Visions of holiday joy dance at Boston Opera House

The holidays are now upon us: it is the time to do Christmas shopping, cookie-baking, and visiting with friends and family. Candy canes, mistletoe, and wreaths are decking gates and decorating doors. What better way to celebrate the holiday spirit than with a holiday classic: the production of The Nutcracker, currently running at the Boston Opera House.Composed by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky and based off of the short story, "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" by E.T.A. Hoffman, this is an old favorite, which from year to year never loses this status. The Boston Ballet production was choreographed by Mikko Nissinen and the music conducted by Jonathan McPhee.

For those unfamiliar with the story, the ballet is composed of two acts. In the first act, it is Christmas Eve in 1835 in a small German town. Festivities ensue at the Silberhaus house, including decorating the tree and dancing. Uncle Drosselmeyer (Sabi Varga), in drastic purple velvet and cape, entertains the children with dancing dolls in such memorable scenes as the dancing bear, dancing ballerina and acrobat.

His god-daughter, Clara Silberhaus (Alexandra Storch), is especially enraptured by the mechanical ballerina doll. He presents to her the just-finished Nutcracker, which her ornery brother Fritz (Jonathan Gomolka), tries to steal away, and in his attempt, breaks the doll. But Uncle Drosselmeyer magically fixes the doll and returns it to Clara.

The night continues with dancing and merry-making until the guests begin to filter home. Clara later sneaks back into the family room to admire the magnificent Christmas tree. She soon falls asleep on the couch while protectively watching over her Nutcracker doll.

At midnight, the mice appear, frightening Clara awake until Uncle Drosselmeyer appears and scares them away. Suddenly, the house changes and the Nutcracker (Pavel Gurevich) becomes a real soldier. A charming scene follows in which the Christmas ornaments, played by young children of the Boston Ballet School, do a short piece for Clara's amusement. Particularly fun to watch is the dancer that plays the gingerbread man.

The Nutcracker then challenges the Mouse King (Paul Craig) to a duel. Just when it looks grim for the hero, Clara summons the courage to throw her shoe at the Mouse King, giving the soldier the opportunity to slay the Mouse King. Uncle Drosselmeyer dashingly flits into the scene and changes the ugly Nutcracker into a handsome prince who takes Clara through the Land of Snow to the Kingdom of Sweets.

In the second act, the Prince takes Clara to the Palace of Sweets where he reenacts the battle with the mice. Various dances are performed both in honor of Clara's courage and for the entertainment of the Sugar Plum Fairies. As their dances come to an end, so does the adventure in the Kingdom of Sweets.

In the second act of The Nutcracker is mesmerizing with its familiar tunes and dance numbers. In costumes (David Walker and Charles Heightchew) and lighting (Alexander V. Nichols), it is sweetly decadent and pleasing, like holiday candies. The Sugar Plum Fairy troupe is stunning in their tutus of pink, especially the Sugar Plum Fairy Queen's tutu which took more than 3 hours to hand-sew over 300 pink and white beads onto.

Scenes like the Spanish dancers, the entrancing dance of the Arabians, or the upbeat Chinese number are familiar and endearing to childhood memories. The Pastorale dance was delightful with its six young dancers fluffed up in sheep costumes, the sixth black sheep lagging coyly behind. Grandmere Ballabile and her children were a little extravagant; her costume made her look like an overstuffed couch, and the effect was a bit too bulky in comparison to the gracefulness of the rest of the production. And of course, the Russian number followed; a favorite to anyone who has seen the production before.

The set design was done by Helen Pond and Herbert Senn, and it complemented the elegance of the rest of the production. While the palace of the Sugar Plum Fairies was magnificent and grand, the winter wonderland scene, which ended the first act, was splendid in its simplicity and gentle falling snow upon the heads of the white reindeer dancers who pranced and jingled the sleigh carrying The Nutcracker and Clara across the stage.

Other cast members include The Artists of the Boston Ballet, and the Students of the Boston Ballet, who take roles as the Sugar Plum Fairies attendants, the party guests, the mice, and the soldiers.

Murmurs of "lovely" and "that was just stunning," rippled through the crowd making its way out into the crisp, cold streets of Boston, the little girls dressed in their velvet dresses and tutus, nodding off to sleep in their parents' arms.

The Nutcracker will run from November 27-December 27, 2009, with tickets starting at $35. It is just the right reward to end-of-the-semester exams and the best way to celebrate and indulge in the holiday season.