A rockin’ holiday treat from Ralph Covert of “Ralph’s World” and Jeff Award winning playwright G. Riley Mills. First created for Emerald City audiences four years ago, now a brand new children’s book inspired by the stage production is scheduled for release this Fall. A Nutty Nutcracker Christmas is a fun, fresh holiday spectacular for the entire family. Boasting holiday hits like “Welcome to Christmas Wood,” “The Wind-Up Toy Ballet,” and crowd favorite “Let's Ruin Christmas,” this rockin’ contemporary adaptation follows Fritz and the Nutcracker through Christmas Wood. When trouble arises with the dastardly Mouse King, Fritz and Nutcracker must save the day.
Cost:
Adults $15, Children $12 Geography:
Near North Birthday Venue:
No
City:
Chicago Event Date:
November 14, 2009 10:30 AM - January 02, 2010 11:30 AM
Days: Sun, Wed, Sat
Where: Apollo Theater
When: Nov. 14, 2009 - Jan. 2, 2010
Visit Website:http://www.emeraldcitytheatre.com/show_nutty.shtml
Emerald City Theater has once again produced a perfectly enjoyable show for young children and their parents. A Nutty Nutcracker Christmas is a contemporary twist on a classic that is filled with fun from start to finish. The show will be playing at the Apollo Theater through January 2, 2010. Tickets cost $12 for children and $15 for adults.
This production is a collaboration between Ralph Covert (of Ralph's World fame) and Emerald City Theater Company. They first staged A Nutty Nutcracker Christmas in 2005 and had so much success that they have repeated it year after year. It is so well loved that it was recently made into an adorable children's book. If you're interested, pick up the book before seeing the show. My son had recently read it in school and loved telling me what was going to happen next. It added a lot to the experience for us.
The show has the classic theme of being good vs. being bad. The main character is a boy named Fritz who prides himself in being bad. Fritz unwittingly releases the evil Mouse King from his video game and subsequently has to chase the Mouse King into "Christmaswood" to save Christmas. With the help of Nutcracker he finds it's a lot better to be the hero then a naughty boy. His solo, I'm a Natural, is cute and you can really hear the Ralph's World sound. Another great song is the Mouse King's, Let's Ruin Christmas. His character gets all the best laughs in the show. As usual, they have added in a bunch of pop culture to keep mom and dad smiling. Look out for great Beyonce and Kanye references. I also need to give a lot of credit to the staging, costumes and puppetry. Each of these elements highlights the creativity of this very special children's theater group.
A Nutty Nutcracker Christmas is a fun, reasonably priced activity for you and your preschoolers this holiday break. The show is exactly 1-hour long and is fast-paced (until the end when it gets a bit sappy). The combination of Ralph Covert's catchy tunes and Emerald City's actors' ability to make the audience giggle is pretty irresistible!
