 at balletchicago.org
Ruth Page’s “The Nutcracker” takes place Dec. 6-7 at Governors State University, 1 University Pkwy.; Dec. 13-14 at Northeastern Illinois University, 3701 W. Bryn Mawr Ave.; and Dec. 20-21 at College of Lake County, 19351 W. Washington St., Grayslake; tickets $17-$65 at ruthpage.org
Milwaukee Ballet presents “The Nutcracker” Dec. 6-26 at the Marcus Performing Arts Center, 929 N. Water St., Milwaukee; tickets $46-$184 at 414-902-2103 and milwaukeeballet.org
Even more “Nutcracker”:
A big cast in the ‘burbs: Ballet Légere’s production, which premiered 40 years ago by studio owner Donna Vittorio, boasts a long-running, very large “Nutcracker” with a 12-foot Christmas tree, extravagant costumes, 120 dancers and visiting Cincinnati Ballet’s Marcus Romeo and Bella Ureta dancing the Sugar Plum pas de deux. Dec. 6-7 at Dominican University, 7900 W. Division St., River Forest; tickets $25-$40 at 708-488-5000 and balletlegere.org
A dash of religion: In the southwest suburbs, Ballet 5:8 infuses its “Beyond the Nutcracker” with lessons from the Christmas story of Jesus’ birth. New this year, the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra will perform Tchaikovsky’s score live for the second weekend, alongside the company’s professional and school-aged dancers. Dec. 6-14 at Lincoln-Way North Performing Arts Center, 19900 S. Harlem Ave., Frankfort; tickets $25-$90 at ballet58.org
Lauren Warnecke is a freelance writer.
