A Magical Masterpiece ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Today, Birmingham Royal Ballet opened the 2021 Birmingham Hippodrome tour of The Nutcracker. Playing until 11th December 2021 and it was splendiferous!
The Nutcracker tells the story of a young girl, Clara (Karla Doorbar) whose Father, Dr Stahlbaum (Jonathan Payn) and Mother (Yvette Knight), throw a Christmas Eve party, inviting Clara’s God Father, Herr Drosselmeyer (Rory Mackay) the local toy maker to join them. He brings Clara a Nutcracker doll and Clara’s younger brother Fritz (Kristian Shek) a Rat King puppet. As midnight arrives, toys come to life and the most amazing Christmas tree scene commences with projections from 59 Productions and setting design from Dick Bird including giant baubles descending from the ceiling. What happens under the Christmas tree? If you don’t know, you’ll have to come along and find out.
For this year only, a specially adapted version of Sir David Bintley’s London production is on the Hippodrome stage and it was an absolute magical masterpiece. I loved every single part of it and believe that if you were considering seeing the Nutcracker, you should try and get tickets for this adaptation whilst you can. You will be thoroughly spoilt.
The first act, possibly my favourite of the two, is where the true magic arises. Unlike the traditional Birmingham version, this adaptation has a recorded voiceover from Simon Callow setting the opening of the first scene in his Dickensian tones as Drosselmeyer. A perfect addition for those younger audience members and those being introduced to ballet for the first time. This adaptation is not only easier to follow and understand but it is more friendly – gentle even. Drosselmeyer has always seemed quite a dark character to me but in this he seems softer, more like Geppetto (from Pinocchio) but with flourishes of magic like Paul Daniels. Children have taken the roles of the rats, making the scenes a lot more playful, spirited and sprightly. The party scene at the start with the young children dancing, all choreographed excellently (by David Bintley and Marion Tait) had my daughters laughing, wanting to join in, dancing in their seats. I sat in amazement at how children so young could dance so perfectly in time, in front of so many people watching them. These are true stars.
The dancing was exquisite all the way through. Karla Doorbar spent practically the whole time on the stage and managed to keep her elegance and grace all the way through. Karla continues to be my favourite Clara with her petite frame allowing you to imagine she is the young Clara that she is portraying, coupled with her polished footwork and ability to make every single movement that she makes on stage look beautiful. Karla is made for this role and I hope to see her in many more future productions.
Making her debut today in the role of The Sugar Plum Fairy was Beatrice Parma whose Grand pas de deux with the Nutcracker Prince (Mathias Dingman) was ethereally beautiful and the highlight of the second act for me. A striking performance from both Beatrice and Mathias that was both moving and magical. The perfectly timed jumps and leaps and the passion that they portrayed, it was a perfectly executed pas de deux.
Other stand out performers for me this afternoon were Eric Pinto Cata in the role of the fun, springy jack-in-the-box. The energy and strength he must have to perform this role so well and the fun, witty element he brought to the role had my girls giggling when he was on the stage. Yaoqian Shang made a perfect Snow Fairy with her graceful and elegant footwork and presence on the stage. My girls were delighted when it ‘snowed’ on stage.
The Royal Ballet Sinfonia in this performance were raised on a platform above the stage. Although unusual (they are usually in the orchestra pit), it worked and it worked very well. These musicians are just as important as the dancers in making the show what it is, so how brilliant that they get the spotlight too. Paul Murphy conducted Tchaikovsky’s beautiful score with precision and passion.
This was a dreamy production. Magical and perfect for every family this Christmas season. I would say it is suitable for ages 4 and above personally. Both Acts are 50 minutes long with a 25 minute interval in the middle.
The merchandise stand is perfect for adults and children with an array of products all at a reasonable price. You can purchase a Nutcracker book for £5.50, Fairy wings for £5, Christmas decorations from £3 to £5.
Do make sure you have a look in the foyer (by the box office) at the chocolate made Nutcracker by Cadbury World. Which looks, quite frankly, good enough to eat.
If you would like to book tickets or find out more regarding the performance, please visit: https://www.brb.org.uk/whats-on/event/nutcracker-2021
Disclaimer: We were invited along to the opening performance of The Nutcracker. All thoughts and opinions are entirely our own. Professional photographs by Bill Cooper.