Lyrical, Witty and Nutty as a Fruitcake: The Hard Nut Swings Into Town
The
Hard Nut
Mark Morris Dance Group
[presented by Cal Performances]
Zellerbach Hall
Berkeley, California
[December 10-28, 2003]
December 12, 2003
by
Paul Parish
copyright © 2003 by Paul Parish
Berkeley
likes to think that Mark Morris belongs here. THe director of Cal Performances,
Robert Cole, not only books Morris 's company several times a year, and
has set up a semi-official residency for the company at Zellerbach Auditorium,
but when Christmas rolls around, Cole actually conducts the orchestra
for Morris's brilliant burlesque of the Nutcracker, the really
big show called The Hard Nut, which opened last Friday night
once again to a delighted audience, many of whom see it every year instead
of the "regular" Nutcracker.
I've myself
seen it every year since it first opened here in 1996—it's played
with a few breaks, almost every year since—and I find it to be,
like a great comic opera, mysteriously intricate and deep, and that the
more I see it, the more satisfying it becomes. This year I was shocked
to realize how romantic The Hard Nut is—despite all its overt ironies,
and the manifold gay references, the pas de deux for Marie (Lauren Grant)
and the Nutcracker (David Leventhal) made me cry, it was so beautiful,
so touching, so delicate and poignant and fresh and musical, and so beautifully
danced. It has I think become more classical, more mythic, more universal
over the years, as this couple has taken over the roles—rather as
Apollo evolved with Farrell and Martins in the roles, except that in the
case of the Hard Nut, Leventhal and Grant are musical, generous,
classical in their way of moving, and WARM. This is how our parents should
have fallen in love.
read review
What's On This Week
Dec.
7-28
San Francisco Ballet
The Nutcracker
War Memorial Opera House
Dec.
10-28
Smuin Ballet
The Christmas Ballet
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater
700 Howard St.
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 978-2787
Through
Dec. 14
Love Dances
Tara Brandel, choreography, 8:30 p.m.
848 Community Space
848 Divisadero St.
San Francisco, CA
(415) 701-1619
Dec.
17-18
Pilot 42: Closer to Present
Six Bay Area choreographers; 8 p.m.
ODC Theater
3153 17th St.
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 863-9834
Dec. 18-21
Mark Morris Dance Group
The Hard Nut
Zellerbach Hall
Bancroft Way and Telegraph Ave.
UC Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94707
(510) 642-9988
Friday, 8:00 p.m.; Saturday, 2:00 and 8:00 p.m.
Dec.
19-23
Oakland Ballet
The Nutcracker (Ronn Guidi)
Sat, Sun 2:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m
Paramount Theatre
2025 Broadway
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 465-6400
Dec.
20
Moving arts Dance II
Featuring choreographed works by Viktor Kabaniev, Michael Lowe and Anandha
Ray; 5 p.m.
SOLAD Dance Center
Citrus Marketplace
2260 Oak Grove Rd
Walnut Creek, CA
(925) 938-3300
Dec.
21
Yaelisa and Caminos Flamencos
Fiesta Navidad. 7 p.m.
ODC Theater
3153 17th St.
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 863-9834
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