Page 8 DTH Omnibus
Thursday December 3, 1992
Evil vies with innocence in 'Nutcracker7 spectacular
The Nutcracker:
A Play
Presented by PlayMakers Repertory Co.
Thursday, December 3 through
Sunday, December 20
8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday
2 p.m. Sundays
Paul Greea Theatre
Tickets: $8 to $19.50
For more information, call 962-PLAY
The traditional telling of the
Nutcracker tale embodies the
childhood belief in magic, the
triumph of good over evil and
the fulfillment of the heart's desire.
For the fourth consecutive year,
PlayMakers Repertory Company will
present The Nutcracker: A Play during
the holiday season. PlayMakers' associ
ate producing director, David
Hammond, adapted this version of the
play from the original 1816 work, The
Nutcracker and Mouse-King by E.T.A.
Hoffman. Dede Corvinus, a PlayMakers
cast member since 1987, directs this
year's production.
The tale presents a coming-of-age
story for the young Marie, played by
Connan Morrissey. Morrissey reprises
her role from last year's production as
Marie, who must battle evil, maintain
her faith and risk all for true love.
True to the traditional Christmas
tale, PlayMakers' production is the story
1 !
V v
North Carolina
Every NFL Came Shown
Saturday Dec. 5
12:00 Armyv. Navy
N.C.S.U.v. UConn
2 :00 Georgetown v. Southern
3:30 Alabama v. Florida
3:45 Kansas v. Indiana
4:30 S.Carolina v.TBA
6:45 Carolina v.TBA
7 :00 Maryland v. W. Virginia
7:30 UCLA v.Santa Clara
Geo. Tech v. Kentucky
8:00 Marshall v. Pittsburgh
8:30 Bulls V.Celtics
9:00 Duke v. Michigan
10:30 Hornets v. Clippers
504 W. Franklin St
$ , tj
, w i'u' . -,. .
MONDYLAMB
of a young girl who receives the present
of a wooden nutcracker. Following the
customary story line, little brother
breaks cherished nutcracker, girl
mourns, evil Mouse prince threatens
girl, Nutcracker comes to life to save
girl, girl is pleasantly surprised.
When the Nutcracker is captured
and taken to the evil underworld of
Mousalia, mysterious Godfather
Drosselmeier (Ray Dooley) tells Marie
her beloved Nutcracker is really the
handsome young soldier Christian
(Mark Ransom Eis), transformed many
years ago by the spell of Mousennks,
ruthless Queen and ruler of Mousalia.
The ageless Mousennks speaks in
rhyming verse and rules her underworld
with an iron claw. Her dark domain
comes complete with the glittering red
eyes of her minions and with sets clev
erly designed to provide one surprise
after another. Mouserinks holds the
Nutcracker's magic sword that he must
win back in order to destroy the Queen
and her son for good.
Drosselmeier also tells Marie that
the chance to save Christian from his
curse comes only once every 100 years
and only the love of someone "pure of
heart" can rescue him. So Marie, her
younger brother Fritz and old
Drosselmeier journey to Mousalia to
save the Nutcracker and battle
Mouserinks.
The Nutcracker is full of energy and
spectacle and contains the universal
$0
'
msmsI m
- Every Sunday - LIVE!!!
7 satellite receivers
9 screens Pool
tables Foosball
Videos Darts
Basketball Freethrow
Monday Niebt Football Specials:
All Domestic Lonsnecksonty $1.25
Tuesday Night Special:
KARAOKE
132 oz Draft Beeronly S1.75
Chapel Hill 929-6978
theme of true love, making it a play
everyone can enjoy. The Nutcracker is
one of PlayMakers' most popular pro
ductions, therefore purchase your tick
ets early and often.
The Qood Quys:
Ray Dooley as Drosselmeier:
Drosselmeier is the mysteriously old
Godfather of Marie , whose faith and good
magic has the power to save the Nutcracker
from his curse.
On the formation of the character:
What his concerns were being a 700-year-old-magician.
He has a deep love
for other characters. He needs Chris
tian and Marie to right things.
On Drosselmeier's relationship to
Marie: He needs her. She is the key to
releasing Christian (from Mouserinks'
curse.)
Is there any Drosselmeier in you? I
certainly hope so. He is a dear and
funny man. -
What does "pure of heart" mean to
you! It's the power to believe com
pletely in something, body and soul.
Connan Morrissey as Marie:
Marie is the child who comes of age
during the play. Her courage, faith, and
purity of heart hold the key to the
Nutcracker's salvation ami the destruction
of the evil MousfrinJts.
Do you like marzipan? (Marie eats
a lot of this confection made of egg
whites and almond milk.): Oh yeah,
it's great stuff. It's beautiful, I love it.
On what it's like playing a child:
It's great, it's a different body. Children
have so much energy. You know they
say, 'from the mouths of babes come
pearls of wisdom' . . . there are none of
the checking mechanisms adults have.
They can say "1 love you," and that's it
and it's permanent.
Do you think Marie grows up too
quickly in the end? (She passionately
kisses the prince at the play's end.): 1
don't think so .. . she is being lead off to
her future. How a modern audience
interprets that is very different than
what a fairy tale audience interprets. I
think children say, 'Oh yeah she's going
by David Hammond
based on the stories of E.T.A. Hoffmann
Dec. 2-20
Produced by
Wachovia Personal Financial Services
Midseason Subscriptions now on sale for
TARTUFFE SOME AMERICANS ABROAD HAMLET
The good guys: Connan Morrissey, Gene Alper and Ray Dooley
off to her future,' and adults say, "What?
Oh my god, what's that future going to
bef But I think she's ready for it and
that's what the trial through Mousalia
is about, to see if she's ready for the
future. I think it's great to have a ritual
for a girl because we see so many rituals
for boys in fairy tales.
What does "pure of heart" mean to
you? A willingness to love and to love
completely.
And the Bad:
Susanna Rinehart as Mouserinks:
Mouserinks, the evil Mouse-Queen of
the underground world Mousalia, wants
to rule the upper world also , and just might
with the help of a little black magic and her
son, the three-headed mouse prince.
Tickets: 962-PLAY
JS
Where Rinehart got the tremen
dous voice of Mouserinks: The voice
comes in part from her mother and in
part from lecturing het Drama 16 class.
She also attributes it to a lot of vocal
training and "lungs of steel."
On losing her voice the first year
she performed Mouserinks: I had to
get used to what I had to do to support
the voice. A character that big needs a
voice that big.
On her recent motherhood and
Mouserinks: (Laughing) She's a differ
ent kind of mother (than me), cer
tainly her children are different. The
strength for this character is coming
from adifferent place after giving birth.
On the formation of the character:
A lot of it comes from the words I'm
given. 1 find the character on the page.
The evolution comes from the music
and the size of the words which are
huge curses and statements of evil and
power. There is no such thing as doing
the character half way. She gets in my
body.
What does "pure of heart" mean to
you? It means living the truth, some
body who lives truth and love.
." 00
Paul Green Theatre
Susanna Rinehart
Chapel hnl