REVIEW: THE NUTCRACKER ROUGE by COMPANY XIV at the Minetta Lane Theatre
After watching the previous Company XIV's last creation Cinderella (read our glorious review), one might ask this question: Does Mr. Austin McCormick (Company XIV's genius director) know that he reached perfection?
A few minutes before the Nutcracker Rouge starts, we are wondering if Mr. McCormick can go above perfection in the well-deserved packed Minetta Lane Theatre. The answer is YES.
The Nutcracker Rouge is above what you could ever imagine. We recognized Mr. McCormick's unique signature of Baroque, Electro, Cabaret, Burlesque, Circus, Ballet, and Opera, all perfectly sustained by lighting, visual effects, and much more.
The entire cast of supra-talented artists starring Hilly Bodin, Jakob Karr, Malik Shabazz Kitchen, Nicholas Katen, Mark Osmundsen, Ross Katen, Davon Rainey, and Brett Umlauf enhanced this creativity. Laura Careless and Steven Trumon Gray for their flawless and passionate duet, Lea Helle with graciousness and joie de vivre, Marcy Richardson for a unique acrobatic operatic act, Nicole von Arx filled the stage with her European charming dancing talent, and the one and only Shelly Watson with all her entertainer qualities with impeccable singing, perfect technique, and unique sound.
A special mention to Zane Pihlstrom for his work on costumes and for bringing Louis XIV's genre to a modern audience.
If you want to know if there is something above perfection, Mr. McCormick proved it to us with the Nutcracker Rouge. There is not a single second where you won't be struck by BEAUTY in every way.
The Nutcracker is playing at Minetta Lane until January 17th, 2016, DO NOT MISS IT.
