Nutcracker Sweets

Tuesday night we went to see the Nutcracker at the civic center.  We have been meaning to go all season, after all Emily Thompson is in It this year. For those of you playing along at home Emily is the daughter of our friends Tom and Jodi Thompson. Yes,that Jodi Thompson.  Emily is all grown up at 18 and an apprentice ballerina with the OKC Ballet.  I am proud of her, so I can’t even imagine how proud Tom and Jodi are.

I meant to go earlier in the season but we were busy, and had party prep, and suddenly we had run out of nights. So we went Tuesday, the last night, and were joined by Jodi, who either is such a fan of mine, or such a fan of her daughter that she wanted to see another performance.  My boys have not been to the ballet before, and I wasn’t certain how they would enjoy it.  Also I had some concerns about their attire.  I left some instructions about what I thought they should wear, but they don’t always listen to me. They did ok, even though they did not exactly follow my instructions. At least I assume they did ok, Jodi didn’t say anything about their attire, so I think we were safe.

Remember the last time I went to see the nutcracker? I tend to sleep through the Snowflakes. This year though, Em was a snowflake so I knew going in I needed to be awake for that part. I drank a 5 hour energy on my way, so I figured I would be ok.  Let’s just say that at least I was awake for the important parts.

So how was the Nutcracker? Well, since we were primarily interested in seeing Emily dance, this version of the Nutcracker is the story of a young woman who goes to a fancy Christmas party in a fabulous dress with several children, probably not her own since she is so young. I am thinking second wife. Not a home wrecker though, probably the first wife was an evil queen.

After the party there is a lovely snowstorm with dancing snowflakes.  I liked it when it snowed on the stage, I thought that was very clever.  And yes, I did stay awake for that part! Yeah me.

At the close of the second act there are dancing flowers. Some other stuff happens in between, But mostly that was the important part.  Also, since the whole ballet is about Em, it seems like bad staging not to have her front and center where it would have been easier for people to see her. Just a thought.

And no, for those of you wondering, I did not jump up and yell EMILY! I KNOW HER! I KNOW HER! Every time she came on.  I am not saying I wasn’t tempted to, but discretion and valor and all that.