The Show Must Go On! Zombelina Dances the Nutcracker by Kristyn Crow

IT'S ME, ZOMBELINA. THE TRYOUT'S TODAY
IN THE OLD OPERA HOUSE, WITH MY CORPSE DE BALLET

I'M HERE FOR THE NUTCRACKER. IT'S MY AUDITION.

I KNOW I'M GOING TO STIFF THE COMPETITION.

But in going for the big role of the season, Zombelina's got a couple of problems. No, it's not her legs flying off when she does her jetes. Madame just calls that grand extension. It's that she has to try out against her best friend Lizzie. And then, there's Grandpa Phantom (of the Opera), who just loves to, er, generate his special effects in the lighting of the old opera house.

But Zombelina wows the judges and wins the part of Clara. This time it's Lizzie relegated to the chorus. but the two friends both work hard to master their moves and finally it's opening night. The lights dim, and in dead silence from the enchanted audience, Zombelina begins to dance. The Mouse King threatens the Prince, and it is time for the dramatic climax of the scene.

WHEN IT'S THE MOMENT, I TAKE OFF MY SHOE
TO THROW IT AT HIM (JUST AS CLARA MUST DO.)

BUT OH, WHAT A MESS. AS YOU WOULD PROBABLY GUESS--
MY FOOT ENDS UP SAILING ALONG WITH MY SHOE.

But Zombelina pulls herself together to climb into the sleigh with the Prince for the grand finale of the first act, when suddenly something happens to the stage lights. The spotlights dim and suddenly nothing can be seen of the dancers--mice and all--except their bones.

ZZAAP! The corps de ballet is a group x-ray!

But Zombelina is one dancer who can think on her feet (if she has them at the moment). She whispers to her friend to switch roles with her while she puts the kabash on Grandpa's pranks backstage. But Lizzie protests that she doesn't know Clara's steps!

ZOMBELINA GIVES LIZZIE HER LEGS. "LET MINE DO THE SHOW!
WITH CLARA'S LONG NIGHTGOWN, THEY WON'T EVEN KNOW."

LIZZIE LOOKS A BIT SQUEAMISH, BUT NODS "OKAY.
I'VE HEARD 'BREAK A LEG!' BUT NEVER THIS WAY!"

That's Showbiz! Detachable zombie legs do come in handy, and the show goes on, in Krystyn Crow's latest Zombelina story, Zombelina Dances The Nutcracker (Bloomsbury Press, 2015), in which the whole ballet company gives it all they've got (and then some). Author Crow knows her way around rhyme schemes and wordplay, and manages to work in the expected zombie tropes in a decidedly detached version of the usual Nutcracker Ballet story, while Caldecott-winning artist Molly Idle ably portrays Zombelina as a ballerina with grace and presence who knows how to exploit her unusual abilities. As School Library Journal puts it, "It had to happen: The Phantom of the Opera meets The Nutcracker!"

Share this one with Marilyn Singer's Tallulah's Nutcracker and James Mayhew's Ella Bella Ballerina and The Nutcracker (Ella Bella Ballerina Series.)

Mousetrap! Tallulah's Nutcracker by Marilyn Singer

THERE WAS ONLY ONE CHRISTMAS PRESENT THAT TALLULAH WANTED.

WHEN THE PHONE RANG, SHE WAS SURE HER WISH HAD COME TRUE.

"THEY PICKED ME! I'M GOING TO BE A A MOUSE IN THE NUTCRACKER!"

As is the job of little brothers, Becket points out that Tallulah disdained his role as Mouse in their dance school's production the Christmas before.

"BUT BEING IN A REAL BALLET COMPANY IN A REAL THEATRE IS BIG TIME!" TALLULAH INSISTED. "MAYBE I'LL BE ON TV!"

Tallulah throws all her energy into being a good mouse, trying to crawl creepily out of the clock as Clara falls asleep under the Christmas tree, Her knees take quite a beating, but Tallulah just knows that if she can impress the ballet master as the best mouse in the troupe, she will be paving her way to a starring role as Clara or even the Sugar Plum Fairy someday.

"I BET THEY ASK FOR MY AUTOGRAPH!" SHE DREAMS.

At last opening night comes. The huge theatre is resplendent, and the Sugar Plum Fairy sparkles in the stage lights. Tallulah's whole family is out front with hundreds of others, and although she secretly believes she is the very best mouse, she has some butterflies in the stomach as the director hisses "PLACES!" The orchestra begins the cue for the mice to make their entrance creeping out of the old clock and scurrying around the stage. "GULP!" thinks Tallulah as she senses the big audience watching for the first big scene in the story.

"I'M THE SCARIEST, MOST MARVELOUS MOUSE OF ALL," SHE REMINDS HERSELF!

But pride goes before a fall, and as the mice stealthily approach the footlights, Tallulah steps on the tail of the mouse in front of her.

"WHOMP!"

Tallulah barges into the fallen mouse in front of her and sets off a series of unfortunate events. concluding in a pile of mice and toy soldiers center stage. Chuckles spread through the audience.

The show must go on, and a much chastened Tallulah Mouse picks herself up along with the others as they regroup and finish their routine. Tallulah exits and runs for a place to hide, feeling that she's flopped in her one chance to be a star--ever!

But to her surprise, when the curtain goes down the dance master and the dancers playing Clara and the Sugar Plum Fairy find her and console her with stories of their own embarrassing stage moments. Playing a boy at Clara's Christmas party, the ballet master says he burped so loud the whole audience roared. "Clara" recalls the time she was dancing as a snowflake and went onstage still in her striped legwarmers, and "Sugar Plum Fairy" tells her about the time she did a fast pirouette and her tutu fell right off. These things happen, they say. That's show biz, but the show must go on. And then the dance master adds,

"BUT A REAL DANCER KEEPS RIGHT ON DANCING, AND THAT'S WHAT YOU DID."

As always, our Tallulah gets a little ahead of herself in her dreams, but gets some good advice from older and wiser dancers, in Tallulah's Nutcracker (Clarion, 2013). It takes a troupe to make a real ballerina, and luckily Tallulah has plenty of support for her big ambitions. As always, too, Alexandra Boiger adds her elegante watercolor artwork, revealing character in facial expressions and body language in a way that extends Marilyn Singer's skillful narrative. Little balletomanes will find Boiger's cover illustration of every young dancer's dream, the Sugar Plum Fairy, in her glittery white gown, irresistible, while taking comfort perhaps in just being in the show.

Other Tallulah tales by Maryilyn Singer are Tallulah's Tutu, Tallulah's Solo, Tallulah's Toe Shoes, and Tallulah's Tap Shoes (see reviews here) for all those aspiring ballet stars.