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Chicagoland’s most popular family holiday entertainment: Robert Joffrey’s glorious production, with enchanting Victorian scenery and costumes, Gerald Arpino’s thrilling waltzes of the Snowflakes and Flowers, dozens of dancing and singing children, and the incomparable Joffrey dancers, creating a spectacle that children of all ages will cherish forever. The Joffrey’s Nutcracker is imbued with the quality of magic. Celebrate the season with The Nutcracker where children and adults are dazzled and delighted by childhood memories.
PROGRAM DATES & TIMES Robert Joffrey’s production of The Nutcracker is a one-of-a-kind American treasure. When the curtain rose for its world premiere December 10, 1987 at the Hancher Auditorium of the University of Iowa, the first American version of The Nutcracker was revealed. Since its debut 16 years ago, The Joffrey’s presentation of The Nutcracker has become the company’s best selling program and perennial favorite of audiences across the country. The Joffrey’s Nutcracker was produced in the spirit of the original Nutcracker ballet created by French born Marius Petipa, which premiered December 18, 1892 at the Maryinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia. However, Mr. Joffrey’s inspiration behind his version of The Nutcracker came from his personal collection of Victorian-era toys and his desire to create a Nutcracker ballet that expressed the festivity and ambiance of a Victorian era Christmas in America. Before his version appeared on stage, productions of The Nutcracker were presented using European themes and traditions. Nearly 20 years ago Mr. Joffrey began searching antique shops in New York’s Greenwich Village to find American-Victorian era toys, cards and holiday memorabilia upon which to design The Nutcracker set. Accompanying him was long-time Joffrey photographer Herbert Migdoll. “I remember him holding up an engraving of a toyshop window. It had a tree in the middle and American-Victorian type toys,” Mr. Migdoll recalled. “Bob [Mr. Joffrey] turned to me and asked, ‘What would you think of using this engraving as the basis of the front curtain for The Nutcracker?’ I said, ‘It’s perfect; all it needs is a little nutcracker in the middle.'” Mr. Joffrey never said another word about the design of the front curtain to Mr. Migdoll. On opening night, Mr. Migdoll waited with anticipation for the stage curtain to rise; he had never seen The Nutcracker before. “When the curtain was raised I was shocked and thrilled to see that exact scene from the engraving we saw in the antique shop, with a nutcracker in the middle.” Mr. Migdoll said. “It just gave me goose bumps. I was tickled silly. Bob had given the engraving to designer Oliver Smith who had designed the front curtain exactly as Bob and I had discussed.” |
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The Christmas tree angels are also unique to The Joffrey’s Nutcracker. Christmas trees were a relatively new tradition in America in the 1850’s. German immigrants brought the “Tannenbaum” or Christmas tree custom to the United States in the early 19th century. It wasn’t until 1856, when President Franklin Pierce decorated the first White House Christmas tree, that the Christmas tree tradition became popular in North America. Mr. Joffrey wanted to incorporate this American Christmas icon into The Nutcracker. On another visit to a Greenwich Village antique shop, Mr. Joffrey found a 1903 greeting card titled “Christmas Tree Angel.” According to Mr. Migdoll, the front of the card had a Christmas tree with a child’s face and wings. This card was used as the prototype for the 12 Christmas tree angels in The Nutcracker. The distinctive choreography of The Joffrey’s Nutcracker is attributed in part to Joffrey co-founder and artistic director Gerald Arpino, who choreographed the two main sections, The Waltz of the Snowflakes and The Waltz of the Flowers. Mr. Arpino’s choreography was entirely new and brought a fresh dynamic to The Nutcracker. Mr. Joffrey choreographed the dance of Nougats from Russia. This section is based on the solo he choreographed for his graduation dance concert when he was 16 years old. He expanded the cast from one man to three and brought in one woman, and the costumes were designed after the costume he made for his graduation concert. Because children are central to the theme of The Nutcracker and are the primary audience, Mr. Joffrey imbued his creation with the quality of magic. Children in the audience are to be surprised and dazzled. “When Dr. Drosselmeyer, the doll maker and magician, holds out his cape, the smoke shoots out, and then all of the sudden the Nutcracker appears, the children always gasp with excitement,” Mr. Migdoll explained. “That’s the kind of effect on the audience Bob was anxious to have.” The essence of The Nutcracker was described by Mr. Joffrey in a commentary he wrote just before his death in 1988. “It is through Dr. Drosselmeyer’s magic and love that this never-ending dream of Christmas transports Clara [the central character] and enables each of us to revisit the land of innocence: our childhood.” |
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