The Nutcracker (Balanchine)
Encyclopedia
Choreographer George Balanchine
's production of Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker
has become the most famous stage production of the ballet performed in the U.S. (Mikhail Baryshnikov
's production is the most famous television version, although it too originated onstage.) The Balanchine Nutcracker uses the plot of the Alexandre Dumas, père
version of E.T.A. Hoffmann's tale, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King
(1816). Its premiere took place on February 2, 1954, at City Center
, New York, with costumes by Karinska
and sets by Rouben Ter-Arutunian
. It has been staged in New York every year since 1954, and many other productions throughout the United States either imitate it, or directly use the Balanchine staging.
Because Marie and the Nutcracker / Prince are played by children in the Balanchine Nutcracker, no romantic interest between them is even implied. Jennifer Fisher, in her book Nutcracker Nation, states that because they are children, "they don't end up married and living happily ever after". However, the 1958 Playhouse 90
telecast of the Balanchine Nutcracker, which changed Marie's name back to Clara and stated that the Prince was Drosselmeyer's nephew, had narrator June Lockhart
saying at the end that "From that day on, Drosselmeyer's nephew is Clara's Prince and Clara is his Princess, and I need not tell you that they lived happily ever after." Years later, movie critic Stephen Holden
, in reviewing the 1993 film version of the Balanchine Nutcracker, referred to Marie as the Prince's sweetheart. And oddly enough, throughout Act II of the 1993 film of Balanchine's version, Marie does wear a veil that resembles a bridal veil.
The Balanchine version uses perhaps more children than any other version. The rôles of Clara and the Nutcracker/ Prince are performed by adults in many other versions, and in these productions of the ballet, there is usually more than a hint of budding romance between Clara and the Prince.
The Journey Through the Snow sequence, in many other productions danced by Clara and the Nutcracker immediately after his transformation into a Prince, is not danced at all in the Balanchine version, although the music is played. Instead, Marie faints and falls on the bed after the battle, and the Nutcracker exits. Marie's bed moves by itself across the stage as the music plays, and at its climax, the Nutcracker reappears and through the use of a stage effect, turns into a Prince. He awakens Marie, places on her head one of the crowns that he took from the dead seven-headed Mouse King, and they exit. (In the 1993 film of Balanchine's Nutcracker, the bed flies through the air rather than simply moving across the stage. This is achieved by special effects created by Industrial Light & Magic.)
, was severely abridged. Some sources say it was complete, but it could not have been because Seven Lively Arts was only an hour long. This marked the first telecast not only of the Balanchine version but of any staging of the ballet. CBS's Playhouse 90
broadcast a more complete (but still abridged) version of the Balanchine Nutcracker, narrated by actress June Lockhart
, who was then starring as the mother in CBS's Lassie
, in 1958; it was the first Nutcracker broadcast in color. There were only four commercial breaks. This television production starred Diana Adams
as the Sugar Plum Fairy, Debbie Paine as Clara, and Robert Maiorano as the Nutcracker/ Prince.
Excerpts from the Balanchine production were performed several times on various television shows of the time, notably The Bell Telephone Hour
and The Ed Sullivan Show
.
The complete Balanchine version was eventually made into a poorly received full-length feature film by Electra Entertainment and Regency Enterprises
. It was distributed and released by Warner Brothers in 1993, and starred Macaulay Culkin
in his only screen ballet rôle, as the Nutcracker, the Prince, and Drosselmeyer's nephew. The film was directed by Emile Ardolino
, with narration spoken by Kevin Kline
. From the billing in this film, the Prince and the nephew would seem to be two different characters, though that may not have been what the filmmakers intended. Director Ardolino died of AIDS only a few days before the film's release. The other rôles in the film were played by members of the New York City Ballet, including Darci Kistler
as the Sugar Plum Fairy, Damian Woetzel
as the Fairy's Cavalier, Jessica Lynn Cohen as Marie (a.k.a. Clara), and Wendy Whelan
as Coffee in the Arabian Dance. (93 mins.)
During the 2011 Christmas season, PBS is scheduled, for the very first time, to present the Balanchine Nutcracker on Live from Lincoln Center
. This will not be the 1993 film, but the production's latest revival, and the production is scheduled to be telecast on December 14, 2011. This will mark the first U.S. telecast of the Balanchine version (aside from the 1993 theatrical film) in more than fifty years.
(The Sugar Plum Fairy's Cavalier is not included in the current cast list)
that the composer wrote for Act II of The Sleeping Beauty, but which is now seldom played in productions of that ballet. In Balanchine's Nutcracker, it is used as a transition between the departure of the guests and the battle with the mice. During this transition, the mother of Marie (as she is called in this version) appears in the living room and throws a blanket over the girl, who has crept downstairs and fallen asleep on the sofa; then Drosselmeyer appears, repairs the Nutcracker, and binds the jaw with a handkerchief. In addition, the Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy is moved from near the end of Act II to near the beginning of the second act, just after the Sugar Plum Fairy makes her first appearance. To help the musical transition, the tarantella that comes before the dance is cut. In the 1993 film version of the Balanchine version, just as in the telecast of the Baryshnikov one, the Miniature Overture is cut in half, and the opening credits are seen as the overture is heard. The film's final credits feature a reprise of the Waltz of the Flowers.
George Balanchine
George Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...
's production of Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...
has become the most famous stage production of the ballet performed in the U.S. (Mikhail Baryshnikov
Mikhail Baryshnikov
Mikhail Nikolaevich Baryshnikov is a Soviet and American dancer, choreographer, and actor, often cited alongside Vaslav Nijinsky and Rudolf Nureyev as one of the greatest ballet dancers of the 20th century. After a promising start in the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad, he defected to Canada in 1974...
's production is the most famous television version, although it too originated onstage.) The Balanchine Nutcracker uses the plot of the Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas, , born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world...
version of E.T.A. Hoffmann's tale, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King
The Nutcracker and the Mouse King
The Nutcracker and the Mouse King is a story written in 1816 by E. T. A. Hoffmann in which young Marie Stahlbaum's favorite Christmas toy, the Nutcracker, comes alive and, after defeating the evil Mouse King in battle, whisks her away to a magical kingdom populated by dolls...
(1816). Its premiere took place on February 2, 1954, at City Center
New York City Center
New York City Center is a 2,750-seat Moorish Revival theater located at 131 West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues in Manhattan, New York City. It is one block south of Carnegie Hall...
, New York, with costumes by Karinska
Barbara Karinska
Varvara Jmoudsky, better known as Barbara Karinska or simply Karinska , was costumer of the New York City Ballet, and the first costume designer ever to win the Capezio Dance Award, for costumes "of visual beauty for the spectator and complete delight for the dancer".However, she designed the...
and sets by Rouben Ter-Arutunian
Rouben Ter-Arutunian
Rouben Ter-Arutunian was a costume and scenic designer for dance, opera, theater and television.Born in Tiflis, Georgia, he attended the Reimann Art School from 1939 to 1941, studied film music at the Hochschule fur Musik and took courses at the Friedrich-Wilhelm University , 1941–43, and at the...
. It has been staged in New York every year since 1954, and many other productions throughout the United States either imitate it, or directly use the Balanchine staging.
Staging
In Balanchine's version, the leading roles of Clara (here called Marie) and the Nutcracker / Prince are danced by children, and so their dances are choreographed to be less difficult than the ones performed by the adults. Marie does not dance at all in the second act of this version. The Prince's dancing in Act II is limited to the pantomime that he performs "describing" his defeat of the Mouse King. Instead, Marie and the Prince sit out nearly all of Act II watching other dancers perform for them, and unlike most other versions, neither one of them takes part in the ballet's Final Waltz.Because Marie and the Nutcracker / Prince are played by children in the Balanchine Nutcracker, no romantic interest between them is even implied. Jennifer Fisher, in her book Nutcracker Nation, states that because they are children, "they don't end up married and living happily ever after". However, the 1958 Playhouse 90
Playhouse 90
Playhouse 90 is an American television anthology series that was telecast on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. It originated from CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California...
telecast of the Balanchine Nutcracker, which changed Marie's name back to Clara and stated that the Prince was Drosselmeyer's nephew, had narrator June Lockhart
June Lockhart
June Lockhart is an American actress, primarily in 1950s and 1960s television, but with memorable performances on stage and in film too. She is remembered as the mother in two TV series, Lassie and Lost in Space. She also portrayed Dr...
saying at the end that "From that day on, Drosselmeyer's nephew is Clara's Prince and Clara is his Princess, and I need not tell you that they lived happily ever after." Years later, movie critic Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden is an American writer, music critic, film critic, and poet.Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963...
, in reviewing the 1993 film version of the Balanchine Nutcracker, referred to Marie as the Prince's sweetheart. And oddly enough, throughout Act II of the 1993 film of Balanchine's version, Marie does wear a veil that resembles a bridal veil.
The Balanchine version uses perhaps more children than any other version. The rôles of Clara and the Nutcracker/ Prince are performed by adults in many other versions, and in these productions of the ballet, there is usually more than a hint of budding romance between Clara and the Prince.
The Journey Through the Snow sequence, in many other productions danced by Clara and the Nutcracker immediately after his transformation into a Prince, is not danced at all in the Balanchine version, although the music is played. Instead, Marie faints and falls on the bed after the battle, and the Nutcracker exits. Marie's bed moves by itself across the stage as the music plays, and at its climax, the Nutcracker reappears and through the use of a stage effect, turns into a Prince. He awakens Marie, places on her head one of the crowns that he took from the dead seven-headed Mouse King, and they exit. (In the 1993 film of Balanchine's Nutcracker, the bed flies through the air rather than simply moving across the stage. This is achieved by special effects created by Industrial Light & Magic.)
On the screen
Balanchine's Nutcracker has since been staged in New York every year and performed live on television twice – although its first television edition, telecast by CBS in 1957 on the TV anthology Seven Lively ArtsSeven Lively Arts
The Seven Lively Arts was a short-lived Sunday afternoon hour-long television anthology series produced in 1957 by CBS television and executive producer John Houseman. It was hosted by New York Herald Tribune critic John Crosby...
, was severely abridged. Some sources say it was complete, but it could not have been because Seven Lively Arts was only an hour long. This marked the first telecast not only of the Balanchine version but of any staging of the ballet. CBS's Playhouse 90
Playhouse 90
Playhouse 90 is an American television anthology series that was telecast on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. It originated from CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California...
broadcast a more complete (but still abridged) version of the Balanchine Nutcracker, narrated by actress June Lockhart
June Lockhart
June Lockhart is an American actress, primarily in 1950s and 1960s television, but with memorable performances on stage and in film too. She is remembered as the mother in two TV series, Lassie and Lost in Space. She also portrayed Dr...
, who was then starring as the mother in CBS's Lassie
Lassie (1954 TV series)
Lassie is an American television series that follows the adventures of a female Rough Collie named Lassie and her companions, human and animal. The show was the creation of producer Robert Maxwell and animal trainer Rudd Weatherwax and was televised from September 12, 1954, to March 24, 1973...
, in 1958; it was the first Nutcracker broadcast in color. There were only four commercial breaks. This television production starred Diana Adams
Diana Adams
Diana Adams was an American dancer, leading dancer for the New York City Ballet from 1950 to 1963 and a favorite of George Balanchine, later became a teacher and a dean at the School of American Ballet. Adams was born in Staunton, Virginia and died in San Andreas, California....
as the Sugar Plum Fairy, Debbie Paine as Clara, and Robert Maiorano as the Nutcracker/ Prince.
Excerpts from the Balanchine production were performed several times on various television shows of the time, notably The Bell Telephone Hour
The Bell Telephone Hour
The Bell Telephone Hour is a long-run concert series which began April 29, 1940 on NBC Radio and was heard on NBC until June 30, 1958. Sponsored by Bell Telephone, it showcased the best in classical and Broadway music, reaching eight to nine million listeners each week. It continued on television...
and The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
.
The complete Balanchine version was eventually made into a poorly received full-length feature film by Electra Entertainment and Regency Enterprises
Regency Enterprises
Regency Enterprises is a Los Angeles-based film and television production company formed by Arnon Milchan and Joseph P. Grace. It was founded in 1982 as Embassy International Pictures, but the company name changed to avoid confusion with Norman Lear's Embassy Pictures . Its most successful film is...
. It was distributed and released by Warner Brothers in 1993, and starred Macaulay Culkin
Macaulay Culkin
Macaulay Carson Culkin is an American actor. He became widely known for his portrayal of Kevin McCallister in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. He is also known for his roles in Richie Rich, Uncle Buck, My Girl, The Pagemaster, and Party Monster...
in his only screen ballet rôle, as the Nutcracker, the Prince, and Drosselmeyer's nephew. The film was directed by Emile Ardolino
Emile Ardolino
Emile Ardolino was an American film director, choreographer, and producer, best known for his films Dirty Dancing and Sister Act .-Biography:...
, with narration spoken by Kevin Kline
Kevin Kline
Kevin Delaney Kline is an American theatre, voice, film actor and comedian. He has won an Academy Award and two Tony Awards, and has been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, two BAFTA Awards and an Emmy Award.- Early life :...
. From the billing in this film, the Prince and the nephew would seem to be two different characters, though that may not have been what the filmmakers intended. Director Ardolino died of AIDS only a few days before the film's release. The other rôles in the film were played by members of the New York City Ballet, including Darci Kistler
Darci Kistler
Darci Kistler is a noted American ballerina. She is often said to be the last muse for legendary choreographer George Balanchine.-Biography:...
as the Sugar Plum Fairy, Damian Woetzel
Damian Woetzel
Damian Woetzel, former ballet star, is a producer and director of dance and music performances. Among his recent projects was directing the first performance of the White House Dance Series in September 2010, which took place in the East Room of the White House and was hosted by First Lady Michelle...
as the Fairy's Cavalier, Jessica Lynn Cohen as Marie (a.k.a. Clara), and Wendy Whelan
Wendy Whelan
Wendy Whelan is a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet and guest artist with Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company.-Early life:A native of Louisville, Kentucky , she began her dance training with local teacher Virginia Wooton at the age of three...
as Coffee in the Arabian Dance. (93 mins.)
During the 2011 Christmas season, PBS is scheduled, for the very first time, to present the Balanchine Nutcracker on Live from Lincoln Center
Live from Lincoln Center
Live From Lincoln Center is an ongoing series of musical performances produced by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in conjunction with Thirteen/WNET in New York City....
. This will not be the 1993 film, but the production's latest revival, and the production is scheduled to be telecast on December 14, 2011. This will mark the first U.S. telecast of the Balanchine version (aside from the 1993 theatrical film) in more than fifty years.
Original
- Maria TallchiefMaria TallchiefMaria Tallchief was the first native-American prima ballerina. From 1942 to 1947 she danced with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, but she is best known for her time with the New York City Ballet from 1947 to 1965.-Early life:...
(as the Sugar Plum Fairy) - Tanaquil LeClerqTanaquil LeClerqTanaquil Le Clercq was a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, but her dancing career was ended when she was stricken with polio and paralyzed from the waist down....
(as Dewdrop) - Alberta Grant (as Marie)
- Susan Kaufman
- Robert Barnett (as Candy Cane)
- Nicholas MagallanesNicholas MagallanesNicholas Magallanes was a first-generation principal dancer with the New York City Ballet. Along with Jerome Robbins, Francisco Moncion and Maria Tallchief, Magallanes was among the core group of dancers with which George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein formed the New York City Ballet in 1948...
(as the Cavalier) - Michael Arshansky (as Drosselmeyer)
- Paul Nickel (as the Nutcracker, the Prince, and Drosselmeyer's Nephew)
Television (1958)
- Debbie Paine (some sources say Bonnie BedeliaBonnie BedeliaBonnie Bedelia Culkin is an American actress best known for her supporting roles in the action film Die Hard and the courtroom drama Presumed Innocent...
, as Clara) - Diana AdamsDiana AdamsDiana Adams was an American dancer, leading dancer for the New York City Ballet from 1950 to 1963 and a favorite of George Balanchine, later became a teacher and a dean at the School of American Ballet. Adams was born in Staunton, Virginia and died in San Andreas, California....
(as the Sugar Plum Fairy) - Arthur MitchellArthur Mitchell (dancer)Arthur Mitchell is an African-American dancer and choreographer who created a training school and the first African-American classical ballet company, Dance Theatre of Harlem...
(as Coffee) - Edward VillellaEdward VillellaEdward Villella is an American ballet dancer and choreographer, frequently cited as America's most celebrated male dancer at the time....
(as Candy Cane) - Allegra KentAllegra KentAllegra Kent is an American ballet dancer and actress.Born in Santa Monica, Kent studied with Bronislava Nijinska and Carmelita Maracci before joining the School of American Ballet. After graduating, she joined the New York City Ballet in 1953 at the age of 15, and was promoted to principal in 1957...
(as Dewdrop)
- George BalanchineGeorge BalanchineGeorge Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...
as Drosselmeyer - Robert Maiorano (as the Nutcracker, the Prince, and Drosselmeyer's Nephew)
(The Sugar Plum Fairy's Cavalier is not included in the current cast list)
1993
- Darci KistlerDarci KistlerDarci Kistler is a noted American ballerina. She is often said to be the last muse for legendary choreographer George Balanchine.-Biography:...
(as the Sugar Plum Fairy) - Wendy WhelanWendy WhelanWendy Whelan is a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet and guest artist with Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company.-Early life:A native of Louisville, Kentucky , she began her dance training with local teacher Virginia Wooton at the age of three...
(as Coffee) - Kyra Nichols (as Dewdrop)
- Tom Gold (as Candy Cane)
- Damian WoetzelDamian WoetzelDamian Woetzel, former ballet star, is a producer and director of dance and music performances. Among his recent projects was directing the first performance of the White House Dance Series in September 2010, which took place in the East Room of the White House and was hosted by First Lady Michelle...
(as the Cavalier) - Macaulay CulkinMacaulay CulkinMacaulay Carson Culkin is an American actor. He became widely known for his portrayal of Kevin McCallister in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. He is also known for his roles in Richie Rich, Uncle Buck, My Girl, The Pagemaster, and Party Monster...
(as the Nutcracker, the Prince, and Drosselmeyer's Nephew) - Jessica Lynn Cohen (as Marie)
- Bart Robinson Cook (as Drosselmeyer)
Music
Balanchine adds to Tchaikovsky's score an entr'acteEntr'acte
' is French for "between the acts" . It can mean a pause between two parts of a stage production, synonymous to an intermission, but it more often indicates a piece of music performed between acts of a theatrical production...
that the composer wrote for Act II of The Sleeping Beauty, but which is now seldom played in productions of that ballet. In Balanchine's Nutcracker, it is used as a transition between the departure of the guests and the battle with the mice. During this transition, the mother of Marie (as she is called in this version) appears in the living room and throws a blanket over the girl, who has crept downstairs and fallen asleep on the sofa; then Drosselmeyer appears, repairs the Nutcracker, and binds the jaw with a handkerchief. In addition, the Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy is moved from near the end of Act II to near the beginning of the second act, just after the Sugar Plum Fairy makes her first appearance. To help the musical transition, the tarantella that comes before the dance is cut. In the 1993 film version of the Balanchine version, just as in the telecast of the Baryshnikov one, the Miniature Overture is cut in half, and the opening credits are seen as the overture is heard. The film's final credits feature a reprise of the Waltz of the Flowers.