The Nutcracker
by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovskyplay· published 1892
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The Nutcracker (Russian: Щелкунчик, romanized: Shchelkunchik, pronounced [ɕːɪlˈkunʲtɕɪk] ), Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a ballet-féerie; Russian: балет-феерия, romanized: balet-feyeriya) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. The plot is an adaptation of Alexandre Dumas's 1844 short story The Tale of a Nutcracker, itself a retelling of E. T. A. Hoffmann's 1816 short story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. The ballet's first choreographer was Marius Petipa, with whom Tchaikovsky had worked three years earlier on The Sleeping Beauty, assisted by Lev Ivanov.
Adaptations (2)
The Nutcracker has been adapted into 2 films, from 2010 to 2018. The most recent is The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018).
The Nutcracker in 3D2010 · film · 110 min · dir. Andrei Konchalovsky · IMDb ↗On Christmas Eve in 1920s Vienna, a young girl named Mary and her brother are visited by their eccentric uncle Albert, who gifts a magical wooden nutcracker that comes to life and takes her to a fantasy world to fight the evil Rat King.
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms2018 · film · 99 min · dir. Lasse Hallström, Joe Johnston · IMDb ↗When Clara’s mother leaves her a mysterious gift, she embarks on a journey to four secret realms—where she discovers her greatest strength could change the world.
