More than just a spectacular show, this package also includes backstage passes! MaD Theatricals' locally grown, nationally known Clara's Dream: A Jazz Nutcracker, which has thrilled audiences from New York to New Hampshire, returns to jazz up the holidays this year with an exclusive limited engagement at the Music Hall in Portsmouth, NH. This high-voltage swinging and sophisticated adaptation of Tchaikovsky's fairy tale ballet is a joyous jazz and tap celebration.

• Never seen Clara's Dream? The story's familiar...up to a point. The music is Tchaikovsky as channeled by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. You can expect everything percussive from classic tap to classical tap, hip hop, bebop, Lindyhop, Latin, Irish step dance and much, much more.  


• You say you've seen it? Not this year's version. Twelve new dancers have joined the cast, including Manchester, NH, native Aaron Tolson, a veteran of Riverdance and Tap Dogs, plus the Great Tap Reunion at the Apollo Theatre in New York at the age of 14. Director, choreographer and founder of the New England Tap Ensemble, he teaches at both Plymouth State University and the Boston Conservatory.  


• And as if all of that isn't enough, the adult and youth jazz ensembles of the Portsmouth Music & Arts Center will be offering a special half-hour performance before the curtain rises on Clara, from 6:30 to 7:00 on Thursday and 7:30 to 8:00 on Saturday evening.  

Bring your friends, bring your kids, bring your granny, bring yourself.  You're promised a toe-tapping, high-voltage highlight to your yuletide season.