REVIEW: 'Nashville's Nutcracker' from Nashville Ballet

Nashville Ballet ushers in the holiday season in glorious fashion with its revival of artistic director Paul Vasterling's visionary re-interpretation of The Nutcracker, onstage at TPAC's Andrew Jackson Hall through December 20. More accurately referred to as Nashville's Nutcracker, Vasterling's epic work is a joyous, colorful Christmas card to the people of Music City who have embraced it with their customary warmth and rewarded it with their own glowing accolades.

And at the performance reviewed, on the production's second night in 2009 (this staging first premiered in 2008), one perfectly lovely two-year-old girl showed her own approval - her own sheer delight - as she squealed excitedly at the appearance of a dancing bear during the ballet's party scene. To say that it was a highlight of the evening is to downplay its impact on the entire audience, not to mention the little girl's own beaming parents. In fact, that little girl's response may be the happiest, the most joyful, the most wonderful moment experienced this entire holiday season. As she experienced her first Nutcracker, brought so beautifully to life by Vasterling and his exceptional company of dancers, she captured the wonderment of the whole extravaganza, gently tugging at the heartstrings of older, more jaded audience members, while encapsulating all that the holiday season means.

It was a truly extraordinary moment in an evening filled to overflowing with extraordinary moments (so many that even the two-year-old girl, seated with her adoring parents just in front of me, was held in rapt attention throughout).

Vasterling, a New Orleans native, has taken his adopted city to his heart (just as certainly as the city has taken him) and time after time makes grand use of Music City as his inspiration for both new works and his dazzling reinterpretations of ballet classics. Perhaps Nashville's Nutcracker finds that creative and historic symbiosis, embodied in Vasterling, at its zenith.

Nashville's Nutcracker takes place in 1897, just after the closing of Tennessee's Centennial and International Exposition (the impact of which is still felt and enjoyed by Nashvillians daily at Centennial Park and its centerpiece, The Parthenon). In a program note, Vasterling explains that as he was approaching his own version of The Nutcracker, he came across a small volume of photographs from that Exposition which inspired him to create this stunningly beautiful and evocative version of the ballet. Perhaps it is the city of Nashville, rather than some dancer or some other individual, that is Vasterling's artistic muse.

While the basic elements of the ballet remain virtually unchanged - a young girl's holiday season dreams of a land of colorful fantasy, of feuding mice and nutrackers brought to life as handsome princes - Vasterling brings his own flair to the work by making some changes that re-set the piece on the Middle Tennessee countryside. For example, those troublesome mice are battled by a band of toy soliders led by "Old Hickory" himself, Andrew Jackson, aided and abetted by native Americans and frontier soldiers. The Dewdrop Fairy and her dancing flowers and sprites cavort amid the beauty of The Parthenon Garden. And the lovely tableaux presented by the Sugar Plum Fairy and her cavalier are reimagined as scenes and characters encountered by young Clara (a role shared by Elizabeth Graves and Anna Celeste Harrer) during an autumn visit to the International Exposition.

Hundreds of school-age children from throughout Tennessee and Kentucky take to the huge Jackson Hall stage for their triumphant moments in the spotlight. Obviously, Vasterling's skillful use of his younger dancers is felt most strongly here: These kids aren't just stage props or supernumeraries, rather they are integral figures in the telling of the Nutcracker tale, adding to the overall feel of the production and making it more of a holiday spectacle for children of all ages.

The professional members of the cast, the talented women and men who comprise the heart and soul of Nashville Ballet and who pursue their art in a city better known for its music, deliver superb performances throughout. The highlight of Act One, which is replete with gorgeous visual imagery and equally gorgeous dancing amid Vasterling's staging, is most certainly the stanza-ending "Snow Scene," choreographed by Robert Rodham and staged by Fiona Fuerstner. The always beautiful and always graceful Christine Rennie and the always handsome and always authoritative Eddie Mikrut are expertly paired as the Snow Queen and King and they, once again, prove to be superior artists. It's a wonderful ending to Act One that elicits the audience's warm applause and cheers.

Act Two continues this visual feast, with the beautiful "Dewdrop Waltz," danced by the exquisite Mollie Sansone as the Dewdrop Fairy and the athletically gifted Brendon LaPier as the Nutcracker Prince, performed in a gorgeous setting of garden pinks, greens and lavenders.

From that stunning moment to the altogether transformative "Kingdom of the Sugar Plum Fairy," Nashville's Nutcracker takes its rapt audience to greater artistic heights than previously thought possible. Sadie Bo Harris, as the Sugar Plum Fairy, and Jon Upleger, as her Cavalier, display great versatility and control, no doubt inspiring many young minds to dream of life in the ballet. The other Act Two highlights include the sensuously beautiful performance of the Snake Charmer and his Lady, danced with lithe grace by Mark Allyn Nimmo and Grace Rich, Nashville's very own homegrown ballerina; the rousing Russian dance by Damian Drake and Joseph Steinaur; the Swiss Shepherd and Shepherdess (Christopher Stuart and KrisSy Johnson) and their band of charming sheep; and, finally, Vasterling's clever take on "Mother Ginger," here intepreted as "Madame Bonbonniere" (ElizaBeth Harrison as a French confectioner) and her almost harlequinesque Bon-Bons.

Vasterling's imaginative retelling of the ages-old Nutcracker is brought vividly to the stage by the amazing artists at Nashville Ballet. Certainly, the dancers are spectacularly talented, confident and assured as they relate the ageless tale, and they are given sumptuous trappings in which to perform.

Campbell Baird's costumes are unparalleled in their striking beauty, helping to underscore the story's fantastic elements and allowing the dancers to interpret their characters more engagingly. The stunning set design of Shigeru Yaji takes the action of the ballet from the midway of Tennessee's Centennial and International Exposition of 1897 to the interiors of a Belle Meade Mansion (although a window scene - and the family name of "Stahlbaum" - might cause one to reimagine the setting as a mansion in Nashville's Historic Germantown neighborhood), the garden of Nashville's Parthenon and, most certainly, the awesomely beautiful realms of both the Snow Queen and King and the Sugar Plum Fairy. Finally, lighting designer Scott Leathers' skilled eye focuses the audience's collective eye perfectly on the proper spot, illuminating the heart and mind while wonderfully lighting the gorgeous sets.

The outstanding musicians of the Nashville Symphony, under the baton of Nashville Ballet's music director Paul Gambill, complete the artistic foundation for Nashville's Nutcracker and it is hard to imagine a more beautiful rendition of Tchaikovsky's time-honored and beloved score.

Obviously, this sumptuous production is a generous treat for the people of Nashville and it is a Christmas memory that will be treasured for years to come as the true harbinger of the holiday season in Music City.

- Nashville's Nutcracker. Concept and choreography by Paul Vasterling. Snow Scene choreography by Robert Rodham, staged by Fiona Fuerstner. Costume design by Campbell Baird. Set design by Shigeru Yaji. Lighting design by Scott Leathers. Featuring The Nashville Symphony, conducted by Paul Gambill, Nashville Ballet music director. Through December 20. At Andrew Jackson Hall, Tennessee Performing Arts Center, Nashville. For details, visit the company's website at www.nashvilleballet.com.

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