Video: Backstage at Cincinnati Ballet’s ‘Nutcracker’ at Music Hall
Cincinnati Ballet’s “Nutcracker” celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2024.
It’s “Nutcracker” time. Again.
In fact, for Cincinnati Ballet, it’s “Nutcracker” time for the 51st year. (That’s 52 if you count the 2020 pandemic version, an hourlong TV broadcast.)
There are other long-running holiday entertainments out there. The Playhouse in the Park’s production of “A Christmas Carol” has been around for 33 years. Cincinnati Shakespeare’s “Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!)” is celebrating its 19th season. There are multiple performances of “Messiah,” too, and even a few other takes on “Nutcracker.”
But Cincinnati Ballet’s “Nutcracker” is in a league of its own. Mind you, this is not the same “Nutcracker” the company premiered in 1974. There are different dancers, of course. Performers from those earliest productions are no longer on the stage. In fact, they’ve likely been collecting Social Security for several years now.
But in order to keep things fresh – and marketable – Cincinnati Ballet reinvents its “Nutcracker” every decade or so. Over the years, there have been six completely different productions. Some lasted no more than a year or two. Others hung around a decade or more.
This year, the current production, created by former artistic director Victoria Morgan in 2011, becomes the company’s longest-running “Nutcracker” production. The runner-up? The original show, created by Roman Jasinski, Moscelyne Larkin and Frederic Franklin, which ran for 13 years.
Morgan’s version is filled with humorous quirks, including a dancing version of the zoo’s much-loved hippo, Fiona. There’s also a quintet of dancing poodles named Lollipups. They used to be called the Mirlipoos, a nod to the Mirlitons – French flutes – of the original ballet. Each year brings new twists to the ballet.
But the biggest change this year is in the orchestra pit rather than on the stage. The company is introducing a new music director. That may not sound like an enormous deal. But you have to remember that in the course of its 62-year history, Cincinnati has had just one music director – maestro Carmon DeLeone.
When “The Nutcracker” opens at Music Hall on Dec. 18, Cincinnati Ballet audiences will meet the newcomer, Alyssa Wang. Don’t be deceived by her young age – she’s just 31. She brings a wealth of experience to the job. She was assistant conductor of the Boston Ballet for several years, is the current music director of the Cape Symphony and is founder and principal conductor of the Boston Festival Orchestra.
She’s spent several weeks in on rehearsals, familiarizing herself with the choreography and the dancers’ individual performing styles. Though we won’t have a chance to see her until the Music Hall opening, she actually made her company debut when the Cincinnati Ballet performed “The Nutcracker” at the Kennedy Center over Thanksgiving weekend.
“The Kennedy Center has a wonderful orchestra, so it was very a gratifying musical experience,” she said. “But I have to admit that it was a little nerve-wracking leading up to the performances. It was my first time conducting this ‘Nutcracker,’ my first time conducting for Cincinnati Ballet and I was working with an orchestra I had never conducted before.”
It’s hard to overstate the importance of the music director to a ballet company. The music director is as vital an element as the dancers themselves. For instance, when you watch a pas de deux – a dance for two dancers – that conductor might as well be a third character on the stage.
Joseph Dlearo is new to Cincinnati Ballet. But he’s an old hand when it comes to “Nutcracker” productions. This is his fifth professional production, each one of them with a different conductor.
“I’ve had experiences where you’re out on the stage and the music is twice as slow as you’re expecting,” he said. “You have to stretch out every movement as far as possible. I’ve also had the other extreme, where the music is so fast that you can barely keep up with it.”
He’s only had a few performances with Wang in the pit, but so far, he says, working with her “has been an absolute dream,” he said. “She’s been so much more involved than a lot of music directors I’ve known.”
Tempo is just one aspect of the job. Consistency is vital, too. And understanding the timing of various elements on the stage. In Morgan’s production, the character of Dr. Drosselmeyer “flies” during the battle between the mice and the toy soldiers.
“That’s is new to me,” Wang said. “I am not used to characters flying. So how do I time this person hanging above the stage on this wire? I guess I’ll find out soon enough.”
For the record, the Drosselmeyer character did not fly when the company was at the Kennedy Center. So Music Hall will be a first.
“It’s like any new job,” Wang said. “You have all the necessary skills, but you’re in a new environment with new people. There are always differences. In this case, I have to learn the new choreography, but I have to learn about the new dancers, as well. What does each dancer tend to like? How do their bodies move? Each dancer has a different approach to each role. When I’m in the pit, I have to be confident that I know what they need. And they have to be confident that I know.”
Wang is delighted to be starting her Cincinnati Ballet career with “The Nutcracker.” Certainly, it’s a staple of the ballet repertory, but it’s more than that.
“I think ‘The Nutcracker’ is probably the best thing Tchaikovsky ever wrote,” Wang said. “I’ll go farther than that. I think it is one of the best compositions of all time. I love it. I think it’s a work of genius.”
She and DeLeone have met, but they haven’t discussed the ballet in great detail. He has, however, left behind voluminous notes on the company’s various productions, which has provided Wang with a depth of company history she wouldn’t have otherwise had.
“What I do know is that Carmon leaves huge shoes to fill,” said Wang. “His history here is almost like the history of the company itself.”
For her part, Morgan is delighted with Wang. Although she is no longer the company’s artistic director, this is a production that Morgan choreographed, so she has been in rehearsal every day.
“I love the energy Alyssa is bringing to the production,” Morgan said. “She is super smart. You mention something to her one time and she’s got it.”
There’s also an intangible quality about Wang that Morgan admires.
“You know, to some conductors, dancers are regarded as second-class citizens, especially when compared to a symphonic work,” Morgan said. “That was never the case with Carmon. We were spoiled with him as our music director. But I love what I’ve seen with Alyssa so far. Conducting for dance? Some people just get it. And she does.”
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