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The Slutcracker at Somerville Theatre
Ballet-parody masterpiece The Slutcracker has been delivering raunchy, ribald revelry and erotic good vibrations to Somerville Theatre audiences since 2008. Based on Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's famed 1890s ballet The Nutcracker, it combines high culture with burlesque tradition and gathers together local ballet dancers, strippers, belly dancers, pole performers, hula-hoopers, acrobats, plus other eccentric and exotic dancers.
In The Slutcracker, sequins and glitter meet fleshy natural beauty with an emphasis on diversity, individuality and an adults-only approach to sexual freedom. "Classic" female-gendered performers share the stage with male and trans performers. Risqué costumes and blush-inducing props assure that this is not a Nutcracker for kids — so 18 and over only, please.
About The Slutcracker
The Slutcracker was created by choreographer-director Vanessa White, a former Nutcracker dancer who still performs as the Sugar Dish Fairy in this saucy adaptation featuring her Lipstick Criminals troupe. "Like all art, people will take away what it means to them," she once explained to The Tufts Daily. "All I ever wanted to do was make a beautiful show — and funny, and sexy." Her work is set to Tchaikovsky's score as recorded by the Czech Republic's Brno Philharmonic Orchestra.
White's major modification of the E. T. A. Hoffmann short story that inspired the original was to transform the ballet's youthful sibling protagonists, Clara and Fritz, into a dissatisfied engaged couple.
Clara and Fritz explore a garden of previously forbidden sexual delights in the work's dreamlike second act, when The Slutcracker cuts loose with a wide variety of titillating capers featuring Russian dominatrixes, the erotic Dance of the Reed Pole, and a troupe of sexually indeterminate clowns. Other set pieces include "Waltz of the Flowers and Wet-Spot Fairy," a Busby Berkeley take-off, and a Bacchanalia involving both the onstage performers and a team of "Fluffers" working among the audience. Suffice to say that The Slutcracker contains everything audiences love about the original holiday perennial – and a whole lot more.
The mc introduced the show with its mission; for the cast to be inclusive of all body types, genders and race. I think this is wonderful. It is one dimensional when we view perfection. However, it was not so appealing. The opening act was ℹ cohesive, as far as costuming and performance. The racy semi nude scenes were much more interesting. The theme was humorous.
I get you need to lay the basis for the story, but the beginning was very dry until about two minutes before the intermission. The rest of the show was good.
Read the reviews before you buy. I wish I had. My daughter and I had no idea what was happening but whatever it was, it wasn't funny.
Absolutely loved it. Already planning on going again next year!
Have been two years in a row now and it continues to be a great show and experience! Would recommend! It will make a lot more sense if you’re familiar with the ballet/story of The Nutcracker though.
Very fun and entertaining will be going again in with more ppl on the last show
This show gets better every time I see it. The choreography and talent are top notch and it’s very entertaining! Definitely for an adult audience but not in a “cringy” way!
We left ten minutes into the show because all of the seating for the theater was general admission so if you didn’t show up early enough you wouldn’t be able to see the stage. The openers mic kept going in and out which obviously wasn’t her fault but she could have grabbed a new mic before continuing. My husband and I went before Covid at the theater in Cambridge and it was great hence why we went again this year but it was really disappointing.
It's funny, body positive, LGBTQ positive, what more could you want? There is a reason the show sold out, the performers are awsome, and it's a great mix of contemporary dance, ballet, and the art of the strip. Highly recomend it.
Very creative. An enjoyable experience with a super fun cast. Love the diversity and the performance was outstanding!