Anthony Williams’ Urban Nutcracker ran at the Boch Center Shubert Theatre for the 2024 Holiday season. This year marked the production’s 24th year onstage. 

The Shubert Theatre is small and intimate. Concession stands sell popcorn, candy, and beverages. The butter from the popcorn and the sugar from the candy waft through the space. The show starts a few minutes after 7pm. A brass band composed of several members walks through the aisle, their instruments pointed to the rafters. They are clad in red, a mixture of white, black, and brown complexions. The curtain rises to show 40-50 dancers of all ethnicities standing in front of an animated Citgo sign, the Boston skyline, and row houses. The prologue of the show features hip hop, Bollywood dance, tap, jazz, step, and swing. The dancers don streetwear of reds and blues, the brass band standing in the back playing the soundtrack of the production. 

The dancers exit the stage and the backdrop changes. Two doors are wheeled onto stage right and stage left. A sofa stands off center, a blanket draped around the back. A Christmas tree shines to the left. Clarice, a young adolescent, and her friends and family gather to celebrate the holiday. They dance and drink and laugh through ballet and swing. Drosselmeyer, Clara’s eccentric uncle, strides onstage in blue velvet pants, a blue long sleeve compression shirt, a patchwork vest with a matching cloak. He hands Clara the nutcracker. At the end of the party, she sets the nutcracker by the tree and curls up on the couch. An image of Clara’s father, an active member of the military, appears on the screen. 

The Nutcracker grows in size. He leads his tin soldiers into battle with the Mouse King. As the Nutcracker struggles to defeat his enemy, Clarice distracts the rodent and the Nutcracker completes the final blow. The Mouse King settles in front of the couch. A dance battle ensues onstage between Mouse King and the Nutcracker. Thus begins Clarice’s adventure with Drosselmeyer and the Nutcracker.

The stage fades to black. A spotlight shines on the box seating to stage left. Clara and Drosselmeyer sit entranced, watching dancers perform onstage. The performers dazzle through Boston proper. Construction workers tap while building the infrastructure for South Station. Ballet dancers twirl and swirl around Revere Beach and Fort Hill. At the Boston Public Garden, dancers craft an ode to Make Way for Ducklings, a well-known story by author Robert McCloskey. A mother duck prattles onstage while her ducklings trail behind her. 

The enchantment continues with homage to cultural artistic expression. Dancers represent Ukrainian traditions and Arabic traditions and Bollywood traditions and Spanish traditions and African American traditions. 

The spotlight shines on Clarice and Drosselmeyer after each performance. They applaud and beam with delight. 

The Sugar Plum Fairy appears onstage, cementing her rule over The Land of Sweets. She is graceful and seems to float in her ballet shoes. She dances alongside the Nutcracker who has transformed into the Prince. They are magnetic, their chemistry undeniable. 

The stage fades to black. Clarice lays on the sofa in her home. The Christmas tree bursts with color through the darkness. She awakes to find the Nutcracker back to its original size. A man in military fatigues struts down the aisle and climbs onto the stage. Clarice hugs her father. Her mother and brother appear and they join in the hug. The curtain falls.

The audience stands, their claps bellowing through the theatre. The dancers reappear for the final bows. The audience lingers in their seats, relishing the glow and vibrancy of the Urban Nutcracker. The lights come up and attendees shuffle through the doors and back into the frostbitten Boston air, returning to the normalcy of their daily lives.