Company XIV’s Nutcracker Rouge Has Crackle, Pop, and Lots of Sizzle

Cast of “Nutcracker Rouge.” Image courtesy of Phillip Van Nostrand

What if the Sugar Plum Fairy was a delectable striptease artist, the Waltz of the Flowers a titillating swirl of T and A, and the Land of the Sweets the domain of burlesque divas, sexy sirens and buxom beauties?  No Russian Cossacks masterfully performing barrel turns and double tours; instead, there are gender bending S &M dilettantes giving it to you front and center. As unconventional as this re-imagined Nutcracker sounds, and as far away as this vision of the Casse Noisette is from toy soldiers, the creamy boureès of the Sugar Plum Fairy, and swirling ballerina snowflakes, Company XIV’s Nutcracker Rouge is a delicious adult option to more traditional Nutcrackers.

Company XIV since its inception has gained a reputation for re-imagining ballet classics, fairy tales and a variety of well-known stories and myths. Take for example their version of Adam and Eve (Le Serpent Rouge), re-conceptualized as man’s inner battle with the dual nature of women as realized in the personages of Eve and Lilith.

Shelly Watson as Madame Drosselmeyer (singing in center) and cast members of “Nutcracker Rouge.” Image courtesy of Robert Zash

In Company XIV’s version of the Nutcracker, Marie-Claire (Laura Careless) gets lost in the forest and stumbles upon the Kingdom of Sweets. Invited into the kingdom by the King of the Sweets (Jeff Takacs), Marie-Claire transitions from an innocent girl on the brink of womanhood to the saucy adult Sugar Plum Fairy resplendent in bedazzled corset and pasties.

Laura Careless as Marie-Claire and Cassady Rose Bonjo as Nutcracker Doll. Image courtesy of Robert Zash

Many of the elements from the original Casse Noisette are still present in Nutcracker Rouge. In typical Company XIV fashion, artistic director Austin McCormick has blended stylistic elements from Baroque dance, modern, classical ballet, burlesque, and circus acrobatics, as well as spoken dialogue, torch songs, and a few selections from Duke Ellington’s jazzy The Nutcracker Suite.

Re-interpretations of ballet classics for the most part fall short of the original due in part to audience’s familiarity with the original work.  And the reworking of this holiday favorite is no exception and a hard nut to crack, at best.  From Ballet Bejart Lausanne’s revised Nutcracker and the Australian Ballet’s recent version to Matthew Bourne’s version and Mark Morris’ Hard Nut, re-workings of this beloved classic, with the possible exception Morris’ Hard Nut, languish and fail to find wide audience appeal.

Katrina Cunningham (singing) and Jeff Takacs as Monsieur
Drosselmeyer (seated), Image courtesy of Phillip Van Nostrand

For the most part, the assemblage of dance styles and multi-media elements of Company XIV’s Nutcracker production works, although at times the story was hard to follow. The stage at the Minetta Lane Theatre is problematic and depending on where you are sitting, most of the intricate parterre work that Company XIV has come to be known for is lost because of sightline issues. There is also at times too much going on on-stage. Where Austin McCormick has become a master at melding movement styles, in this production some elements that muddied the story and crowd the stage need to be edited out. And some of the Cirque du Soleil elements that work in the current Broadway production of Pippin, in this production sometimes fall flat and don’t push the narrative forward. However, this re-imagined Nutcracker does have lots of merit, and McCormick’s titillating approach to this well-known ballet classic is innovative and choreographically sound as a dance theatre work.

Standouts in this production are Laura Careless as Marie-Claire.  Her Sugar Plum Fairy had just the right combination of frothy decadence and saucy allure. Davon Rainey’s “Candied Violets” dance was a dissertation in kittenish androgyny.  And Zane Philstrom’s costumes captured both the combined rococo and burlesque aesthetic of this production. (Pasties, illusions, and cutouts have never looked this good!!)

Kana Kimura and Davon Rainey. Image courtesy of Robert Zash

Still, if you are looking for an alternative Nutcracker that incorporates innovative choreography, interesting stagecraft, and a reworked story seen though the lens of a burlesque dance hall, this might be the production for you. Bump and grind has never been this much fun!!

Nutcracker Rouge runs at the Minetta Lane Theatre through January 12. For more information, go to companyxiv.com.

—William S. Gooch