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Christmas Magic with The Nutcracker
Christmas really came to town in Birmingham on Friday with the opening night of The Nutcracker, Tchaikovsky’s yuletide classic at the Birmingham Hippodrome. A full house for the Birmingham Royal Ballet’s production showed that this evergreen classic shows no sign of losing its ability to enchant, with this particular production stunning in both dance and visually through the incredible sets. The Nutcracker tells the story of a wonderful family Christmas Eve, with the initial scenes dominated by a wonderful Christmas tree. This is a picture box Victorian Christmas scene, one that could’ve come from a Christmas card, or the top of a quality street tin, the tableaux is so vivid…
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The Nutcracker – Christmas Comes To Birmingham
The Birmingham Hippodrome was once again transformed into the epitome of Christmas as the Birmingham Royal Ballet’s classic production of The Nutcracker opened last night. The ballet is always seen as the opening of Christmas in Birmingham, and, once again, it’s charm, beauty and magic thrilled the sell out audience. The Nutcracker can be described in a single word- enchanting. It is Christmas Eve and the Stahlbaum family are giving a party for family and friends. A magician Drosselmeyer is invited and gives the Stahlbaum’s oldest daughter Clara the gift of a Nutcracker. When the guests have departed, Clara creeps down to retrieve her Nutcracker (worried that her jealous younger…
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The Nutcracker opens and we celebrate Sir Peter Wright’s 90th Birthday
What signals the start of Christmas to you? Putting up the decorations and the tree? Starting the shop for those special gifts? The Coca Cola advert on the TV (holidays are coming, holidays are coming…). Well for me, Christmas comes when I go to see The Nutcracker staged by the Birmingham Royal Ballet at the Birmingham Hippodrome. Last night this was made even more special and unforgettable by being both the opening night and also being the 90th birthday of the legendary Sir Peter Wright, the genius behind The Nutcracker. He chose to spend that special night in Birmingham, coming on stage for a standing ovation and a chorus of Happy Birthday. This was…
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The Nutcracker brings Christmas Magic to Birmingham
A visit to see ‘The Nutcracker’ always signifies the start of my Christmas. The classic Tchaikovsky ballet which tells the magical story of the night before Christmas, is a seasonal treat that arrived at the Birmingham Hippodrome this weekend, delighting audiences young and old. To put it simply, The Nutcracker is Christmas, especially when staged by the fabulous Birmingham Royal Ballet, celebrating 25 years in 2015. It is sparkle and glitter, excitement and anticipation, presents and children, and, most of all dreams and magic. This is all reflected in the exquisite set design, which transforms from a sumptuous Victorian home, complete with an enormous Christmas Tree (courtesy of Prince Albert,…
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Fashion-Mommy at the Ballet
Cinderella has always been my fairytale heroine, Sure Sleeping Beauty had got the beauty sleep thing sorted, Rapunzel had great hair, and Snow White was quite a hit with the men (albeit very small ones!), but Cinderella really was inspirational. She came from a broken family, losing her mother at a very young age, and then faced poverty and abuse at the hands of her stepmother and step sisters. Yet, through her beauty, ambition, and with the help of useful friends like her Fairy Godmother (sort of an Alan Sugarplum fairy if you like…) she was able to achieve her life’s ambitions, to wear Vivienne Westwood-esq dresses with glass Manolo’s,…
