(Posted
5:30 p.m., Dec. 2)
OYP's Nutcracker is sweeter than grandma's Christmas cookies
By Fred Sherwin
Orleans Online
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 Marie admires the Nutcracker given to her by her godfarther, Herr Drosselmeyer,
during the opening scene of 'The Nutcracker' being presented this weekend by the
Orleans Young Players Theatre School at the Shenkman Arts Centre. Fred Sherwin/Photo
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When
Orleans Young Players artistic director Kathi Langston sat down to script the
theatre school's unique version of the classic Christmas play "The Nutcracker",
she must have been in the middle of her Christmas baking because there is enough
sugary sweetness in the production to bake a dozen sugar cookies.
The
play is so filled with cuteness that even the fight scene leaves you feeling ooey-gooey
inside.
The
cute factor is supplied by the snow flakes, sugar plum fairies and lollipops,
played by an ensemble of real life angels.
For
those people who have never seen "The Nutcracker", the play revolves
around a central character named Marie, who along with her brother Fritz, receive
three presents from their godfather Herr Drosselmeyer, who happens to be a gifted
toymaker.
Fritz's
present is a toy soldier, while Marie's is a doll which she names Clara. The third
present is a handsome nutcracker which the two siblings proceed to have a tug
of war over.
Not
surprisingly the Nutcracker is broken in the tussle. Deeply upset over the broken
Nutcracker, Marie retires to her bedroom, only to reappear after the rest of the
family has gone to bed to see if the toy can be fixed.
As
she approaches the Nutcracker, the clock strikes midnght and all of a sudden Marie
finds herself in the middle of a battle betwen a group of soldiers led by the
Nutcracker and a bunch of mice led by the Rat King.
As
the Rat King begins to get the upper hand, Marie throws her slipper at him. This
distracts the Rat King just enough to allow the Nutcracker to vanquish his foe,
upon which our hero is immediately transformed into a handsome priince.
During
the second act of the play, Marie is led on an incredible journey to the Land
of Enchanted Dreams by the prince, the soldier and Clara, who has also come to
life.
The
four friends first visit the Snow Kingdom where they have a brief encounter with
the North Wind, played wonderfully by Ian Stauffer who does double duty as Herr
Drosselmeyer.
After
escaping the North Wind, the friends arrive in the Land of Enchanted Dreams populated
by characters with candy-coated names like Tutti-Frutti, Butterscotch, Taffy and
Bon-Bon. To welcome Marie, the Sugar Plum Fairy has Minstrel Sweet tell the story
of The Little Match Girl who lights a match to warm herself from its glow.
As
she strikes each match, she sees visions of a Christmas tree and a table full
of food. A third match allows her to see a vision of her deceased grandmother,
the only person that ever treated her with love and kindness.
Not
wanting the vision of her grandmother to go away, the girl keeps lighting match
after match until her supply of matches runs out. Left with no matches, she eventually
succumbs to the bitter cold and her grandmother comes to carry her off to Heaven.
The
story is meant to make everyone realize how good they have it, and to celebrate
they have a party. Afterwards, Marie returns to her home, where her parents find
her sleeping on the living room floor with the toy Nutcracker in her arms.
She
is woken by Herr Drosselmeyer who promises to bring the children more toys next
Christmas so that they can continue to have magical dreams.
"The
Nutcracker" is the perfect play to bring your children to and get into the
holiday spirit. It is also guaranteed to warm your heart and put a smile on your
face.
OYP
veteran Sydney Smith is a joy as Marie and Adrian Soble is wonderful as the handsome
prince and the Nutcracker. Kudos as well to Sabrina Chan as the soldier and Shae-Lynn
Beiersdorfer as Clara.
I
especially loved the characters in the Land of Enchanted Dreams. Biz MacDonald
is the Sugar Plum Fairy, Petra Hohenstein plays Tuffti-Frutti and Bittersweet,
Bon-Bon, Butterscotch and Taffy are played in no particular order by Hannah Beatty,
Madison Bellini, Elyse Gauthier and Allison Perry.
The
rest of the principle characters include J.D. Brousseau as the Snow King and Holly
Norman as the Snow Queen; Gordo Smtih and Patrick Langston play the gatekeepers
to the Land of Enchanted Dreams; Randy Bellini is the father and the Rat King;
and Michelle Neville is the mother.
The
mice are played by Dreana Da Costa, Alexis Marshall Simon Trottier, Heather Glenn,
Krista Neville, and the snowflakes are played by Kennedy Quaile, Kennedy Mackill, Lindsay Nissen, Skye Gregoire
Special
mention as well to Sarah Tomaszewski who opens the play with a marvelous aria.
"The
Nutcracker" is being performed in the Richcraft Theatre at the Shenkman Arts
Centre on Dec. 2, 3 and 4. Curtain time is 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 3 and 4, wirth additional
matinee performances at 2;30 p.m. on Dec. 4 and 5.
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| The Orleans Young Players production of 'The Nutcracker' is being presented at
the Shenkman Arts Centre from Dec. 2-4. Fred Sherwin/Photo
(This
story was made possible thanks to the generous support of
our local business partners.)
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