The gist: Kathy Thibodeaux's reimagining of The Nutcracker with an Old South setting, a Bible as the treasured gift and a spiritual battle between good and evil rather than soldiers and mice enjoys its third annual outing in Jackson this weekend.
Ballet Magnificat!'s Christian take on the holiday classic follows a young girl's dream of the battle, her rescue by the Michael the Archangel and a visit to heaven.
More than 150 dancers bring this visual spectacle to colorful life. Using the "bones" of The Nutcracker and Tchaikovsky's beloved music, the story also features angels, birds, butterflies and bumblebees and the many nations dancing and worshipping.
Growing yearly: New sets provided a boost last year. For this production, a Segway—beefed up as Beelzebub's chariot—will take the Lord of the Flies on a high-tech zoom around the stage.
"It's exciting that (founders) Kathy and Keith (Thibodeaux) have the vision to go beyond what's normal and standard and not be scared to experiment," says choreographer Jiri Sebastian Voborsky, who dances Beelzebub.
The company took A Christmas Dream to two Mississippi communities earlier this month, enjoying soldout shows in Grenada and West Point.
