The Milwaukee Ballets next annual production of The Nutcracker opens at the middle of the month. People flock to the show as part of some strange desire to finally figure out what it's all about. It's not an easy story to understand and all that dancing doesn't exactly help. This year Wisconsin Hybrid Theatre's Charlie Sommers has worked out a comic prequel to the classic story Nutcracker Begins: An Origin Story tells the tale of how the Prince became a nutcracker in the first place.
Clever idea.
The contemporary radio comedy features talented local comic actors Randall Anderson, Jim Owczarski and Ruth Arnell. It airs 8:30 am - 9:00 am on Sunday, December 8th on 91.7 FM WMSE. Thereafter, it can be found in downloadable format online at WMSE's website.
Though I can't personally listen to the broadcast, I anticipate adding it into the annual holiday audio rotation that includes David Sedaris' Santaland Diaries and David Rakoff's Christmas Freud.