Last Friday, I made the trek out to Brooklyn to again see ABT's enchanting Nutcracker. The show was again enchanting. The audience...not so much.
It's always a possibility that when you're in the audience of a holiday event, there will be a lot of restless, misbehaved children in the house. Well, at BAM, it was the adults who were misbehaved. The children all behaved themselves admirably. The little girl sitting next to me, who was clearly bored by the middle of the second act, still sat quietly and watched respectfully; the girl in front of me who was perhaps developmentally disabled (I'm going from clues given by her companions) swayed to the music but was otherwise a fine audience member; even the toddlers dressed in grey sequined tutus (?!?!?!) behaved themselves. So, I do not weep for the future of seat neighbors.
The adults, on the other hand, were NOT well-behaved. A collective 'time out' was needed. It seemed that the overture was just an indication for everyone to talk a little louder. Someone started chanting during the overture and someone in the balcony dropped something onto the main floor. The gal to the left of me had problems with my personal space when she got bored. The gal to HER left took videos, no matter how many times we implored her to stop; the gent in the row in front of me stood up, sat down, stood up, sat down. Finally he moved to an empty aisle seat. And then there was the couple directly behind me. They nearly caused me to lose my holiday spirit. They talked throughout, in their indoor voices, about how much they were enjoying themselves, about how much they had enjoyed their dinner, and about how much they were going to enjoy their post-show dessert. They made out, they whistled to the music, they annoyed. The third time the guy started talking about how beautiful the lead ballerina is was the last straw. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and SHUSHED them. There was a shocked silence and they kept quiet for the rest of the ballet, thank heavens. Clearly, I needed to have done it earlier. It's just so beyond me that people can continue to talk, not whisper, during a performance. GAH! When I left and picked up my coat, they gave ME the evil eye. Then started to make out again. So...I guess they taught me a lesson. :) 
Even with all that nonsense, I again adored the ballet. I think Ratmansky has choreographed a Nutcracker that can be interpreted a lot of ways. It's, naturally, very lively and spirited, but it's also melancholy and, in some parts, a bit scary. All these qualities mesh beautifully. I like the way the story plays out here, even if I did still prefer the first act. I think I've figured out why: I'm such a plot girl. In the first act, we're getting dancing that's telling the story. In the second act, there's no story per se, just dancing. And he tries to impose a story on some of the dances. I just found that less successful. But I teared up during the snowflakes scene, from the music, the beauty and the wonder. It's such a gorgeous act-ender.
This year, the opening night cast included Xiomara Reyes as the princess, and Eric Tamm as the prince. They were lovely together. I don't believe I've ever seen Tamm dance a lead role before and he was quite lovely. He's got a nice line and was an elegant partner. He did seem a bit winded at the end of the most vigorous choreography, but I'm sure he'll get better with that as his career progresses. He has a charming smile on stage as if he's enjoying himself completely, which is great. And if he wasn't enjoying himself? Good acting, which is also appreciated. Xiomara was her spirted, adorable self. In fact, she may be the perfect person to play the princess who is Clara's grown-up self. She seems like such a little girl herself (she's an itty bitty thing) and can really transmit wonder and delight as she dances. I thought they were terrific.
Young Adelaide Clauss and Philip Perez were terrific as the children Clara and her Nutcracker prince. They were just perfect, it seemed to me. And last year's scene-stealer, little mouse Justin Souriau-Levine was back and was as charismatic as last year. Adorable. And he's in my goddaughter's dance class! I had no idea. I'll have to go back and see if I got any video of him! I doubt it - I tend to focus on my goddaughters. :)
So, even though I allowed myself to get annoyed by rude seat neighbors, I still was transported by beautiful music and even more beautiful dancing. Next year, I'll have to invest in an aisle seat...
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