The
Mouse King summons his army of ugly mouse soldiers … and soon
the entire stage is filled with them. (fig.1
S.Radchenko as the Mouse King; 1st act)
Marie
is terrified… but Uncle Drosselmeier’s magic goes to work
and the Nutcracker comes to life. He springs to his feet,
jumps on the horse, blows the bugle and all the toy soldiers
return, take out their swords and join the Neutcracker in
his fight against the Mouse King and his army. (fig.2
The
battle between the Natcracker and the Mouse King; 1st act)
As
the fighting goes on, the Mouse King and the Nutcracker finally
meet in a duel to the death.
(fig.3 )
Marie
sees this horrible fight from the sidelines … everything is
getting out of control! Even Uncle Drosselmeier is unable
to stop the slaughter as the Mouse King’s army overwhelms
the toy soldiers. Marie cannot allow the Mouse King to kill
her beloved Nutcracker!! In desperation, she picks up a heavy,
lighted candlestick and with all her strength throws it at
the Mouse King. This so frightens the Mouse King that he runs
away, with his mouse army following him. (fig.4 Ljudmila
Semenjaka as Marie and Yury Vetrov as Uncle Drosselmeier;
1st act)
The
toy soldiers are victorious!!! How happy they are!! They glorify
Marie and carry her on their shoulders. Little does she know
that her manifestation of love for the ugly Nutcracker breaks
a magic curse put on him by the Mouse Queen many years before
… suddenly the Nutcracker’s face begins to change from an
ugly, odd doll into a handsome real-life Prince. (fig.5,6
N. Arkhipova as Marie and M. Lavrovsky as the Natcracker Prince;
1st act )
