[CLOCK TICKING]
[CLOCKS TICKING]
[BELLS CHIMING SOFTLY]
[CLOCKS CHIMING AND DINGING]
[CHIRPING]
[NUTCRACKER OVERTURE PLAYING]
CLARA: Christmas long ago
is the memory of a dream
that seemed never to end.
But somewhere
in the middle of that dream,
I always did wake up
just in time to attend
the Christmas Eve party
my Mama and Papa
gave for me
and my brother, Fritz.
Mama attracted
interesting guests Papa said,
because she was beautiful
and fascinating.
She was, he said,
his wondrous peacock.
How full
of anticipation I was.
"Dreamers need not be pretty,"
my godfather, Drosselmeier
told me so very long ago.
My good,
and, sometimes, very bad,
godfather, Drosselmeier
was certainly
the very strangest guest
at those long-ago parties.
He was a genius, they said.
So it was especially strange
to me that he behaved
like a silly little boy.
And often, he frightened me.
But more often,
and this is strangest of all,
I loved him
better than anyone.
And I loved
his presents best of all.
For besides being a genius,
he was
a very famous clockmaker
and toymaker
and mouse catcher.
Dreams, like all
my most precious gifts,
were from
my dear godfather,
Drosselmeier.
When I loved him,
he was the kindest creature
you can imagine.
He told me stories,
every word of which
I still remember.
But when he frightened me
with his weird
and childish ways,
and I could not bear
for him to be near me,
he would punish me.
It was on such an occasion,
when I was nearly
13 years old,
on Christmas Eve,
that out of spite,
Godfather Drosselmeier gave me
the most wicked dream.
I smile to think of it now,
that a nightmare could bring,
like a sweet memory,
such a strange joy.
It is a mystery
I can never solve.
But I can never forgive
my spiteful godfather
for slipping into that dream
my bad little brother, Fritz.
[NUTCRACKER MARCH PLAYING]
CLARA: The Christmas parties
of long ago
all blur and mix in memory.
The real
and the unreal
becomes one.
How silly
we children appeared.
Gawking and gaping
at the Grand Promenade
of our mamas and papas.
I will never forget
the envy and delight I felt
at watching my parents.
And how badly
I longed to dance
with my beautiful Papa.
How my head whirled
with the music
and buzzed with my bad dream,
not cold enough yet
for me to forget.
And Godfather Drosselmeier
wasn't even there.
The party was incomplete
without him and all
his wonderful presents.
[CLOCK DINGING]
[DUET FROM
QUEEN OF SPADES PLAYING]
[SQUEALING]
[CLOCK DINGING]
[EXCLAIMING]
[GROWLING]
[HORSES NEIGHING]
[SQUEALING]
[SCREAMS]
[GRUNTING]
[SQUEAKING]
[WALTZ OF THE SNOW FLAKES
PLAYING]
[BIRD CHIRPING]
CLARA: In that long-ago dream
in an ocean wide with mystery,
my heart beat
with joy and fear all mixed.
But odd to say,
I knew this dreamscape.
Dreams
are strangely familiar places.
They are, not at all,
the land of make-believe,
but only the home
lay inside of yourself,
like the inner lining
of your favorite coat
or the sweet kernel
inside the hardest nut
that only the jaws
of my Nutcracker Prince,
could reveal to me.
[DANCE OF
THE SUGAR PLUM FAIRY PLAYING]
CLARA: In the language
of this dream,
in that palace of delight,
we spoke with
our whole selves.
We dream-talked
with hands and feet,
and quick-danced
out our mousey Christmas tale.
And they joined us
in a celebration
in that palace by the sea.
And my tall
Nutcracker cavalier
had eyes only for me.
For at least
as long as
that dream could be.
[BIRDS CHIRPING]
[MUSIC OF THEARABIAN DANCE
PLAYING]
[GROWLING]
[MUSIC OF THECHINESE DANCE
PLAYING]
[MUSIC OF THERUSSIAN DANCE
PLAYING]
[ANIMAL CHIRRUPING]
[DANCE OF REEDS PLAYING]
[WALTZ OF FLOWERS PLAYING]