Mrs. Labor and I saw an advertisement for MeshugeNutcracker! in the local paper this weekend. The description is: The MeshugaNutcracker! is a full-length musical comedy that features the wonderfully silly sensibilities of the folklore of Chelm (the fictional town of fools) underscored by an invigorating, Klezmer-ized orchestration of Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite”, now with original lyrics that celebrate Chanukah.
So we bought tickets and went…
Big mistake. It is a full length musical. However, there is very little “Klezmer-ization” of Tchaikovsky’s music, the tunes are there and the cast does sing along but there are not the fantastic clarinet solos I was hoping for. The purpose of this musical seems to be to educate non-practicing Jews about the reasons for Chanukah, or a place for Jewish grandparents to take the non-practicing grandchildren to learn about the basics.
Not the mad-cap evening I was expecting.
On the positive side, the actors are terrific, and the costumes are colorful.