Pat Greene is Bungalower Media’s first sponsored Resident Reporter. Greene has joined our team as our Arts and Culture Correspondent, supported by the efforts of Interstruct Design + Build, an award-winning Orlando-based design and build firm.
Orlando Ballet (Website) promises that this year’s production of The Nutcracker will be the best Orlando has seen.
Artistic Director Jorden Morris has spent the last four years preparing with the Orlando Ballet’s creative team to reimagine the production. The creative team includes world-renowned designers, Orlando Ballet’s Artistic Director, Lisa Thorn Morris, award-winning costume and set designer Robert Perdziola, and lighting designer Joseph Walls.
Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker may be the world’s most famous ballet. Many of us have seen different interpretations and productions. Orlando Ballet has created something that remains loyal to the tradition but has a distinct look.
“The Nutcracker is universally beloved, so we all understood our responsibility to protect the story and [of course] the music. Having this special team of creative and enthusiastic experts share in revisioning all the tradition and charm of this classic in a new and innovative way is a choreographer’s dream. We’ve created something very special for Central Florida.”
– LISA THORN MORRIS, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, ORLANDO BALLET
Nutcracker was adapted from a short story by Alexandre Dumas who is more widely known for writing The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo. Dumas’s Nutcracker was an adaptation of E. T. A. Hoffmann’s “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.” Hoffman’s story was published in 1816, and Dumas’s adaptation was published in 1844. Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker was first performed in 1892 in St. Petersburg, Russia. The ballet gained much more popularity in the late 1960s.
The Nutcracker has become a significant source of income for many major ballet companies during the holiday season. The popularity is well deserved. It is an accessible artwork with beauty, darkness, and familiarity.
I have spent the last few years attending performances in Orlando, including theater, opera, orchestra, and ballet. We have much to be proud of. I’m not interested in being a cheerleader just because I live here. I am proud of where I live. We have a great culture in this city.
I attended the Orlando Ballet’s recent production of Romeo and Juliet. The sets, costumes, performers, choreography, and orchestra were brilliant. It reminded me that seeing Romeo and Juliet or The Nutcracker feels like familiar territory, but that by no means indicates that you will not be surprised, see it in a new way, and gain an unexpected appreciation.
Dr. Phillip’s Center is the perfect place to watch the ballet or any other performance. We have a world-class venue here. The Orlando Ballet deserves to be presented at this venue. There are only good seats. The acoustics are phenomenal.
The Nutcracker performances run between December 6th and December 22nd. Click HERE for times and tickets.
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