Visions of sugar plums come to ABT in Nutcracker ballet
Caitlin Lennon plays the Sugar Plum Fairy, Keith McCain plays the Nutcracker prince and Taylor Berry plays a dreaming Clara in the ‘Nutcracker’ ballet this weekend at the Alberta Bair Theater. STEPHEN BRASHEAR/Gazette Staff Shayla Reichenbach, 10, of Billings, watches as fellow ballerinas rehearse Nov. 19 at the YWCA in Billings for ‘The Nutcracker’ ballet. STEPHEN BRASHEAR/Gazette Staff Kelsey Thompson, 17, of Billings leads rehearsal Nov. 19. Helena Photography Courtney Block plays the Snow Queen and Josh Deininger is the Snow King in the weekend production of The Nutcracker by the Queen City Ballet and the Billings Symphony at the Alberta Bair Theater. Helena Photography Jerry McCarthy, a high school physics teacher in Helena, plays Drosselmeyer along with 13-year-old Taylor Berry, who plays Clara.
Look for a Montana touch at “The Nutcracker” which will be performed this weekend by two Montana performing arts groups, the Billings Symphony Orchestra and Queen City Ballet from Helena.
The set will include familiar Helena sights, including the carousel and the fire tower in the Land of Sweets scene and, in the Snow Scene in the first act, Sleeping Giant makes an appearance. The cast is almost exclusively from Montana, including 60 Billings dancers who will perform as bonbons, merle tons, mice and as part of the Sugar Plum Fairy entourage.
Traditionally, the BSO teams up with out-of-state ballet companies but the Helena company gave a strong showing during the selection phase earlier this fall. Campbell Pryor, Queen City artistic director, said the production opens in Billings, then returns to Helena for four shows before it travels across the state, presenting a dozen shows in other communities.
“This is nothing like any other Nutcracker in Montana. We have totally committed to this ballet,” Pryor said. “You don’t just decide you’re going to do it and do it halfway.”
The sets were designed and painted by an artist from New York and Pryor said the costumes were professionally designed as well. The Christmas tree that grows to over 22-feet in one scene has more than 750 lights on it. Pryor said her husband Edwin, who helped attach lights to the tree, will help back stage during performances by lighting it at the proper moment and “making the snow fall.”
“The Nutcracker” is the story of Clara, a young girl who receives a nutcracker doll as a gift on Christmas Eve. Later that night, as she sleeps, she dreams of a great fight between an animated Nutcracker and the Mouse King. She saves the Nutcracker and as a reward is invited to the Land of Sweets where she is entertained by an array of performers. Set to Tchaikovsky’s brilliant score, the production includes the famous dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, the Waltz of the Flowers and other memorable favorites.
Pryor said she assembled the strongest available dancers from Montana, including 17-year-old Caitlin Lennon from Bozeman to play the Sugar Plum Fairy and 13-year-old Taylor Berry from Great Falls to play Clara. She recruited Keith McCain from Sacramento for the part of the Nutcracker prince and pulled in 13 adult actors from the Helena area to play characters in the opening party scene, including a high school physics teacher Jerry McCarthy to play the part of Drosselmeyer. Pryor used traditional choreography for the ballet, following along the style established by Marius Petipa in the 1800s when the work was composed by Tchaikovsky.
“All of our solos and principals are dancers that have been recognized nationally. I think people will be pretty amazed at some of these 13- and 14-year-old dancers,” Pryor said.
The local dancers have been rehearsing since late September under the director of local instructors through the School of Classical Ballet, including Betty Loos, Jana Stockton, and Kelsey Thompson.
“I created a whole new role – the Sugar Plum Court – so eight of the Billings dancers could have a chance to perform a more intricate dance,” Pryor said. “We wanted to make this work so that it would be a great experience for the Billings girls, the audience and our company.”
Link to Original Article: http://billingsgazette.com/entertainment/visions-of-sugar-plums-come-to-abt-in-nutcracker-ballet/article_e96f8531-efcb-5166-887d-ce7c826389c1.html