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First, let’s be clear: this is not your grandfather’s Nutcracker. The 18-piece People’s Liberation Big Band of Greater Kansas City, led by Brad Cox, offers a wild and often hilarious “take” on the traditional Tchaikovsky tunes, and the instrumentation is, well, a little different from what the Russian master probably had in mind.

That being said, the music is delightful and can be appreciated both as an ingenious score on its own, and, in a different way, as a clever send-up of Tchaikovsky.

The performance opens with Cox in a fright wig conducting a cacophonous few minutes of pure noise, which gradually dissolves into a saxophone-led jazzed-up version of the Tchaikovsky overture. The wild syncopation, piano interpolations, and snare drums add a swing dimension that you won’t find in the original.

As the story continues with scenes of Clara and her family, and the visit in which the mysterious and scary Godfather Drosselmeier emerges from a giant clock, the music roughly follows portions of the Tchaikovsky score, but with a beat and instrumentation all its own, such as the screechy woodwinds which accompany the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies."

The Mouse King and his cohorts enter from the back aisles, tooting off-pitch horns and causing much musical disruption. No wonder poor Clara had a nightmare. The battle scene is also a furious riot of noise (as you might guess by now from this group).

The major scene in this version of Nutcracker that doesn’t appear in the Tchaikovsky ballet is the Story of the Hard Nut, told by Drosselmeier to Clara to calm her from her nightmares (although the story itself is scary enough to send the poor girl right into nightmare land again). For this section, Jeffrey Ruckman, who plays the tuba and piano and several other instruments for the band, has composed altogether new music with an improvisational quality—and which, according to the program notes, is “re-composed” for each performance.

After the intermission, the Owen/Cox version, as in Tchaikovsky’s, presents a number of  “charming but culturally insensitive dances inspired by traditional stereotypes,” in the words of the narration.

Cox is responsible for the arrangements of most Tchaikovsky numbers, although P. Alonzo Conway, one of the Band’s percussionists, arranged the "Chinese Dance" and "Dance of the Mirlitons," and Jeff Harshbarger (of the string bass) arranged the "Pas de deux." Also, horn player Forest Stewart arranged the "Waltz of the Flowers."

Among this reviewer’s favorite arrangements were the saxophone-and-whistle version of the "Waltz of the Snowflakes" with a pounding bongo drum accompaniment; the "Spanish Dance" which began with a trumpet fanfare like Tchaikovsky but which soon turned into a swinging Latin tango; and the "Chinese Dance," which like Tchaikovsky led with an oboe but added an undulating percussive beat and featured alternative melodies by other instruments woven throughout. A saxophone-dominated swing version of the "Pas de deux" ended the evening.

Tchaikovsky it is not, but this writer can’t help but remember that the Russian master was an iconoclast of his time, much reviled for eschewing traditional music forms. One suspects that if Tchaikovsky himself had been in the audience tonight, he, like the others in attendance, would have had a toe-tapping good time.

REVIEW (Music only):
Owen/Cox Dance Group
The Nutcracker and the Mouse King
Reviewed December 17, 2011
H&R Block City Stage Theater, Union Station
30 W. Pershing Rd., Kansas City, MO
For more information, visit owencoxdance.org.

Top Photo: Christopher Barksdale in Owen/Cox's Nutcracker and the Mouse King (Photo by Charles Stonewall)

By Don Dagenais

City Classics Music and Dance Columnist; Classical Contributor

A lifelong classical music fan, Don Dagenais is a frequent preview speaker for the Lyric Opera of Kansas City and has taught classical music and opera courses at several Kansas City venues. He has served on the boards of directors of a number of performing arts organizations including the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, the Lyric Opera Guild, UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, Opera Volunteers International, the Civic Opera Theater of Kansas City, Inspiration Point Fine Arts Colony, Octarium, and the Friends of the Symphony.  He has been the past president of most of these organizations and is current the president of the Friends of the Symphony. 

Dagenais co-authored a history of the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, published on the occasion of its 50th anniversary (2007) and has written books on the histories of both the Lyric Opera Guild and Opera Volunteers International, as well as an introductory book for opera novices (Your Passport to the Opera).  He has received several local and national awards for outstanding volunteer work for the arts, including a lifetime achievement award from The Coterie Theatre in 2000, the Kansas City Musical Club's annual award in 2001, a Partners in Excellence Award from Opera Volunteers International in 2002, a Bravo Award from Opera Volunteers International in 2004 and a community service award from the Daughter of the American Revolution in 2008 honoring him for his community service to the arts.

In addition to his music interests, Don is president of the board of directors for the Metropolitan Ensemble Theater and has served on the boards of The Coterie Theatre and the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, serving as president of each organization.  He publishes newsletters for seven arts organizations.  When not involved in the performing arts, Don is a senior real estate attorney with Lathrop & Gage LLP in Kansas City, Missouri, where he has practiced law since 1976 after graduating from the Cornell Law School.

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