Tuesday, December 30, 2008

The Nutcracker: not what I imagined, but better than I expected

On a blessedly cool December evening, blogger mama took her 2 girls to meet their Brownie Girl Scout troop at the oh-so-adorable Temecula Community Theater to see their production of our holiday favorite, The Nutcracker.

What little girl doesn't love to dress up and meet her friends and stay up late on a school night?  No little girl I've ever met, I tell ya what!  Brownie troop 1520 was as adorable and well-behaved as ever, and they were especially excited because we got to sit in the very front two rows.  How's that for good luck?

The production was beautifully done, with ornate costumes, perfect timing on all the sound and light cues (from my time spent on stage during all my schoolin' years, I've come to appreciate the difficulty in making this sort of thing happen), and the dancers could actually dance.  It was downright lovely.  Now I must warn any purists out there that there has been some "finagling" with the story line....it really makes more sense in this format, but it isn't the NYC-Ballet-and-all-other-major-company-in-the-whole-wide-world way to do it, so I can see how some might object.  The music is all there and all right and all the characters and the basic premise are the same, but the order was moved around a bit.  I can't explain it right, so you'll just have to go next year if you'd like to know what the heck I'm talking about.  Oh, and, um, during the party scene in the beginning when the guests are dancing with each other....they....um...(how do I say this without freaking you out?)....sing.  Yeah.  Okay, shake it off.

The music and dancing were so spectacular and the production so tight, that everyone in the audience, our crew included, was disappointed when intermission rolled around.  We were able to placate them by suggesting they practice their own dance moves in the courtyard outside the main auditorium, which they happily did and passed the 20 minutes with lots of hums and even more giggling.

After the show was over,  I enjoyed our walk back to the car through festively-lit Old Town Temecula.  Every lamppost, every building, every sign was covered in lights and greenery and cheer.  I took a bunch of photos and not one of them turned out, so you'll have to enjoy this one of a car.

When our evening came to a close, we were tired but happy.  No traffic, no icy roads- just good fun with good people in a great town.

For more info on this and other productions at the Temecula Community Theater:

www.temeculatheater.org

42051 Main St.
Temecula, CA 92590
 1-(866)-OLD-TOWN

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Don't give up on me yet!

Dear readers (if there are any of you left), I promise to post more soon.  My new laptop makes posting photos a bit of a challenge, but mostly I've been busy with the holiday frenzy.  Coming up soon: The Nutcracker/the Temecula Community Theater and a review of the new Indian restaurant The Blue Peacock (in the Target center at the corner of Rancho California and Ynez).  Seriously.  I promise!