Review: THE NUTCRACKER, Royal Albert Hall

When I first saw The Nutcracker, I was convinced one of these things must be true: either someone had spiked my drink, the cast were all on drugs or we were all in some kind of baffling nightmare. No other explanation seemed plausible to my young mind.

That the Birmingham Royal Ballet somehow makes this production even more magical than I remember it back then is to their credit. They’re helped to an extent by the magnificent setting of the Royal Albert Hall, a venue where productions are never knowingly understated. This is the grand hall where for decades Cirque du Soleil have brought their dazzling shows and where the Last Night Of The Proms - arguably the most British event of the year - happens.

Artistic director Sir David Bintley has the production credit but this Nutcracker has always been about Sir Peter Wright’s spellbinding choreography. It is now a work some thirty years old but was recently renovated with new sets made of lighter and more durable material and more modern lighting and costumes while retaining its fundamental aspects. The £1m cost of that upgrade led to the BRB going into the red but, on the face of it, they have made a valuable investment and rejuvenated one of their central pieces.

The story has been kept pretty much intact and - for better and for worse - follows the traditional plot. The magician and toymaker Drosselmeyer (voiced by the plum tones of Simon Callow) gives his goddaughter Clara what seems to be a plain nutcracker for Christmas. The young ballet student falls asleep only to wake at midnight as a tiny figure. She watches on with us as her dull gift turns into a handsome prince and her toys come to life to do battle with some invading mice.

When the fight is won, the prince takes Clara with him on a journey into a snowy forest. The post-interval dances (pretty as they are) never really match the engaging interactions and dynamic appeal of what has come before. The whole thing is a hallucinatory trip that still beggars the imagination centuries after the original story by the Prussian writer ETA Hoffmann was published.

Visually, there is plenty to marvel at here. From the harlequin outfits and a seemingly possessed cape to the stylised tailcoats, John McFarlane’s costumes are simply stunning as is the evocative set design by Dick Bird. Vivid lighting from Peter Teigen and 59 Productions’ projections bring this fantasy to life. The props from McFarlane and Bird are delightful: at one point, one of Drosselmeyer’s creations - a  remote-controlled mouse toy under a shiny gold box - scoots across the stage to the delight of the younger audience members. 

Some will always frown upon the infestation of Nutcrackers taking up precious space in London’s biggest venues. Not even sugar plum fairies have a divine right to block more adventurous programming, they say. So why is Tchaikovsky’s masterwork so popular? Well, one obvious reason is money: one study suggested the US ballet companies make 45% of the annual revenue just from The Nutcracker. Another is that it is embedded in the global concept of Christmas as much as Coca-Cola Santa, bauble-strewn conifers and cheesy carols. Here in the UK, it is firmly established as one of the season’s holy trinity of classical works (alongside Dicken’s A Christmas Carol and Handel’s Messiah). Love it or hate it, The Nutcracker is here to stay.

This perennial favourite is tinged with tragedy this year. After six years at the helm, the BRB’s chief executive Caroline Miller stepped down on 5 December 2024 on health grounds and sadly died less than two weeks later. This magnificent Nutcracker is a superb legacy which will define the passion with which she raised her company’s standing.

More information on the Birmingham Royal Ballet can be found here.

Photo credit: Royal Albert Hall

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