Milwaukee Ballet’s ‘Nutcracker’ for Our Time

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Photo by Rachel Malehorn

Jennifer Hackbarth - Nutcracker 2025

Jennifer Hackbarth in Milwaukee Ballet's 'The Nutcracker: Drosselmeyer's Imaginarium' (2025)

It seemed to me on opening night that The Nutcracker: Drosselmeyer’s Imaginarium by Michael Pink and his Milwaukee Ballet company has come full grown its third year of life. I’ve probably seen two dozen years of Milwaukee Ballet’s Nutcracker performances, but this one made me see it fresh. It’s a better story for our time.

For a start, it’s clear now that the two squabbling youngsters, Clara and her brother Fritz, are equal protagonists. Their older sister Marie and her love interest Karl remain important to the dream Clara has after surviving her parent’s crowded holiday party. That dream encompasses half of Act One and all of Act Two. Pink has radically transformed Act Two and even smartly rearranged Tchaikovsky’s score.

As always, Act One introduces Drosselmeyer, a professional toymaker and skilled magician whose tricks astound the all-ages crowd at the party. As always, the party is briefly interrupted when a mouse gets loose in the house and Fritz tosses it live into the lighted fireplace. As always, Drosselmeyer gives Clara a soldier-shaped nutcracker as a present. As always, Clara goes to bed and dreams of battling mice and magic lands.

Pink’s New Story

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Photo by Rachel Malehorn

Ben Zusi and Milwaukee Ballet Company - Nutracker 2025

Ben Zusi and the Milwaukee Ballet Company in Milwaukee Ballet's 'The Nutcracker: Drosselmeyer's Imaginarium' (2025)

But in Pink’s new story, a dream Drosselmeyer appears, his purple suit sparkling. He shows the dreamland to Clara, Fritz, Marie and Karl. And for the first time, I saw his dreamworld as a whimsical, but meaningful, madcap version of the party Clara had just survived. There’s a big mouse battle, but no mouse dies. Fritz was trouble at that party and that needs to be resolved. A full-blown romance comes to bloom for Marie and Karl. Welcoming art-based communities, free of all prejudice, offer the best of themselves to Fritz’s and Clara’s delight.

This is what happiness looks like: no fighting, no fear, a loving and supportive family and community. Then it’s back to life for all of us, hopefully refreshed and maybe stronger for it.

I believe what makes Milwaukee Ballet’s production stand out in the ballet world is that it presents the entire organization, from the children taking ballet classes through the seasoned leading artists, as a community of artists. There’s no showing off. It’s not about stars. Everyone stays in character. When the audience applauds the feats, they never break. They hold fast to the story. Everything is beautifully acted and the choreography is perfectly executed.

Opening Night

The opening night performance kicked off with a huge cheer for the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra and its conductor Pasquale Laurino. Immense thanks to the anonymous donor who made their presence possible this year! This ballet is powered by Tchaikovsky’s score played live. There’s no substitute. And I don’t think this state-of-the-art orchestra has ever played it better.

The action begins with the overture. In the toy shop, Garrett Glassman’s Drosselmeyer and Randy Crespo’s Karl pack gifts to bring the partiers. A dreamy painted nighttime street scene fit for an art gallery fills the vast Marcus Center stage. Glassman times a toy trumpet to the orchestra’s trumpet player. A puppet mouse appears to audience laughter. The toy shop rises, the street setting deepens, excited town kids pass, one pulled on a sled, and a beggar child gives her cheese to the mouse. It’s all sweet frosting, like the Tchaikovsky’s overture. Without break, the music then sweeps us through a massive scene change into an elegant ballroom with glass dome through which more city is visible, and dozens of all ages party folk. 

This new show represents Michael Pink’s lifetime of dance theatre making. It’s not a string of dance numbers. Each moment leads to the next. There’s a ton to take in. The characters are credible. The story is foremost.

Wonderfully Childlike

Many roles, big and small, are double or triple cast. At the opening performance, adult dancers Raven Loan and Flynn Stelfox from the main company were wonderfully childlike as Clara and Fritz. In stand-out performances, they made these characters fully their own.

For me, Garret Glassman has been Drosselmeyer from the get-go. As the role grows, so does his performance. He knows exactly when and how much you should watch him. His charisma is effortless. It’s love for humankind that drives his character.

Longtime company dancers Marize Fumero and Randy Crespo played Marie and Karl, the classical ballet stars of the show. They were in their element in the gorgeous “snow pas de deux” of Act One and the absolutely thrilling pas de deux of the show’s climax. They danced as equals in the thrill of first love, an easy match for the thrilling music. Those classical ballet stunts—Crespo’s grand leaps, Fumero’s pirouettes and point work, their combined overhead one-arm lifts—were serenely executed. This is who we are, they told us, in truth and in character.

See this show. Bring your children. It runs through December 26.

Performances are at the Marcus Performing Arts Center. For dates, times, tickets and helpful information, visit milwaukeeballet.org, or call the ballet box office at (414) 902-7103, or the Marcus box office at (414) 273-7206