The Nutcracker. The Bolshoi. Arena Theater!
While the Nutcracker may sometimes be thought of as just another Christmas show, a presentation of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker by the Bolshoi is always a treat worthy of anticipation, wonder, and supreme satisfaction. Arena Theater presents the classic ballet as part of its Bolshoi Ballet on screen. There will be one showing on the big screen Sunday, December 19 at 1:00pm. The show has a running time of 2 hours and 15 minutes with one intermission. General admission tickets are $18, with $5 youth tickets (for those under 18.)
The simple description is that on Christmas eve, Marie and her whole family are gathered around the tree in celebration of the holiday. Marie receives a magical gift from her godfather Drosselmeyer and soon enough this Christmas eve will take an unexpected turn for her. Marie’s new doll comes to life and carries her into a whirlwind adventure.
This Nutcracker was choreographed by Yuri Grigorovich, and it is a reminder of just how great his interpretations of the classics are. As Charlotte Kasner opined in an earlier review, "although its setting is very German, Grigorovich somehow makes it parochially Russian. When premiered in 1892, 11 months before Tchaikovsky’s untimely death, the ballet was staged in a contemporary 19th-century setting where it has tended to remain, even when choreographers attempt to set their own stamp on it.
Grigorovich, unusually, sets it slightly earlier at the end of the 18th-century and eliminates all of the mime. Almost every note is danced and some of the scenes that can drag rather in other productions, such as the party and the battle with the mouse king, simply zip along."
The exceptional score, brought to life by the Bolshoi Ballet dancers, delights the hearts and ears of all generations of music lovers. Experience this holiday classic with the whole family on the big screen.
The cast includes Margarita Shrayner (Marie), Semyon Chudin (The Nutcracker Prince), Denis Savin (Drosselmeyer), Alexander Vodopetov (The Mouse King) and the Bolshoi Corps de Ballet. This production was filmed December 23, 2018. Tchaikovsky was 53 when he died in 1893.
Arena Theater is at 214 Main Street, Highway One, in Point Arena. Information is at ArenaTheater.org. The Arena Theater snack bar be open. All attendees 12 and over must be vaccinated.
