Take a trip to another place without ever leaving your chair.
“[?The Nutcracker?] takes you all over the world; we have chocolate from Spain, coffee from Arabia,” said Maribel Modrono, a dancer with the Pittsburgh Ballet. “You can be taken to a different place and time.”
The Pittsburgh Ballet will present its version of “The Nutcracker” for five performances at the Hippodrome Theatre this holiday season. The production was choreographed by the company?s artistic director, Terrence Orr.
“It took me about four years to pull together the scenario,” Orr said. “I wanted to create magic. I wanted to be able to tell a love story because I believe it is a love story. I also wanted to tell a little of the dark, original story.”
Orr?s interpretation of “The Nutcracker” includes a look into the 400-year-old curse that was placed on the nephew after Drosselmeyer kills the rat king?s mother. His version also features more than 19 backdrops designed by New York theatrical designer Zack Brown. It debuted in Pittsburgh in 2002.
“It brings about a certain time, a different time in this world, it brings about warmth within families and a lot of imagination,” Modrono said. “I find it is just beautiful in that aspect.”
Modrono, who dances the part of Marie, said her favorite part of dancing in “The Nutcracker” is the energy she garners from the audience. “I can sense the holiday, the joy of being able to dance, it?s the greatest time of the year,” Modrono said. “I get that energy from the children, from the audience.”
Orr said he took careful measures to be sure all parts of his choreography are entertaining for all audience members.
“When I was younger, in the first act I used to get so bored,” he said. “So I brought in a magician. We have magic in the first five scenes of the ballet, probably 20 tricks.”
His interpretation of Drosselmeyer is different from conventional Nutcrackers as well. “I didn?t want Drosselmeyer to be ugly and menacing,” Orr said. “He is powerful and intelligent and has magical powers.”
“I think that it?s really great, it?s great for kids,” Modrono said. “They are outside of the mall, outside of the park, outside of the TV. It?s extremely special.”
