Festive Family Friendly Fun with Anthony Williams’s ‘Urban Nutcracker’

The Boch Center Shubert Theatre witnessed a festive performance of Anthony Williams’s reimagining of “The Nutcracker” ballet this December. Not only was “Urban Nutcracker” a reinvention of a Boston-centric, festive classic just in time for the holidays, but this year’s rendition also featured a fresh approach to a broad range of dance styles such as tap, hip-hop, flamenco, and jazz.

For the past 22 years, Anthony Williams’s “Urban Nutcracker” has celebrated diversity through dance. The 2023 rendition didn’t disappoint, pushing the creativity and theatricality of the show to the max in order to render the performance as family-friendly as possible.

The first act was full of jokes fit for the younger crowd, featuring tricks from the energetic Demetrius Lee — along with elements of Bollywood dance in the Prologue — and silly mice that garnered whistling cheers from family members in the crowd. Former Boston Ballet dancer Gianni DiMarco stole the show as the street magician Drosselmeyer, making the lighthearted moments stand out with a mischievous smile. The beloved Clarice was equally as captivating, graceful as she pirouetted on the stage. Their familial chemistry especially came to life in the moment when Drosselmeyer’s magic whisked Clarice off into the Land of Sweets.

By far the best part of the show, the second act offered a distinguishing X factor to the “Urban Nutcracker.” Featuring the authentic flamenco dancers choreographed by Sabrina Aviles, Director of the Spanish Dance Theater, the jazzily-sassy Snowflake Fairies dancing en pointe, Complexions Contemporary Ballet dancer Joe González, and the tap phenomenon Khalid Hillap, there wasn’t a single dull moment in the whole act. The Boston swing scene was certainly a crowd favorite, earning cheers all throughout Shubert Theater.

The stage design by Janie Howland also heightened the familiar effect for the Boston-centric moments in the plot. From the Citgo sign projected on the backdrop to the “Make Way for Ducklings” statues, iconic Boston landmarks were engraved into the set. Costume designer Dustin Todd Rennells was exceptional in embellishing such scenes, such as adding a twist to Arabia with a hookah prop, for example. The entire production utilized the space in the Shubert Theater perfectly — even placing Drosselmeyer and Clarice in the balcony for the second act was an organic use of the theater, helping transport the audience into the scene.

Music was the cherry on top of the “Urban Nutcracker.” The wide variety of classical ballet, hip-hop, and the legendary jazz of Duke Ellington distinguish this production from any other — however, the eclectic mix would be much improved by a live band during the performance. Even during the brief moment where the brass band marched on stage at the beginning of the show, the stage immediately came to life in tempo with the live music.

The only place where creative imagination was lacking was during the Ukrainian dance. In the original ballet, the equivalent scene features candy cane characters from Russia performing to the tune of Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Trepak.” This year’s “Urban Nutcracker” saw a more modern twist, featuring dancers clothed in Ukrainian traditional clothing, set to a backdrop of sunflowers — the country’s symbol of peace. However, both the music and dance remained more or less the same as the original ballet, missing out on the opportunity to create something more representative of Ukrainian culture.

Despite these minor setbacks, the show’s return to the stage was as triumphant as audiences could hope for. If the first act is for the kids, the second expresses Anthony Williams’s genius. All the stuff in between is sprinkled with an audiovisually-singular production unlike anything you’ve ever seen.

— Staff writer Alisa S. Regassa can be reached at alisa.regassa@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter at @alisaregassa.