Bullshit Nutcracker

Took the girls to the Oakland Ballet Nutcracker.   I'll accept up front that I am a nutcracker snob, but jeez, this one sucked.  There were so many missing nutcracker elements.  No Mother Ginger or skirt. No Prince pantomime at the beginning of act 2.  No chinese dancers (it was a bird!), no nutcracker getting broken, no cracking nuts with it (despite the fact the score has nut cracking sounds in it), and they cut out a good portion after the grandfather dance. The party just immediately ended and she falls asleep on the couch.  It wasn't even clear what the story was for a good long while. And it seemed like the choreographer didn't even listen to the music when he made up the dancing. Big symbol crashes in the sugar plum fairy pas de deux were met with lame ass turns rather than huge lifts.  Plus it was glaringly obvious why these dancers were in the Oakland Ballet rather than somewhere else. The men didn't seem to know what turnout was.

And no crying mouse after the mouse king is killed.  Seriously?  No crying mouse?  That's just wrong.

I'll get off my high horse now.