I had no idea what I was getting into when I went to see The House Theatre’s non-dancing version of The Nutcracker: the classical ballet is so intertwined in my mind with its iconic dances and musical movements that I could hardly imagine a play version of it. What I found was an exuberant, high-energy production that can magically transport you directly into the Christmas spirit. Call me a true believer.
Jack Minton, whose credits have among them the moving The Sparrow, along with co-authors Phillip Klapperich, Kevin O’ Donnell and Tommy Rapley, have carefully crafted a new Nutcracker that transforms many of the elements of the original ballet in order to tell a story that maintains fantasy while focusing more on family. The first and most obvious alteration is the nutcracker itself: it is now the incarnation of Clara’s older brother Fritz, in this version a soldier lost in the war. Fritz’s death has had a powerful impact on the family, which once celebrated Christmas with huge, ebullient parties but now doesn’t celebrate at all.
Enter Uncle Drosselmeyer (Torrey Hanson) with the toy nutcracker that will, through the magic of Clara’s imagination and the holiday season, change their lives. Drosselmeyer’s arrival upsets the carefully constructed control of this household and threatens to force them all to feel again. Hanson plays him with a combination of menace and a twinkle in the one eye we can see outside of an eye patch. You’re never quite sure just what he is thinking, but you know that, from the start, he is there to upset the apple cart.
Of the specifics of the new story, it’s probably best to allow you to discover them yourself. It isn’t that they are meant to be surprises as much as that everything here is so wonderful that a lot of advance details will just weigh you down. But I will say that this production cuts to the heart of a family’s loss and pain while creating a new and powerful celebration of the Christmas season. And the scariest Rat King (far worse than mice) that you’ll ever imagine seeing.
The actors here are all outstanding. Clara is played by high school student Haley Seda, and she is a joy. When she sings her first song, about the loss of her brother and how Christmas isn’t Christmas without him, hearts break. But Clara is all resilience: with her three favorite toys, Monkey, Hugo and Phoebe, she has plans to make the family come alive again. (The scene in which we see her interacting with her toys as toys is both hilarious and touching: it’s a celebration of childhood.) And when the magic of Drosselmeyer’s Nutcracker brings all of the toys to life with it, Clara is determined to bring back her brother’s favorite time of year.
The Nutcracker himself, Fritz, is played by Desmond Gray as part big brother, part soldier, part magical creation. The first two are clearly Clara’s perception of what Fritz was, and we can see the love she had for her sibling (if her desperate tears upon his death were not enough). But the third? Here is a big brother who can face off against giant rats, who can come back to life again and again, who can help bring Christmas back into the family, who can (finally) give Clara the strength to let him go.
As the toys, Ian Maryfield (Monkey), Rachel Shapiro (Phoebe), and Ben Hertel (Hugo) are simply marvelous, exhibiting all of the mania and chaos you might expect if our silliest toys actually came to life. Maryfield is a treat, with his deep French accent and his monkey-like gait and his character’s inability to understand even the simplest things. Shapiro, whose Phoebe is a pull-string doll, does a wonderful job with a limited vocabulary. She’s all excitement and fun, and when it comes time to make Christmas cookies she takes the lead, singing a whole song with a single phrase and a huge smile. Hertel, too, is amazing: Hugo’s character is a bit geeky, and Hertel manages to move as if he has a doll’s joints: every single part of his body free to go whichever way it wishes. The three of them are Clara’s best friends, alive or inanimate, and it’s easy to see why.
As Clara’s parents, Nicholas Bailey and Amanda De La Guardia have difficult jobs to do. Once the initial shocking news is delivered, their job is, essentially, to navigate a minefield of pain. Fortunately for these two fine actors, the script also allows them to have some fun: they also play characters referred to as “Scary Rats.” (Bailey’s is “Quite Scary Rat” while De La Guardia’s is “Really Scary Rat.”) And they live up to their names: these two wall-dwellers, who hate light and all things Christmas and wish to drag Clara into the walls and into permanent darkness, are, quite simply, fun as well as dangerous. And when they are joined by Hanson’s “Really Quite Scary Rat” in the second act, well, the odds don’t look good for our toy heroes.
The Nutcracker was directed by Chris Matthews with a deft touch: he draws outstanding performances from his actors and manages to craft both exciting, noisy scenes and quiet, contemplative ones with equal aplomb, balancing them beautifully. Debbie Baer and Mieka Van Der Ploeg have designed costumes here that are absolutely perfect, giving all of the actors both the fundamentals of their characters and room to play. And Michael Griggs’ sound design and Lee Keenan’s lighting are brilliant, along with a set by Collette Pollard that seems simple enough, but in a second act reveal, is much more than meets the eye.
This is the eighth year that The House Theatre has done The Nutcracker, which has become a welcome mainstay in Chicago’s Christmas theatre season, and there is a reason. The play is as magical as its subject matter and well worth your evening.
The Nutcracker is now playing at Chopin Theatre (presented by House Theatre), 1543 W. Division, until December 30. Tickets are available from The House Theatre. Find more information about current plays on our Current Shows page and at theatreinchicago.com.
Karen Topham