The Nutcracker—the 1892 ballet based on a story by E.T.A. Hoffman, set to a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and originally credited to choreographer Marius Petipa—has always had a fantastically thin plot. A young girl, born with a silver spoon in her mouth, rides the magic coattails of a mysterious godfather to the Land of Sweets, where the child who already has everything is given still more. The stakes have rarely been so low for a character or an audience.
In part by making it at least a bit more real. Set during the winter prior to the 1893 World’s Fair, the Joffrey’s new Nutcracker is a tale emboldened by industry and class consciousness. Its heroine, Marie (given a spirited performance by Amanda Assucena), is the daughter of a poor, working-class single mother, a sculptor and Polish immigrant. In place of the Land of Sweets is the sprawling attraction coming into form as the World’s Columbian Exposition (rendered well by set designer Julian Crouch with help from projections by Ben Pearcy), contextualized for the audience by graphics of old newspaper clippings with headlining draws like “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show” and “Venetian Waterways.” The stakes somehow feel real for Marie and whoever else happens to stumble into her world.
Through 12/30: Wed-Fri 7 PM, Sat-Sun 2 and 7 PM, Tue 7 PM; also Wed 12/21-Fri 12/23, 2 PM; Mon 12/26, 2 and 7 PM; and Tue 12/27, 2 PM, Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress, joffrey.org, $35-$170.
