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Synopsis

Filled with small queer touches, Matthew Bourne's (Swan Lake) Nutcracker is a completely fresh update on this perfect holiday classic — ideal for the whole family. Here is an interview from the famed gay choreographer's site that we think you'll enjoy:

Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker is now 110 years old. Why does it remain so popular?
Well it's about growing up and it's about first love and these are themes that we can all relate to. They are particularly relevant to this production, which casts adult performers as a group of very needy young orphans. It's also a touching coming of age story told through the dreams, and nightmares, of a particular young girl, Clara. The classical Nutcracker has also become a Christmas tradition, particularly for Mothers and their young dancing school daughters; it's often the first ballet that many people see. It can though, be a difficult story to follow and a bore for the men of the family. I've tried to tell a story for all the family. Adults, kids, girls and boys should all find something to thrill them and touch them in Clara's adventure. I would also like to think that the main reason that Nutcracker has retained its perennial appeal is because of Tchaikovsky's incredible score. Act one contains some of his most engaging and, at times, profound story-telling music and Act Two has one glorious melody after another. After 110 years it retains it's mystery, magic and the power to transport us to another world.
Your first production of Nutcracker! was for Opera North in 1992 as part of the work's centenary celebrations. Why have you chosen to revisit the piece now?
It's a production that is very fondly remembered by those that saw it and those that performed in it. It was the first full-evening story ballet that I had the chance to choreograph and started me on an unexpected journey, creating new and alternative productions of other classic works (Highland Fling (La Sylphide), Swan Lake, Cinderella, The Car Man) When Nicholas Payne, asked me and my company to take it on, it was certainly not something that I would have ever contemplated. After all, we were a small touring company of 6 dancers, so a large-scale classical ballet was not really a realistic option! It didn't take me long to realise, though, that this was a gift and a challenge that couldn't be passed up. The experience of creating it was a very happy one. With only five weeks rehearsal before an opening at the 1992 Edinburgh Festival, the ideas had to come fast, by necessity. Somehow it all worked out and it was brought back for two Christmas seasons at Sadlers Wells in 1993 and 1994. It has not been seen since and many of the audiences that became aware of my work through the West End and touring productions of shows like Swan Lake (which premiered at Sadlers Wells in 1995) have not had the chance to see it. The original production had great irreverence, eccentricity and youthful charm. In taking another look at it, I don't want to lose that, but I do feel that I have learnt a lot about non verbal story telling in the ten years since it was made and I have a wonderful new generation of dancers to work with. Happily, though, we still have five dancers in the current company who appeared in the original production - Scott Ambler, Saranne Curtin, Isabel Mortimer, Etta Murfitt and Emily Piercy - though only Etta and Saranne dance their original roles as Clara and Sugar.
In most classical productions the piece begins at a very heavily populated and extremely wealthy Christmas party. An enormous Christmas tree usually acts as the centerpiece and many luxurious gifts are given. Your production begins in a very bleak Dickensian Orphanage where the children are experiencing a very different kind of Christmas. Why did you choose to do this?
I have always felt that the Christmas Party that opens most productions of Nutcracker represented a fantasy in itself for most audiences. Therefore, when we are transported into Clara's fantasy world we have really just gone from one idyllic fantasy to another. Martin Duncan and I had an instinct that we would feel the transformation that much more if the Christmas Party that begins the piece was less opulent and more bittersweet. We came up with the notion of an awful Dickensian orphanage, enjoying the annual Christmas Eve visit of the Institute's Governors. Dr Dross and his wife, who run the Orphanage, contrive to create a pleasant Christmas atmosphere for the benefit of the visitors, only to snatch the Governors gifts back from the children, as soon as they leave and before Christmas day has even begun. Clara is, of course, one of the Orphans and the Nutcracker boy, is a fellow orphan on whom she has a young girls crush. Fritz and Sugar are the Dross' awful spoilt children who terrorise the other children. So the basis for the whole story developed out of this grim and fearful place. I should say, though that as well as having this bittersweet quality it is also very funny and when the Orphans eventually revolt and escape from the clutches of Dr Dross you want to cheer them on!
The famous "Snow flakes" sequence which ends Act One is transformed into a glorious "Ice-Skating" extravaganza in your staging. What was the inspiration for this?
There are certain things that every production of Nutcracker should deliver - the growing Christmas Tree, the transformation of the Nutcracker into a young man and the falling of snow during the "snowflakes" sequence. Everyone feels a sense of childlike pleasure when snow begins to fall and I wanted to try and capture that sense of pure joy seen through the eyes of the orphan children. So, rather than depict the snowflakes themselves, as in the classical version, I have the Orphans skating across a frozen pond as an exhilarating expression of their newfound freedom. The idea, however, came not from Torvill and Dean, much as I love them, but from the 30's movie skating star, Sonje Henie. For me she is the perfect image of Princess Sugar and Anthony Ward certainly found inspiration in her many and varied skating ensembles. Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker is now 110 years old. Why does it remain so popular?
Well it's about growing up and it's about first love and these are themes that we can all relate to. They are particularly relevant to this production, which casts adult performers as a group of very needy young orphans. It's also a touching coming of age story told through the dreams, and nightmares, of a particular young girl, Clara.
The classical Nutcracker has also become a Christmas tradition, particularly for Mothers and their young dancing school daughters; it's often the first ballet that many people see. It can though, be a difficult story to follow and a bore for the men of the family. I've tried to tell a story for all the family. Adults, kids, girls and boys should all find something to thrill them and touch them in Clara's adventure.
I would also like to think that the main reason that Nutcracker has retained its perennial appeal is because of Tchaikovsky's incredible score. Act one contains some of his most engaging and, at times, profound story-telling music and Act Two has one glorious melody after another. After 110 years it retains it's mystery, magic and the power to transport us to another world.
Your first production of Nutcracker! was for Opera North in 1992 as part of the work's centenary celebrations. Why have you chosen to revisit the piece now?
It's a production that is very fondly remembered by those that saw it and those that performed in it. It was the first full-evening story ballet that I had the chance to choreograph and started me on an unexpected journey, creating new and alternative productions of other classic works (Highland Fling (La Sylphide), Swan Lake, Cinderella, The Car Man) When Nicholas Payne, asked me and my company to take it on, it was certainly not something that I would have ever contemplated. After all, we were a small touring company of 6 dancers, so a large-scale classical ballet was not really a realistic option! It didn't take me long to realise, though, that this was a gift and a challenge that couldn't be passed up. The experience of creating it was a very happy one. With only five weeks rehearsal before an opening at the 1992 Edinburgh Festival, the ideas had to come fast, by necessity. Somehow it all worked out and it was brought back for two Christmas seasons at Sadlers Wells in 1993 and 1994. It has not been seen since and many of the audiences that became aware of my work through the West End and touring productions of shows like Swan Lake (which premiered at Sadlers Wells in 1995) have not had the chance to see it. The original production had great irreverence, eccentricity and youthful charm. In taking another look at it, I don't want to lose that, but I do feel that I have learnt a lot about non verbal story telling in the ten years since it was made and I have a wonderful new generation of dancers to work with. Happily, though, we still have five dancers in the current company who appeared in the original production - Scott Ambler, Saranne Curtin, Isabel Mortimer, Etta Murfitt and Emily Piercy - though only Etta and Saranne dance their original roles as Clara and Sugar.
In most classical productions the piece begins at a very heavily populated and extremely wealthy Christmas party. An enormous Christmas tree usually acts as the centrepiece and many luxurious gifts are given. Your production begins in a very bleak Dickensian Orphanage where the children are experiencing a very different kind of Christmas. Why did you choose to do this?
I have always felt that the Christmas Party that opens most productions of Nutcracker represented a fantasy in itself for most audiences. Therefore, when we are transported into Clara's fantasy world we have really just gone from one idyllic fantasy to another. Martin Duncan and I had an instinct that we would feel the transformation that much more if the Christmas Party that begins the piece was less opulent and more bittersweet. We came up with the notion of an awful Dickensian orphanage, enjoying the annual Christmas Eve visit of the Institute's Governors. Dr Dross and his wife, who run the Orphanage, contrive to create a pleasant Christmas atmosphere for the benefit of the visitors, only to snatch the Governors gifts back from the children, as soon as they leave and before Christmas day has even begun. Clara is, of course, one of the Orphans and the Nutcracker boy, is a fellow orphan on whom she has a young girls crush. Fritz and Sugar are the Dross' awful spoilt children who terrorise the other children. So the basis for the whole story developed out of this grim and fearful place. I should say, though that as well as having this bittersweet quality it is also very funny and when the Orphans eventually revolt and escape from the clutches of Dr Dross you want to cheer them on!
The famous "Snow flakes" sequence which ends Act One is transformed into a glorious "Ice-Skating" extravaganza in your staging. What was the inspiration for this?
There are certain things that every production of Nutcracker should deliver - the growing Christmas Tree, the transformation of the Nutcracker into a young man and the falling of snow during the "snowflakes" sequence. Everyone feels a sense of childlike pleasure when snow begins to fall and I wanted to try and capture that sense of pure joy seen through the eyes of the orphan children. So, rather than depict the snowflakes themselves, as in the classical version, I have the Orphans skating across a frozen pond as an exhilarating expression of their newfound freedom. The idea, however, came not from Torvill and Dean, much as I love them, but from the 30's movie skating star, Sonje Henie. For me she is the perfect image of Princess Sugar and Anthony Ward certainly found inspiration in her many and varied skating ensembles.
One of the highlights of the Petipa/Ivanov original is always the suite of National Dances that are staged for Clara's edification in The Land of The Sweets. I believe that you have created some new characters?
One of the pleasures of creating these characters was to link them with their orphanage counterparts. In Clara's imagination her friends become the fluffy Marshmallow girls, the yobby Gobstopper boys, the vain Liquorice Allsort trio and the lewd and sticky Knickerbocker Glory! Her best friends, the twins, become her heavenly helpers, The Cupids. Dr and Mrs Dross transform into the gluttonous rulers of Sweetieland, King Sherbet and Queen Candy, and their bratish children, Sugar and Fritz, grow up into the glamorous Princess Sugar and saucy Prince Bon Bon. Everything is edible in Sweetieland and its inhabitants are judged not by how they look but by how they taste!
? How will this production differ from the production that was last seen at Sadlers Wells in 1994?
This is very much a new production. It stays pretty close to the 1992 scenario written by Martin Duncan and myself, however, the show has been substantially re-choreographed and Anthony Ward has taken a fresh look at his memorable designs. In fact, our aim has been to take a fresh look at every aspect of the show whilst retaining the innocence and charm of the original production. Ten years on I find Tchaikovsky's music more and more profound, its magic turns us all into kids again.
One of the highlights of the Petipa/Ivanov original is always the suite of National Dances that are staged for Clara's edification in The Land of The Sweets. I believe that you have created some new characters?
One of the pleasures of creating these characters was to link them with their orphanage counterparts. In Clara's imagination her friends become the fluffy Marshmallow girls, the yobby Gobstopper boys, the vain Liquorice Allsort trio and the lewd and sticky Knickerbocker Glory! Her best friends, the twins, become her heavenly helpers, The Cupids. Dr and Mrs Dross transform into the gluttonous rulers of Sweetieland, King Sherbet and Queen Candy, and their bratish children, Sugar and Fritz, grow up into the glamorous Princess Sugar and saucy Prince Bon Bon. Everything is edible in Sweetieland and its inhabitants are judged not by how they look but by how they taste!
How will this production differ from the production that was last seen at Sadlers Wells in 1994?
This is very much a new production. It stays pretty close to the 1992 scenario written by Martin Duncan and myself, however, the show has been substantially re-choreographed and Anthony Ward has taken a fresh look at his memorable designs. In fact, our aim has been to take a fresh look at every aspect of the show whilst retaining the innocence and charm of the original production. Ten years on I find Tchaikovsky's music more and more profound, its magic turns us all into kids again.