There’s a big new “Nutcracker” in town, and it’s cracking good. The talented Russian choreographer Alexei Ratmansky has crafted a witty new version for American Ballet Theatre. Tchaikovsky’s brilliant score and E.T.A. Hoffmann’s story have always been magical, but Ratmansky pushes them through the absurd prism of Lewis Carroll.
Set amidst Richard Hudson’s vivid, colorful Biedermeier designs — and accompanied by the company’s orchestra conducted by Ormsby Wilkins — the plot is the usual one, with twists. Instead of the parlor, it begins in the kitchen with cooks and maids readying the holiday party. Suddenly, the mice are underfoot — and they are adorable but tough, with teeth.
Clara is on the verge of adolescence, and her Nutcracker is a teenager as well. The roles are meaty for such young dancers. Lovely Catherine Hurlin, 14, also has to be funny; 13-year-old Tyler Maloney is a talented, expressive actor.
As always, the Christmas tree grows mysteriously before the battle but Clara seems like Alice in Wonderland when she is trapped on an enormous chair as the mice and soldiers fight.
With the Mouse King vanquished, the Journey through the Snow is beautiful but dangerous — Clara and the Prince go from a snow fight to nearly freezing to death before they are rescued by Drosselmeyer.
They make it to the Kingdom of the Sweets, but here, the Sugar Plum Fairy doesn’t dance; she’s more of a mistress of ceremonies. The main dancing is done by Gillian Murphy and David Hallberg, who play Clara’s dream of herself and the Prince as adults. Murphy outdoes herself — she’s never danced with this kind of freedom and abandon, or looked more like a ballerina.
The other numbers are filled with humor, which sometimes works. Sascha Radetsky is dryly funny as a ripped, reluctant Arabian stud followed by four overeager and demanding harem girls. But adding four goofy male bees to the Waltz of the Flowers is four bees too many.
Ratmansky’s warm vision is filled with ingenuity and love. But it isn’t always filled with dance — there’s a lot of imaginative theater, but he rarely lets the dancers cut loose, except in the rapturous, swooning grand pas de deux for Murphy and Hallberg.
If you’re looking for a “Nutcracker” full of elegant ballet with a capital B, try Balanchine’s more formal version at New York City Ballet. But if you’d like to experience a Christmas Ballet in Wonderland, this is the one.