Distantly parallel

Some years back, during the annual ramp-up of holiday cheer that occurs across all media, playwright Michael Whistler was watching a TV broadcast of “The Nutcracker.” He became captivated by the “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.” It was the music that grabbed him — the delicate pizzicato strings and the glimmering celesta giving way to the surging tempos and swelling

crescendos of the full orchestra.

“We think of it as lighthearted and connected with candy and Christmas, but it’s in a minor key and disturbing,” says Whistler. “What kind of imagination would make this up?”

The answer, of course, is buried deep in the psyche of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. For more than a century his grand, romantic music has enamored audiences, while his sad and introspective life has captivated scholars. In his new play “Casse Noisette” (French for “Nutcracker”), Whistler tells two tales simultaneously – the events leading up to Tchaikovsky’s death in 1893 and the

Dancers with the Northeast Ballet Company perform at SPAC’S Nutcracker Tea in November 2016 at the Hall of Springs in Saratoga Springs.