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Dreams are brought to life annually at Milwaukee’s Marcus Center when the Milwaukee Ballet is in the building each December. But their popular “Nutcracker” is now dreamier than ever as the company unveiled completely new sets and costumes, plus an overhauled second act — all nothing short of extraordinary.
It took seven years and $5 million to bring this new “Nutcracker” to life. Milwaukee Ballet artistic director Michael Pink’s reimagining of the classic ballet, last refreshed a quarter century ago, premiered Friday. And it’s safe to say this “Nutcracker” was worth the wait.
Milwaukee Ballet’s “The Nutcracker: Drosselmeyer’s Imaginarium” continues through Dec. 26 at Marcus Performing Arts Center in downtown Milwaukee.
Pink’s previous “Nutcracker,” retired last year, was worthy of its beloved status. But even die-hards must admit the ballet was worn out. Sets and costumes had begun to show their age. And in the ballet world, where “Nutcrackers” drive the box office sales needed for companies to survive, Milwaukee Ballet needed a change to keep up with the flashy, modern productions cropping up all over the country. This keeps up and then some; good golly, it’s gorgeous.
The ballet opens on Drosselmeyer’s workshop. The inventor and magic maker — a role enticing enough for veteran dancer Davit Hovhannisyan to return to the stage after just two months of retirement — prepares to bring a night of merriment to the Tannenbaum family with assistant Karl (danced Saturday afternoon by Parker Brasser-Vos). The pair plunge all the necessary items into a carpet bag, Mary Poppins style, foreshadowing the second act with ephemera from Drosselmeyer’s “Imaginarium,” Pink’s newly conceived Kingdom of the Sweets. Peeling back layers of the hand-painted set, the workshop flies into the ether, revealing a bustling street scene. That opens up to a breathtaking Victorian conservatory — and one quickly realizes this is not the same Milwaukee Ballet “Nutcracker.”
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Steering completely away from the trend toward trimmed down productions, which rely on projections to beef up the magic, a decorated design team built this “Nutcracker” the old school way: with traditional drops and borders, maximalist set pieces and light (by familiar faces Todd Edward Ivins and David Grill) — plus 175 exquisite new costumes conceived by Gregory Poplyk, whose design credits include New York City Ballet and HBO’s “The Guilded Age.”
But Milwaukee Ballet also knows its audience. To abandon their “Nutcracker” completely wasn’t practical, necessary or wise. Thus, Pink kept the opening party scene almost entirely intact, despite the new, beautiful trappings. Nor does he touch the foundational pieces of the libretto, which avoid some of the darker (and cringier) connotations of “Nutcracker” and brilliantly connects some of this arguably silly ballet’s dangling plot points.
In this scenario, Clara (Daniela Maarraoui), Fritz (Marko Micov) and older sister Marie (Alana Griffith) — the latter is Karl’s love interest — fall asleep after a rousing family party and venture to a magical land dreamed up by Drosselmeyer. On the way there, the living room grows, blowing the ceiling off the conservatory. The kids interrupt a battle between toy soldiers and mice under the Christmas tree. A life-size dancing nutcracker prevails and is revealed to be Karl, transformed from a rather nerdy bloke to a bona fide prince, who dances a splendid pas de deux with Marie. They get stuck in a snowstorm — whipped up with feverishly fast, staccato dancing by Snow Queen Marie Harrison-Collins and her corps of flakes — then board a hot-air balloon en route to a candy-coated city.
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The second act Imaginarium is where Pink abandoned most of his previous production (though faithful viewers will appreciate that the jacks were left in). This sparkly color bomb of a fairyland borrows images from Oz, Whoville and Wonka’s chocolate factory, with a cityscape made of candy and an ensemble of charming, balloon-toting citizens on hand to meet their special guests. Dancing lions, clowns and dolls, a roller-skating trumpeter and a bicycling drag queen called Madame Bon Bon provide the entertainment, plus newly crowned Marie as the Sugar Plum Fairy.
Music director Andrews Sill reprised bits and bobs of the Tchaikovsky score to fashion interludes as intros and outros to the divertissements. Though I’m not convinced this is necessary, it keeps the second act upbeat and alive between scenes. The full effect of these elements together is undeniably enchanting, not to mention an exquisite poinsettia-themed “Waltz of the Flowers” and terrific dancing in the Spanish, Arabian and Chinese variations.
Many a “Nutcracker” has wrestled with modernizing these divertissements to remove offensive cultural stereotypes. Pink sanitized the names, opting for a Trumpet Couple, Oasis Couple and Lion Pup in lieu of assigning each dance an ethnicity — but it’s obvious from the costumes and choreography that Pink hasn’t reinvented the wheel, here. That’s not to say he forced an error, either. For this critic, the Lion variation is the most successful Chinese revision on record, keeping whimsy and fun turned all the way up while respectfully leaning into the visual splendor of a Chinese New Year celebration.
Also new: Instead of a conventional grand pas de deux, Pink sprinkles the solo variations across the second act, leaving only the duet and coda for the end of the ballet. It’s a clever move, as is Pink’s luxurious choreography. Astute viewers will find whispers of Marius Petipa’s centuries-old pas in this stunning duet for Marie and Karl. It’s also a demanding request of Griffith and Brasser-Vos, saving the ballet’s most demanding bits for their fourth (or fifth?) costumes of the night — and they absolutely nailed it.
Theater Loop
That Milwaukee Ballet often flies under the radar is a befuddling mystery. If it wasn’t obvious before, their status among the nation’s top-tier ballet companies is firmly sealed now, with one of the grandest “Nutcrackers” of all.
Lauren Warnecke is a freelance critic.
Review: Milwaukee Ballet’s “The Nutcracker: Drosselmeyer’s Imaginarium” (4 stars)
When: Through Dec. 26
Where: Marcus Performing Arts Center, 929 N. Water St., Milwaukee
Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes with an intermission
Tickets: $44-$160 at 414-273-7206 and milwaukeeballet.org
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