Get thee to a “Nutcracker”

Everybody knows that gay men do up the best holiday decorations. But what about music for the season? Well, “The Nutcracker” and “The Messiah” are bigger and older hits than even “Rudolph” or “White Christmas,” at least in my book. And both were written by gay men, Tchaikovsky and Handel, respectively.

There’s nothing quiet as inspired as “The Messiah,” at least the Christmas section, but performances of the full oratorio can be a slog, even if the choir is up to snuff.  ”The Nutcracker” is something else all together.

My partner Richard and I have made a tradition of attending “The Nutcracker” every year, always with the same company, Northeast Ballet. It puts us in the holiday spirit, gets us around families and kids a bit, and also supports the local dance scene when they pull out all the stops.

This past Sunday’s matinee felt a little early, but we’re friends with director Darlene Myers and wouldn’t think of skipping a year.  The handsome restored Proctor’s Theatre in Schenectady is running “Wicked” for pretty much all of December so I guess that’s why the Sugar Plumbs were trotted out before the calendar even said December.

Even though the music is recorded, Tchaikovsky’s score always works beautifully and staying with the same company year after year means we see how the choreographer changes and adapts various sections, sometimes subtly, sometimes dramatically.  Last year Christian Donnelly started stealing lots of attention during the party scene as a drunken butler. This year there were two couples in “Chinese” (maybe Myers needed to spots to show off more talent, which is encouraging) and the scantly clad couple in “Arabian” were sultry and terrific, with amazing rather acrobatic extension from Samantha Barczak.

Just as a family decorates its home in certain ways every season but also occasionally adds new items, we’ve become accustomed to the sets and costumes of “The Nutcracker” but notice when certain aspects sometimes get gussied up.  A couple of years ago a new candy colored backdrop was added for act two.

Northeast Ballet also always has a pas de deux performed by principals of New York City Ballet. The dancers are familiar presences in our region due to City Ballet’s annual residencies at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, but it’s still a treat to see them in a different setting.  This year it was Jenifer Ringer and Jared Angle who looked great, as expected.  (I’ve had my concerns about Angle’s partnering abilities, but he was in good form, tight and supportive with Ringer.)

Perhaps my favorite thing about attending Northeast’s “Nutcracker” annually for five or so year now is seeing the dancers grow — literally.  There’s one mop-headed brunette boy in the company who seems to have shot up a good six-inches since last year.  He’s obviously a born showman and committed to the study of dance so one of these Christmases he’ll probably be dancing with “the men” and not just among the tykes in the party scene. That will probably make me feel old, having witnessed him come up. But isn’t that part of what the makes the holiday season?