Splashy 'Nutcracker' loses some charm

by the Washington Times

The Washington Ballet bills its version of the holiday classic "Septime Webre's New 'Nutcracker' " and so, for better and worse, it is.
What the director has produced is a giant extravaganza of the time-honored ballet, full to bursting with enticing plums but with little overall shaping of a story line or sense of enchantment.

The Washington Ballet has turned "The Nutcracker" into an A-list party on the Potomac, proving that it's not just the Germans and the Russians who know how to frolic in the middle of winter. In his wonderfully appealing, high-spirited new production of the ballet, which premiered Friday at the Warner Theatre, Artistic Director Septime Webre places Clara and her family amid the Georgetown gentry in 1882, hosting a Christmas Eve affair that would be the hit of any social circuit then or now.

Clowns, soldiers and rat kings prancing around Washington, which could mean only one thing -- a congressional Christmas party? No, no, no. We're talking about the Washington Ballet's new production of "The Nutcracker," which opened Friday night at the Warner Theatre, followed by a high-spirited holiday ball.