Notes Alive! Nutcracker: The Untold Story

One of the world's most beloved ballet stories springs to life under the talented aegis of the Minnesota Orchestra Visual Entertainment group (see review of the ALA Carnegie medal winner On the Day You Were Born in VL­-5/97). Combining live-action ballet, superb computer-enhanced animation of Maurice Sendak's illustrations, a rhyming script by Pamela Hill Nettleton, and the glorious music of Tchaikovsky, played by the Minnesota Orchestra, children are introduced to the classic musical tale of a young girl's Christmas Eve dream fantasy at the side of her beloved Nutcracker. The only drawback here is that this Nutcracker's parts are greater than the whole--the decision to cut back and forth between live action and animation was a daring, but not entirely successful one, with the viewer sometimes feeling wrenched in and out of the story. Still, a very good program (and you shouldn't miss the incredible animation of the 7-Headed Rat King!). Warmly recommended. Aud: E, I, P. (R. Pitman)