I have a confession. One I am slightly bewildered and somewhat embarrassed about - at my tender age of somewhere in my mid 50’s (ssshhhh) I have never seen a ballet or opera.
So, this past saturday night I went along with a friend to watch The Nutcracker A Christmas Fairytale at the always welcoming and joyous New Vic Theatre, a show which is based on Tchaikovsky’s composition written back in 1891.
And how I was charmed and enchanted by the sheer class and spectacle of a modernised ballet (with speaking parts).
For those in the audience who were like me and did not know this Wintery Christmas Eve story, it is a tale of teenager Marie and her family who are feeling the change of Christmas having moved to a new location after a family tragedy.
Christmas Eve is here - but not the cheer...
That is until a magical Christmas tree, a nutcracker soldier and magical Uncle Drosselmeyer take Marie to the Land of Sweets to save the beautiful Sugar Plum Fairy from the seven-headed Mouse Queen!
I won’t spoil the ending for you as much to say, the choreography arrangement by Beverley Norris-Edmunds is en pointe, the ballet magical, the small orchestra musically magnificent and the acting theatrically beautiful. Everyone left with smiles, on their now, Christmassy faces!
Catch this musical masterpiece at the New Vic until 27th January 2024.
