Christmas Baddies

Between New York City Ballet’s “George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®” and “The Magic Flute” at the Metropolitan Opera, it’s hard to compete with the Upper West Side’s holiday kid offerings. But since 2007, the UES has had its own seasonal gem: Works & Process’s “Peter and the Wolf” at the Guggenheim—conceived, directed, narrated, and designed by the charmingly wry Isaac Mizrahi. At roughly half an hour in length, it’s the perfect option for parents who don’t think their littles will sit through a long and pricy ballet or opera. The show has evolved over its 18 years. It began as an orchestral primer in front of an art installation, then turned into a multimedia introduction to the theater when John Heginbotham added a dance component fifteen years ago.

Performance

“Peter and the Wolf” by Isaac Mizrahi

Place

Works & Process at the Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY, December 8, 2025

Words

Faye Arthurs

Marjorie Folkman, Daniel Pettrow, and members of Ensemble Connect in “Peter and the Wolf” by Isaac Mizrahi. Photograph by Elyse Mertz | Works & Process

Mizrahi’s narration evolves yearly too, though every performance showcases his no-nonsense wit. This season’s topical tweaks included jokes about Ozempic. And the Duck pointedly carried a PBS canvas tote. The Hunter took a selfie with the captured Wolf. Mizrahi prefaced the show’s violence by comparing it to “that Claire Danes Matthew Rhys show that scares you in a fun way.”

He wasn’t kidding about the savagery, or about how the kids would love it. When the Wolf devoured the Duck offstage, the theater flashed blood red (Brandon Stirling Baker did the dramatic lighting) and Prokofiev’s dissonant chords blared—it helped that the musicians flank the audience up close in the petite theater, making for thrilling surround sound. There was a giant burp noise, then the Wolf returned to rip up the oboe sheet music while the oboist, JJ Silvey, sat forlornly. It was intense. My five-year-old, incredulous, shouted “Oh my God!” It looked like he might cry. Afterwards, he said it was his favorite part.

The Grandfather’s dotage was a hit with the toddler and adult crowds alike. Norton Owen, terrifically game, kept shuffling in too early, much to the kids’ delight. “It’s not always about you, but your generation seems to think it is” Mizrahi scolded him, which scored with the parents. When Owen missed his actual cue, everyone cracked up. Likewise when he wouldn’t leave the stage, twirling his cane with glee. His heel clicks and fez hat evoked the Husband in Jerome Robbins’s “The Concert.”

Daniel Pettrow, Paige Barnett Kulbeth, Zach Gonder and members of Ensemble Connect in “Peter and the Wolf” by Isaac Mizrahi. Photograph by Elyse Mertz | Works & Process

There were many dance gags, particularly surrounding the diva ballerina Duck. I loved how the Central Park Lake water was so cold she promptly did a barre to warm up after she dove in. But she also did “the swim,” a cute touch. I enjoyed how Heginbotham’s choreography operated on Mizrahi’s punny wavelength. The Birdie, an engaging Paige Barnett Kulbeth, also demonstrated some ballerina humor in when she bopped the Wolf’s head with Odette’s double ronde de jambes after he was tied up. And she and Peter, danced by Kara Chan, amusingly synced up for Italian fouettés in their sneakers in the finale.

Heginbotham got in some swipes at Bob Fosse too in the choreography of the Cat. Mykel Marai Nairne was great at the stylized chugs and swirled wrists. She earned laughs for pausing to lick her leg during a jazzercise floorwork passage. And Daniel Pettrow was a terrific Wolf. Though he was frightening, he was also hammy and hapless—enough so to regain the children’s sympathy when he was going to be shipped off to the Bronx Zoo. Or worse: Staten Island, Mizrahi’s ultimate, hilarious threat.

The New York humor was biting throughout, from the borough-shaming one-liners to the arch costumes and sets. A NYC trash can proved multifunctional, doubling as a dining table when the Wolf overturned it and set it with a checkered tablecloth and a bottle of Chianti as he prepared to dine on the Duck. And Mizrahi’s Birdie was less of a sparrow and more of a pigeon/baseball coach, wearing hot pants and a whistle around her neck. Derrick Arthur’s Hunter was depicted as an overgrown boy scout who was completely inept with the Wolf’s rope.

Isaac Mizrahi and members of Ensemble Connect in “Peter and the Wolf” by Isaac Mizrahi. Photograph by Elyse Mertz | Works & Process

Mizrahi styled the Wolf as a classic bad boy. His hoodie and ripped-knee jeans perfectly symbolized his predatory wiles. And what a funny, slick entrance Heginbotham gave him! While manspreading on a park bench, he slowly lowered his newspaper to Prokofiev’s glowering theme. I was reminded that the bully in the coonskin cap in the film A Christmas Story is accompanied by the same music. Mizrahi is absolutely right that kids love a little safely packaged violence at the holidays. “The Nutcracker” and “The Magic Flute,” ahem. See also: “A Christmas Carol,” Home Alone, The Nightmare Before Christmas, “The Grinch,” “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.” Even the cutesy claymation Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer features bullying, ostracism, and the potentially murderous abominable snowman. Adults go in for Christmas terror too, as in Die Hard, Gremlins, Bad Santa, Krampus, Violent Night, etc. Though the “Peter and the Wolf” tale is set in the spring, it fits right in in December programming, when we like to examine our wolves and make sure they are securely stashed in outer borough zoos.

Faye Arthurs

Faye Arthurs is a former ballet dancer with New York City Ballet. She chronicled her time as a professional dancer in her blog Thoughts from the Paint. She graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in English from Fordham University. She lives in Brooklyn with her partner and their sons.

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