Let us now consider the sugar plum. For years, I thought it was an artisan plum rolled in silver sugar. I was this many years old when I discovered that the Victorians called hard candies or sugared nuts "sugar plums." Also, my mother was quite fond of Tchaikovsky and always loved "The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy." I had a vision of what The Nutcracker would look like on stage. I saw it on PBS, but it wasn't until I saw Christopher Wheeldon's production by the Joffrey Ballet that it felt like a moment of deja vu. The Joffrey has been staging The Nutcracker to the classic Tchaikovsky score for over 30 years. It was Robert Joffrey's version until 2016, when the Wheeldon Chicago story and choreography made its debut in Chicago. I saw The Nutcracker a fourth time at the Lyric Opera House.
This year's production was shorter than previous ones, but just as impactful. It was thrilling to walk into the Lyric building and see the giant Christmas tree made of wrapped presents, and scores of little girls dressed in tulle, ribbons, and velvet, perhaps seeing the ballet for the first time. The spell was cast as I sat for two hours of whimsy and beautiful dancing set on the grounds of the World's Columbian Exposition, aka the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.
The opening scene takes place on the street outside the fairgrounds. It is bustling with people carrying gifts, a Christmas tree bundled in burlap, and a gang of street urchins. Amanda Assucena plays Marie, the daughter of one of the fair workers. She is watching her brother, Franz (Alan Ruesch), goof around with the gang of boys and nick a red package from a passerby's wagon. Assucena is a frequent lead in Joffrey performances. She danced the lead in Atonement and alternated as lead in several performances. Assucena is a study in poise and seems to glide through the air, barely making a sound when landing en pointe. She is also a chameleon, from a sensuous and fiery seductress to Alice in the Joffrey production of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Stefan Gonçalvez performs as the Great Impresario—known as Drosselmeyer in the traditional version of The Nutcracker. Gonçalvez makes a fantastic Impresario, sweeping his red-lined cape and making grand flourishes. Gayeon Jung plays Marie and Franz's mother, who is the sculptor for the Statue of the Republic and also the beloved Sugar Plum Fairy. A Christmas Eve gathering takes place at Marie's family home. The accommodations are a simple wood-frame house with only the kitchen stove for heat. The gathering is lively, with dancing and beverages, when the Great Impresario arrives with presents for all the neighborhood children. Franz is shocked when Marie gets the red package he had nicked from a wagon at the fairgrounds. It is a beautiful nutcracker, unlike any gift she has ever received. She brings it with her to her sleeping pallet by the stove.
She is awakened by rats chasing her brother around the woods. The Rat King (Dylan Gutierrez) waits in a tree, watching as his rat minions terrorize the siblings. Suddenly, a human-sized nutcracker (José Pablo Castro Cuevas) appears from nowhere and takes on the Rat King in a battle royale. Basil Twist designed and built the very lifelike rat puppets with Tandem Otter Productions. Guitierrez also plays the local Rat Catcher, and they crawl under his clothes and into his hat. The story is similar to The Wizard of Oz, with the characters turning into anthropomorphic fantasy beings. The Nutcracker kills the Rat King, and the Impresario appears, turning the house into a cultural pavilion of international wonders. They are joined on a gondola by Peter (Hyuma Kiyosawa), the Impresario's Apprentice. Several handmade basins and lagoons surrounded the Columbian Exposition, and some remain in Jackson Park today.
Julian Crouch designed the sets, costumes, and masks with assistance from associate scenic designer Frank McCullough. Exotic lands are represented as well as pure fantasy, aka the Sugar Plum Fairy: Moroccan acrobats, Chinese dragon dancers, and Buffalo Bill, accompanied by attractive two-legged fillies. I covered The Nutcracker in 2024, and it was almost three hours. The individual pavilion dances were longer. I distinctly recall Buffalo Bill dancing in and out of his twirling lasso, and this year it was only lasso twirling, with some very impressive Echappé Battu moves outside of the lasso.
None of this diminished the beauty or impact of The Nutcracker. In addition to the leading ensemble, the Joffrey uses a different cast of dancers for each performance—dancers from every section of the company: the Studio Company, Academy Trainees, Conservatory Students, and Academy Pre-Professionals. It is a testament to the legacy of Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino as pioneers of modern ballet and dance. Maestro Scott Speck led the Lyric Opera Orchestra, and they were excellent as usual. 59 Productions created the projection design, making the stage look magical with twinkling stars and a sepia-toned mockup of the fairgrounds under construction.
It is a beautiful holiday tradition that inspires many future dancers and aligns with the holiday spirit. I was reminded of my parents making sure that the old holiday traditions they grew up with were maintained—bowls of oranges, walnuts, and yes, big tins of sugar plums. There was ribbon candy, boiled sweets, and those little painted candies with jelly filling. It was fun at first, but by February, it had become less thrilling and then miserable, since there was no candy money until July. I highly recommend taking the family to see The Nutcracker as part of your holiday tradition.
The Joffrey Ballet production of The Nutcracker runs through December 28 at the Lyric Opera House, 20 North Wacker Drive. For tickets and more information, please visit www.joffrey.org.
For more information on this and other productions, see theatreinchicago.com.
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