The Revolutionary Nutcracker Sweetie

First I must make a confession: I simply cannot sit through any more of the «traditional» holiday offerings. Nope, can’t see «A Christmas Carol». Not able to witness another rendition of «The Velveteen Rabbit». Simply cannot afford multiple tickets to «A Hard Nut». Just goes to show you that when you least expect it, something falls into place… the kids and I piled on to BART and scurried through the bustle of 24^th Street on a Saturday afternoon and had a blast at the Brava Theater and Dance Brigade’s 20^th anniversary showing of «The Revolutionary Nutcracker Sweetie»…the Kidz Version.
The theater had been over-​sold and there were no seats left, let alone together. The announcer came on and asked everyone who had been saving seats to please give them to the folks standing in the aisles. There were people with bundled up babies walking back and forth, the place was filled with families and children of all sizes and ages. It was loud and pretty chaotic. Then the show began and magic happened!
The music is traditional but with some twists and there are lots of up-​dated allusions to PC topics and contemporary concerns, as well as some good-​natured ribbing of the wealthy who like to «slum» with the «ethnic masses»…nothing heavy-​handed, but the point is definitely made. The character of Clara is danced by 3 women, Herr Drosselmeyer is danced by an amazing performer who has pink hair and shocks the family portrayed in the classic story (can’t give anything away here, but it’s funny).The mice and the Rat King are portrayed by dancers in Zoot suits with ropes for tails, and they perform their numbers with selections from Hip Hop and Salsa sequences. There’s a trapeze with wings, a dance number from the Ivory Coast, Taiko drumming… so many sights and sounds that it is hard to capture in print. It is BIG FUN for very little $$. It was $ 15.00 a ticket and I got them on-​line at
(it’s a great way to get tickets and it’s socially responsible by donating funds to great causes).
The performance itself warrants 5 stars. The no reserved seating, the over crowded conditions, the hunting down an usher to acquire a program, and finally the numerous screaming babies force me to give 4 stars… still, it was mesmerizing and loads of holiday fun without much in the way of cliches. Well worth investigating if you are not already over-​committed. The Kidz Version is only this weekend. I would happily go again to see the regular show. It’s supposed to be spicier and probably a bit more pointed in the political references.
Oh and I must give credit where credit is due: I have been pre-​occupied with kids, holiday business, cards, and all the trimmings and thus «out of touch». ‘Twas the ever-​alert hubby who heard about this production, and all of us are happier for it. Go check this out!