I hadn’t seen the Nutcracker in about 20 years (which is a weird thing to be able to say), but I don’t remember it pandering to children as much then as it did now. Also, the Nutcracker had a giant man’s mask, not a nutcracker mask, and the bandage around his neck was mysteriously missing. Some of the dances had too much to take in going on all over the stage - made me feel ADD.
An unfinished Dickens’ mystery turned into a musical. Ribald and good natured, the MC outshone his cast mates. Not much catchiness in the songs, breaking what I would imagine is rule number 1 when writing a musical.
Sarah Ruhl was a classmate of mine at Brown, and I think I even took a creative writing class with her; clearly, she’s better at it than I am. I liked, but didn’t love this play, though, and I can’t quite understand its critical acclaim. The first act was tight, funny, and affecting; the second act was kind of a mess.
Some of my discontent probably had to do with the performance. The actors were, as is usually the case at Trinity, generally excellent (only Cynthia Strickland as Lane fell into the usual Trinity trap where LOUD substitutes for intense), but the direction didn’t work for me; it was performed in the downstairs theater, but seemed to be staged for a proscenium space rather than the 3/4 arrangement (there were a few key moments that we just couldn’t see). Also, the final act’s interminable “washing the body” scene was probably supposed to be quietly affecting — alas, it was just boring.
Still, Ms. Ruhl clearly has talent. If you’re looking for a thoughtful work on the nature of humor and of women’s relationships to one another, and if you’re looking for some good laughs, I’d check it out.