The Nutcracker from the English National Ballet Coliseum, London January 2, 2024 Review

It had been the best part of a decade since I last went to a performance of The Nutcracker, and it was with an air of expectation that I went, with my wife, daughter and my daughter’s boyfriend, to the Coliseum on a windy Tuesday evening. The Nutcracker is the ballet equivalent of a pantomime, in that it is a guaranteed seat filler, and the first time many children are introduced to the magic of the theatre. However, unlike the pantomimes, The Nutcracker also introduces them to classical music, and, particularly on hearing Tchaikovsky’s marvellous score for the first time, the love for this form of music can take hold at an impressionable age. So, what will the younger theatre goers be treated to when they see The Nutcracker at The Coliseum.

The Theatre

It is important to have the best possible setting for The Nutcracker, and in the London Coliseum it has just that. The Edwardian grandeur of Frank Matcham’s original design was matched by the acoustic qualities for which older theatres are justly famous. In the 120 years since it opened in 1904, as a variety theatre, it has been used for a number of purposes, but today it is most famous as the home of the English National Opera and the English National Ballet. With nearly 2500 seats, it is the biggest theatre in London, and The Nutcracker regularly fills all of them. We were up in the balcony, a couple of rows from the back but we still had a fantastic view of the stage and the music was crystal clear throughout. Given the situation in many other theatres where you have at least a slightly restricted view, this is something I always value when I come to the Coliseum. The ability to watch the action unfold with no barriers in your line of sight is another element of this production that makes it perfect as an introduction to live theatre.

The Staging

The ballet was simply sumptuous to look at with a staging that made use of every inch of London’s biggest stage. From a skating rink in the opening scenes to a huge ballroom it awed the audience at every turn. Smaller sets like Clara’s bedroom were masterpieces of space utilisation and they provided an intimacy that drew the audience into the scenes. The snowy effects were magical and the lighting faultless. Sometimes, we take the staging for granted in a theatre production, but the behind the scenes work made the overall look of the ballet a character in its own right. I have never seen a production so full of magic before.

The Music

Many writers have examined Tchaikovsky’s score in great depth and in exhaustive detail. If you want to know more about the score in technical terms there are far better guides than me. However, as a music lover, I can say that it has every single element you could wish for in an evening’s music. For a start, even though it had been so long since I saw it, I was amazed at how much of the score I recognised within a few notes in the first act. It is from memory my sixth or seventh visit to this ballet, but the way I could recall the less instantly familiar parts of the score was still a very nice surprise. The second act has the familiar show stoppers, with the Trepak Russian Dance, Waltz of the Flowers and Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy being the most recognisable. However, for people of a certain age, the Danse des Mirlitons is the one apt to take us back to our childhoods. I can guarantee that it isn’t just me who was hearing Frank Muir’s voice in my head as he told us that ‘Everyone’s a Fruit and Nut Case’!

The English National Ballet Philharmonic orchestra were incredible, and underlined the importance of live music in a production such as this. These consummate professionals were a huge part in making the show as successful as it was. The harps in The Waltz of the Flowers were almost otherworldly in their beauty, as were the flutes in the Danse des Mirlitons. Although these two passages were fine examples of the orchestral excellence on display, each section shone in their individual parts and gave others the chance to shine in theirs. The enthusiasm and the freshness they brought to the score made me feel like I was hearing it for the first time, familiar though it was.

The Cast

As with any ballet, or indeed any stage production, the success of the evening lies with the cast. However great the source material is, a cast who don’t quite hit the heights can reduce the enjoyment of any play, musical or ballet. Fortunately, in the case of The Nutcracker, the cast did indeed hit the heights. The dancing was uniformly excellent throughout. The company were faultless, at least to my largely untrained eye, with crowd scenes showing an amazing tightness of choreography as they navigated the stage area with absolute precision. The principals and soloists were fantastic, with Shiori Kase as Clara and Erik Woolhouse as Drosselmeyer’s Nephew bringing an energy to the Pas de Deux that made it electrifying. Alexander Nuttall made the Mouse King very scary at times with the energy of his dancing and the force of his personality. Victor Prigent’s Nutcracker was a worthy adversary and an excellent foil for Nuttall in their demanding dances together, and you could see why Clara would fall for this uniformed paragon. Precious Adams was superb as the Mirliton with her solo particularly entrancing the audience. Henry Dowden’s Drosselmeyer was bursting with energy and magic throughout, as he brought a flair to the part that made it his own.

For me, however, it was one of the younger members of the cast who stole the show. The Tring Park School for the Performing Arts provided the young members of the company who excelled in technical terms as they brought real verve to their dances. The young Clara, played by Beatrice Lewis-Verebelyi gave the young girls in the audience a glimpse into what is possible on the ballet stage, even at such a young age. As well as being a superb dancer, as you would expect, her acting skills gave Clara a personality and a presence that I don’t recall having seen before in that part. She really showed every sign of being a star of the future. Her fellow Tring Park dancer, Ethan Galeotti, was the perfect foil, bringing a rumbustiousness to Clara’s brother, Freddie, that made him instantly stand out, but also showing a more sensitive side as well.

Final Thoughts

My daughter’s boyfriend came to The Nutcracker, having never been to a ballet before. I was a similar age to him when I saw my first ballet, A Christmas Carol by the Northern Ballet. It was my abiding affection for the Dickens classic which was instrumental in introducing me to ballet as an art form and a spectacle. Now, looking around me last night, I did not see more than a handful of boys in the Coliseum, but I saw a large number of girls eagerly awaiting their introduction to the magic of dance. I would love to see ballet as an art form for both boys and girls to watch and participate in. However, socially there is a lot of work to do while boys are seen as ‘weird’ by friends, and occasionally family, for wanting to dance. The male dancers of all ages in the production confirmed that ballet is a career open to everyone, but until we accept that boys can dance just as much as girls can play football, cricket or rugby, it will remain a cultural outlet that is closed to boys. In the last 20 years or so, we have accepted the idea of girls playing football to such an extent that they are now just as encouraged to aim for the top as any boy. Wouldn’t it be marvellous if we could turn our attention to ballet and aim for the same situation in reverse? There are obviously examples of good practice in terms of this equality across the country, but it is far from widespread as far as I can tell. It would be fantastic to see dance classes in years to come having a good mix of boys and girls, providing ballet and other forms with a far deeper and wider pool of talent for the future.