It
is to Marie that Uncle Drosselmeier selects the Christmas
tree under which to place the broken Nutcracker doll. But
Uncle Drosselmeier explains that this is the safest plae for
him because this is not an ordinary Christmas tree, but a
magical tree. Marie isn’t quite convinced of this; she is
afraid that he brother Fritz will return and do more damage
to her beloved Nutcracker. So she stays with the Nutcracker
under the Christmas Tree and soon falls sound asleep, extremely
tired from her emotional experiences.(fig.1
Set of 5th scene)
Then
the miracles begin to happen… the green tree slowly grows…
until it fills the whole room… it turns white, too… and all
the toys grow, too. The rocking horse becomes as large as
a normal horse… and the dolls become as big as real people.
(fig.2
Set of 3rd scene)
Then,
all alone, Uncle Drosselmeier appears. Of course this is all
in Marie’s dream world, ut she believes it is really happening.
Suddenly there is a large flash of light and a miniature explosion…
a huge flame and column of smoke suddenly appear out of nowhere.
This is surely another magic trick of Uncle Drosselmeier’s.
(fig.3 A. Loparevich as Uncle Drosselmeier; 1st act)
From
this smoke suddenly there appears a huge black monster Mouse
King. So frightening is his appearance that all the terrified
toys run away. Only Uncle Drosselmeier stays, posing as a
servant awaiting the wishes of the Mouse King. (fig.4 Yury Vetrov
as Uncle Drosselmeier; 1st act)
The
Mouse King summons his army of ugly mouse soldiers … and soon
the entire stage is filled with them. (fig.5)
