Joffrey’s Old-Style ‘Nutcracker’ a Heart-Melting Holiday Treat

It’s comforting to know, indeed, reassuring, that in these troubled times, there is joy still to be found in that sparkling Christmas confection, “The Nutcracker.” Bursting with beauty and a renewed freshness of spirit, the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago delivered a scrumptious package to the Orange County Performing Arts Center on Wednesday afternoon.

The production, last seen here in 1996, is Robert Joffrey’s homage to a Currier and Ives America, with honor paid, as well, to the great European ballet tradition. Aided by choreographer and current artistic director Gerald Arpino, with staging by George Verdak and Scott Barnard, this holiday opus still features lavish sets, velvety costumes and homespun values. Combined with Tchaikovsky’s resplendent score, the resultant creation works a transcendent magic that can warm the coldest of hearts.

And then there is the dancing.

Happily, all is well once again at the House of Joffrey. The cape-wielding Adam Sklute proved a stylish Drosselmeyer, a sequin-showering storyteller with a towering presence. Clara, nimbly danced by Jennifer Goodman, struck the proper note of childhood innocence; her brother Fritz, an effervescent Calvin Kitten, did triple duty as Snow Prince and Tea, executing effortless leaps with speedy aplomb.

Possessed of flawless technique and unbridled star quality, Lorena Feijoo owned the stage. Dazzling as the Sugar Plum Fairy, Feijoo tossed off fouettes with elegant ease. Her Nutcracker Prince, a formidable Steve Beirens, proved the perfect partner: Together they embodied pure lyricism, dreamy passion.

Ruling over the snow scene were the radiant Deborah Dawn as Snow Queen, and her King, Ernesto Quenedit, who was not, however, up to regal supporting snuff. In other roles: Maia Wilkins as a sultry Spanish chocolate; Chiharu Shibata and Pierre Lockett mesmerized as very slinky Arabian coffee.

The female corps, crisp and precise, shone; the men proved slightly less uniform. Moving the proceedings along in the pit was a buoyant Allan Lewis, who brought nuanced texture to the Pacific Symphony Orchestra. This is a “Nutcracker” whose outer wrappings truly reveal something equally splendid.

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* The Joffrey Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” continues, with this and other casts of principals, at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Saturday-Sunday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. (714) 556-2787. $20-$65.