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Event
THE NUTCRACKER From the Royal Opera House
The Sugar Plum Fairy: Miyako Yoshida
Nephew/Nutcracker: Ricardo Cervera/Steven McRae
The Prince: Steven McRae
Drosselmeyer: Gary Avis
The Royal Ballet & The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Conducted by Koen Kessels
Directed by Peter Wright
Choreographed by Peter Wright after Lev Ivanov
A magician with secrets, an enchanted gift, a battle with the Mouse King, a guiding angel and a visit through the Land of Snow to the Kingdom of Sweets: it must be the seasonal favorite, The Nutcracker. The ballet draws on all the imagination and fantasy of E.T.A. Hoffmann's story of Christmas Eve, when young Clara creeps downstairs for one of her presents, but finds herself instead at the start of a night of magical adventures. The designs for this now classic production create the real world of the 19th-century even when the Christmas tree magically grows and the toy soldiers come to life to fight the Mouse King! The beautifully colored imaginings of the fantasy Sugar Garden and its celebratory dances make a fabulous contrast the Sugar Plum Fairy is just one of the delights you might discover here and Peter Wright's production tells the story clearly from its mysterious start to its happy conclusion. Tchaikovsky's music is some of the most instantly memorable of all ballet, with a wealth of famous melodies. This is classical ballet at its most approachable and visually entrancing, with something for everyone to enjoy, from the youngest in the family to the oldest. It's a present to unwrap yourself this Christmas for that bit of extra magic. Courtesy of Opus Arte
'The star of The Nutcracker', says choreographer Peter Wright, 'is Tchaikovsky.' Of course, he's right. The music is the true heart of this ballet, but an equal star is the irresistible joy of Christmas itself. The sincere, heartfelt warmth of Wright's production, includes the most glorious Christmas tree of all time. As midnight chimes designer Julia Trevelyan Oman's magical tree starts to grow and grow. Soaring to the skies, and topped off with a shimmering shower of golden stardust, it conjures up the perfect Christmas. The fantastical toytown battle that follows, leading on, through a swirling Land of Snow, to the Sugar Plum Fairy's enchanted Kingdom of Sweets, proves that Peter Wright is a master showman.
1 hour, 49 minutes
"With at least nine Nutcrackers doing the rounds this season, only a masochist would consider keeping tabs on them all. But the Royal Ballet's production is one I can happily sit through each year. It is easily the most fabulous-looking, with its magisterially growing Christmas tree and its exquisitely detailed costumes. But it is also the most serious, anchored to its own solid ballet logic and morality." The Guardian
"..a handsome, magical, thoroughly traditional rendering of ETA Hoffmann's immortal if deeply strange story." Sunday Express
Saturday-Sunday, December 17-18 at 10am
Wednesdau, December 21 at 7:30pm
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LocationBalboa Theatre
3630 Balboa St. @37th Ave
San Francisco, CA 94121
United States
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