Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Children and Art, or Theater during the Holidays

• By drediman
• December 21, 2015
• No Comments

There is something completely disarming about how children respond to the spell cast by live performance. This is particularly evident during the holiday season – the time of year families are most likely to take the young ones to experience the magic of theater. Indeed, for many children, the holidays mark their first exposure to live performance. For us adults, to experience these performances through their impressionable eyes is to fall in love with the theater all over again. Their sense of wonder is infectious and the purity with which they fully immerse themselves is a lesson worth re-learning. It’s irrelevant that we’ve seen The Nutcracker dozens of times; it’s the kids in the theater (and in the shows themselves) and their unmistakable, essential energy that elevate even mediocre productions into irresistible, even transcendent, experiences. This holiday season, I was able to catch five family-friendly shows, and each proved my thesis true.

BIG APPLE CIRCUS: THE GRAND TOUR
Lincoln Center
Through January 10

Winter in New York would not be complete without the sight of Big Apple Circus’s tent pitched on the grounds of Lincoln Center. This year’s edition, entitled The Grand Tour (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED), is one of their best yet. Structured as a stylish 1920’s around-the-globe tour on board cruise liners, trains, planes, and automobiles, this year’s concept thankfully doesn’t overwhelm the circus acts themselves. Cirque du Soleil could benefit from taking a cue from director Joel Jeske’s (he’s the artistic director physical theater company Parallel Exit) elegantly integrated and unforced work. I attended a midweek matinee during which the student-filled tent squealed with intense, delirious delight throughout.

A CHRISTMAS STORY
Paper Mill Playhouse
Through January 3

Pasek and Paul’s wonderful, underrated adaptation of A Christmas Story (RECOMMENDED), which is now being mounted by the venerated Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey, is unique in the world of theatrical holiday fare in that it stands on its own merits as a solid piece of musical theater. Even if the current Paper Mill production somewhat lacks the pop and cohesiveness of the Broadway incarnation from a few years back, this current staging makes a strong case for the quality of Pasek and Paul’s work, especially the endearing and surprisingly moving second act. The Paper Mill cast is solid all-around, but I’d like to single out Elena Shaddow for her sensitive, pitch perfect work as “Mother”.

RADIO CITY CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR
Radio City Music Hall
Through January 3

This year’s edition of the perennial favorite mirrors last year’s version almost to a tee. No matter. Despite the lack of surprises and new material, the Radio City Christmas Spectacular (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) remains in tip-top shape. The main draw, as always, are the Rockettes, who remain as wholesomely winning (and sexy) as ever. Their impeccably drilled precision and crispness are, as always, a thrill to behold – whether they’re taking in the sites of New York City on a double-decker bus, impersonating Santa Claus, or kicking in impressive and iconic unison. This gigantic production continues to sends thousands of kids and their parents out onto the streets of New York on a long-lasting sugar high. No doubt the young ones will be taking their kids to Radio City years down the line.

JOFFREY BALLET’S THE NUTCRACKER
The Kennedy Center
Through December 27 (currently at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago)

My Nutcracker of choice this holiday season was the Joffrey Ballet’s beloved 1987 version (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED), which played a brief run at the Kennedy Center before proceeding on to the company’s home base in Chicago. The Joffrey version has a special place in my heart, as it was the version that initiated me into the treasure-trove that is The Nutcracker (I’ve seen about a dozen versions since that initial viewing in Chicago more than a decade ago). Returning to this staging after a number of years was a bittersweet experience, especially since it was announced that this version would be retired at the end of this holiday season – to be replaced by a hotly anticipated new mounting by the in-demand Christopher Wheeldon. For one last time, I basked in the incomparable warmth and storytelling prowess of Robert Joffrey’s The Nutcracker. Although there are more ravishing and technically accomplished Nutcrackers out there, I don’t think any other version (thus far) better exudes the generosity of spirit of this endlessly fascinating piece of dance theater. I think the engrossed children during the matinee I attended would agree.

BALLET PHILIPPINES’S PETER PAN
Cultural Center of the Philippines
Closed

During my current trip to the Philippines, I brought my niece and nephew to see Ballet Philippines’ crowd-pleasing dance adaptation of Peter Pan (RECOMMENDED) at the cavernous Cultural Center of the Philippines. Edna Frida Froilan’s charming three-act version of the famous tale is a perfect introduction to ballet for kids and adults alike. By using a recording of the original Broadway cast album with Mary Martin, Ms. Froilan’s piece smartly walks the line between full-on ballet and more accessible musical theater. Even if the transitions between scenes were clunky and some of the choreography repetitious, the packed house (typically uncommon based on my theatergoing experience in Manila), of which many were children, responded with delight and glee to the sprightly-danced production.