The Nutcracker

The Nutcracker
Colorado Ballet
Ellie Caulkins Opera House
Denver, CO
November 25 - December 24, 2017

The Nutcracker is a must see for many people this time of year. In its advertising, the Colorado Ballet promoted they produced the “most loved” Nutcracker in the nation. After many viewings it is easy to see why.

This year’s performances had all the classic elements the audiences expect. The sets were spectacular from the growing Christmas tree to the lovely land of sweets. The costumes may change slightly year to year, but they always have the same beauty as the previous productions.

As always, a few slight changes made their way in. Mother Ginger and the Rat King seem to be funnier and more over the top than the season before.

The Russian dancers stole the show with their energetic leaps. The Sugar Plum Fairy and her consort amazed the audience with their dizzying spins across the stage. The Dance of the Snowflakes creates the most beautiful blizzard anyone has ever seen.

Overall, the show hasn’t changed much, but it doesn’t need to. Patrons return year after year to relive the magical beauty of this classic ballet.

A Colorado Christmas

A Colorado Christmas
Colorado Symphony
Boettcher Concert Hall
Denver, CO
December 15-17, 2017

A Colorado Christmas had a little of everything. It was conducted by Christopher Dragon, who always brings joy into the experience at the Symphony.

The soloist Devin DeSantis was perfect for the variety of music in the concert. His “O Holy Night” was gorgeous. And he performed the jazzy selection from “Too Hot to Handel” and “Believe” from The Polar Express with equal expertise. He had a few fun costume changes to go with the selections as well. At the end of “Believe,” there was a fun train conductor versus symphony conductor moment between DeSantis and Christopher Dragon.

The concert also featured two choirs – the Colorado Symphony Chorus and the Colorado Children’s Chorale. The Symphony Chorus performed the more difficult pieces. The Hallelujah Chorus from “Too Hot to Handel” was a real treat.

The children’s choirs were fun. It was puzzling that some of the children were seated by the Symphony Chorus while the Children’s Chorale performed all their selections on the stage.

Before intermission, Santa and Mrs. Claus made an appearance. Their chorography with the Children’s Chorale was enjoyable. Even better, both were available in the lobby for photos. It was impressive to see how quickly they moved the kids through to make sure they could get through them all.

The music was well chosen to bring the holidays alive. A few fun lighting effects brought magic to the show. My only complaint is that the symphony did not have many instrumental pieces.

The show was perfect for audiences of all ages, bringing the spirit of the season to everyone.

Cendrillon

Cendrillon
Boulder Opera
Stewart Auditorium
Longmont, CO
December 3-8, 2017

Cendrillon is an opera based on the Cinderella story. It is not as well known as the Rossini version La Cenerentola. The Boulder Opera production gave audiences a look at this lesser performed work. Unlike the Rossini version, this one fully embraced the fairy tale nature of the story by including the fairy godmother and two fairy sprites to help her.

The fairy godmother’s arias were quite impressive. There were hints of the Queen of the Night in her songs, but they were perfect in the context of the magical happenings around her. The sprites were an enjoyable addition. The performers appeared to throughly enjoy the magic and mischief they provided to the story. The addition of a handful of girls from the audience during one of the fairy godmother’s scene was distracting.

The stepsisters were also fun to watch. Their reactions and preening were so funny that occasionally they took the focus off of the action in the story.

The oddest part of this opera is that the role of the Prince was written for a soprano, meaning it must be played by a woman. This was awkward at best. While the singer did her best to appear as a man, it wasn’t convincing. And in the duets with Cinderella, it was difficult to distinguish Cinderella’s part from the prince.

The set was fairly bland and simple. However, the elaborate costumes made up for much of that. Nothing was more stunning than Cinderella’s voluminous ball gown.

I was surprised that despite that the show was part of their Family series the opera was performed in French. The biggest issue with the production was the subtitles. They were projected at the back of the stage. While they were easy to read, it meant the children who cannot read yet were left to rely on their parents to read to them. But, as it turned out, the subtitles were poorly set up, at times there were typos in them. Frequently the translation for hopelessly behind the action. For the final scene, they completely gave up on them, leaving the audience to guess at what was happening.

Despite the difficulties, the audience seemed charmed with the show. As an additional treat, all of the performers appeared in the lobby for meet and greets after the show.