Short and sweet: Five things to know about The Nutcracker
Five aspects of the seasonal treat first performed at Place des Arts in 1965
As Fernand Nault’s ever-popular production of The Nutcracker rolls around again for Christmas, we take a look at five aspects of the seasonal treat first performed at Place des Arts in 1965.
WHO WAS FERNAND NAULT?
Born in Montreal in 1920, Nault’s first ambition was to become a priest. After dropping this idea and turning to dance, he studied in Montreal, London, France and New York, where he joined the American Ballet Theatre. After 20 years with that company, he was coaxed back to Montreal to join Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in 1965, becoming co-artistic director (alongside Ludmilla Chiriaeff ) and resident choreographer. This was just after he had staged The Nutcracker for Les Grands at Place des Arts, the version that has played there every Christmas season since. His ultra-traditional treatment of The Nutcracker belies the fact that Nault sometimes liked to take artistic risks, not least with his ballet version of The Who’s rock opera Tommy in 1970. He also choreographed Carmina Burana in 1962, and it was picked up by Les Grands for Expo 67. Nault died in 2006 just before his 86th birthday while that season’s Nutcracker was still playing. Among the many honours he received were the Order of Canada in 1977 and the Governor General’s Award for the performing arts in 2000.
THE NUTCRACKER IN A NUTSHELL
Adapted from a story by fantasy writer E.T.A. Hoffmann, The Nutcracker was first staged, to rather sniffy reviews, during Christmas of 1892 in St. Petersburg. Critics apparently cried “humbug” on what they saw as its sickly-sweet spectacle and sparse plotting. The story involves a little girl, Clara, dreaming that her Christmas gift of a little nutcracker has transformed into a handsome prince who makes war on an army of mice. Having helped to defeat the Mouse King, Clara is whisked off by the Prince to the enchanted Land of Sweets, where she meets the Sugar Plum Fairy and is treated to several exotic dance spectacles.
THE SECRET OF NAULT’S SUCCESS
There have been many variations on this most beloved of ballets, including Matthew Bourne’s 2002 Nutcracker!, which saw Clara running off to the disco with a beefcake prince, and Maurice Béjart’s 2000 version, which had gay and incestuous undertones and threw Felix the Cat into the mix. The longevity of Nault’s version is no doubt that he eschewed all such innovations and retained its traditional setting, staying close to Marius Petipa’s original choreography. Nault’s version also travelled, to great success, to the Czech Republic in 2014 and Finland in 2016. Of The Nutcracker’s appeal, Nault himself once said it “undoubtedly owes its success to the fact that it tells of a Christmas close to the values of yesteryear, far from the commercial Christmas of today.” New Les Grands artistic director Ivan Cavallari said during an interview with the Montreal Gazette back in October that he won’t be tampering with Nault’s winning formula, but that he might create his own parallel version.
NUTCRACKER BY THE NUMBERS
This season, Nault’s Nutcracker will have been playing at Place des Arts for 54 years and has so far drawn two million spectators. To portray the 165 characters, the show uses 60 dancers and 100 extras. Each of the 300 or so costumes, based on a design created by the late François Barbeau in 1987, costs on average $2,000, with the costume for the comically sartorial Sweet King costing around $10,000. Playing Tchaikovsky’s beautiful score will be the 70 musicians of the Les Grands orchestra, led by conductor Dina Gilbert.
EXTRA NUTCRACKER TREATS
An hour before each show, actor Jacques Piperni will give a reading (in French) of Hoffman’s original tale of The Nutcracker to children. At each reading, one lucky winner between the ages of seven and 12 will get the opportunity to join the ballet’s cast of extras as the Mouse of the Day in the first act.
It’s too late to attend this year’s Nutcracker Market, which ended at the Palais des congrès on Dec. 10. However, the good work from this event continues. Created by Les Grands in 2010, it donates a portion of its profits to the Nutcracker Fund, which enables sick and disadvantaged children to attend the show and to participate in related activities. The fund’s honorary president is talk-show host and producer Julie Snyder, who last year took her place on stage in the production as Clara’s grandmother.