On a snowy night in 1892, The Nutcracker (originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Balletmaster Lev Ivanov) made its first appearance at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. With a dazzling original score by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky and classical ballet choreography, The Nutcracker became a holiday tradition in the United States a few years after its first full-length American production by dancer/choreographer Willam Christensen for the San Francisco Ballet on December 24, 1944.
95 years after the Russian debut of The Nutcracker Ben Stevenson’s The Nutcracker premiered in the Brown Theater at the Wortham on December 4, 1987. Since its Houston premiere Stevenson’s Nutcracker has been performed by Houston Ballet 916 times. During this holiday season Houston Ballet will honor Ben Stevenson’s beloved version of The Nutcracker with 34 final performances .
Every year a tremendous amount of work …show more content…
That’s why weekly maintenance is essential for Houston Ballet’s wardrobe and production departments. Additionally, each performance of Stevenson’s Nutcracker will have about 34 people working backstage to coordinate the scenery, lighting, and costumes.
Costume shop manager Kaleb Babb understands the importance of upkeep. “We do maintenance on the Mice heads every year,” says Babb. “The ears in particular get new coatings of liquid latex to make them look fresh and more realistic. Also, the prop dolls that the party children play with in the opening scene come to the costume shop to be repaired every year. Hundreds of kids have played with these toys on stage!”
The snow scene at the end of Act 1 is a classic fan favorite, especially when the weather in Houston is less than wintery. For every performance around 200 lbs. of fake snow made from hand-torn crepe paper floats down on stage and gets recycled for the next
95 years after the Russian debut of The Nutcracker Ben Stevenson’s The Nutcracker premiered in the Brown Theater at the Wortham on December 4, 1987. Since its Houston premiere Stevenson’s Nutcracker has been performed by Houston Ballet 916 times. During this holiday season Houston Ballet will honor Ben Stevenson’s beloved version of The Nutcracker with 34 final performances .
Every year a tremendous amount of work …show more content…
That’s why weekly maintenance is essential for Houston Ballet’s wardrobe and production departments. Additionally, each performance of Stevenson’s Nutcracker will have about 34 people working backstage to coordinate the scenery, lighting, and costumes.
Costume shop manager Kaleb Babb understands the importance of upkeep. “We do maintenance on the Mice heads every year,” says Babb. “The ears in particular get new coatings of liquid latex to make them look fresh and more realistic. Also, the prop dolls that the party children play with in the opening scene come to the costume shop to be repaired every year. Hundreds of kids have played with these toys on stage!”
The snow scene at the end of Act 1 is a classic fan favorite, especially when the weather in Houston is less than wintery. For every performance around 200 lbs. of fake snow made from hand-torn crepe paper floats down on stage and gets recycled for the next