The Nutcracker (1987)

Tchaikovsky composed The Nutcracker during four months in 1891. A large part of the ballet was written at sea on a journey from Europe to the United States. Perhaps the most beloved of all ... See full summary »

Director:

Yelena Macheret

Stars:

Yekaterina Maksimova, Vladimir Vasilev, Vladimir Levashev

Cast

Credited cast:
Yekaterina Maksimova	...	Maria
Vladimir Vasilev	...	The Nutcracker Prince
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Vladimir Levashev	...	Drosselmayer
Sergei Radchenko	...	The Mouse King

Storyline

Tchaikovsky composed The Nutcracker during four months in 1891. A large part of the ballet was written at sea on a journey from Europe to the United States. Perhaps the most beloved of all ballet, The Nutcracker had its premiere at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg in 1892. Based on Hoffman's fairy tale, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, the beloved classical ballet takes place one Christmas Eve in a nineteenth century Russian town. Uncle Drosselmeyer, a conjurer and magician, delights the entire family with tricks and magic gifts. He gives Marie, his young niece, a rather plain looking doll in a red uniform. Marie loves the doll which has an unusual mouth ("...so strong it can crack nuts") -a toy mechanical nutcracker. Marie's brother breaks the doll in jealousy, and Uncle Drosselmeyer places it under the Christmas tree to mend. Marie falls asleep under the tree with her broken doll in her arms and enters a dream world where the Christmas tree shoots up to the sky and all the ...

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Plot Keywords:

ballet | character name in title | 

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Genres:

Music

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Details

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Release Date:

1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Щелкунчик

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Often mistaken for a 1978 video, this production was, in fact, originally staged in 1978, but not shown on television until 1987.

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Connections

Version of Nutcracker on Ice (2009)

User Reviews

How much better can it be than at the Bolshoi ...

A wonderful example of Russian Ballet. The film is a little dark and the technology of the time does not treat the solid red costume well. It does however leave the viewer with a feeling that they attended the performance at it's home theater. Even the Russian applause that to some western ears sounds a little like the "slow hand clap" just adds to the sense of being in Tchaikovsky's home land.

It is interesting to see that the curtains show the now defunct CCCP and hammer and sickle motif woven into the fabric.

The data base shows Yelena Macheret as the director but maybe it is more important to note that it was Yuri Grigorovich who was the Director and Choreographer.