Blue Umbrella Official Blue Umbrella Winter 2018 Issue | Page 7

The party slowly comes to an end as the
party goers leave. When Clara and a maid
are left alone, Clara is told that it is time for
her to go to bed. The maid takes the
Nutcracker from Clara and places it under the
Christmas tree.
When she sees the maid leave the room,
she sneaks back in to admire her Nutcracker.
As she sits on the couch, she grows tired and
falls asleep. She dreams that Drosselmeyer
uses his magic to make everything in the
room to grow. Giant mice start coming out
from under the Christmas tree, and they
pester her until she awakes. Frightened by
them, she runs and hides in a corner.
Drosselmeyer brings the Nutcracker to
life to fight with his soldiers against the mice.
The Mouse King challenges the Nutcracker,
and they engage in a sword fight.
It often seems as though the
Nutcracker will be overcome by the Mouse
King. Clara, gaining courage, comes to the
Nutcracker's rescue. When the Mouse King
lifts his sword to kill his foe, Clara throws her
shoe to distract him and hits him on the head.
While the Mouse King is distracted, the
Nutcracker stabs him. The death of the
Mouse King is always dramatic. Sometimes
he dies and is then dragged off stage by his
mice, and others have him do a 'death dance'
and then drag himself into the orchestra pit
falling head first.
With the Mouse King dead, the
Nutcracker is turned into a human prince by
Drosselmeyer. The Prince thanks Clara for
saving his life and leads her on an adventure
to meet the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Land of
the Sweets.
The first place they visit is the Snow
Forest, where they are greeted by the Snow
Queen and King who lead them through the
forest while Snow Flakes, Snow Crystals, and
Icicles dance for them.
When they leave the Snow Forest, they
arrive in the Land of the Sweets where Ladies
in Waiting dance to present the Sugar Plum
Fairy. The Sugar Plum Fairy greets Clara and
the Nutcracker, thanking them for killing the
Mouse King. All who live in the Land of the
Sweets under the Sugar Plum Fairy send a
representative to greet Clara. These
representative include the Spanish
Chocolates, the Arabian Coffees, Chinese
Teas, Russian Candy Canes, the Bon Bons,
Mirlitons, and the Garden Flowers.
Then the Sugar Plum asks the Prince
to tell her and her people about his battle
story. He acts out how he battled the Mouse
King, how he almost died, and how Clara
saved him. The people and the Sugar Plum
all rejoice and thank Clara for saving the
Prince. The couple is seated on a throne
where they will watch as the representatives
present their people through dances.
After the final dance is presented to
Clara, the Sugar Plum Fairy dances a solo.
She then is accompanied by her partner the
Cough Drop Prince. After the Sugar Plum and
Cough Drop complete their dance for Clara,
the Prince dances an impressive solo for her.
All gather around as Clara dances her
farewell. Each of the groups does a short
dance to say good-bye, and the Sugar Plum
bids her farewell as they all wave good-bye to
their new friend.
Clara awakes from her dream still on
the couch holding her Nutcracker. She smiles
as she holds her beloved doll and thinks of all
that her dream held.
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