Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Nutcracker's design team creates Wheeldon's dream
by Lauren Warnecke
2016-12-07

This article shared 696 times since Wed Dec 7, 2016
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


The 1893 Columbian Exposition brought the best of the best to Chicago, to share the spirit of innovation and imagination with the world, all on an impossible timeline with an impossible budget. The buzz of anticipation and the expectations of what could or might happen were felt throughout the city and the county.

This is perhaps something the Joffrey Ballet can relate to right now. With technical rehearsals and previews of Christopher Wheeldon's Nutcracker wrapping up in Iowa City, the company is headed home to prepare for one of the most highly-anticipated premieres in Chicago dance history. Wheeldon's dream team of collaborators are the best and brightest from their disciplines, with Tony-nominated set and costume designer Julian Crouch, Obie and Drama Desk award-winning puppeteer and MacArthur "Genius" Basil Twist, five-time Tony-winning lighting designer Natasha Katz and Tony-winning projection designer Ben Pearcy of 59 Productions.

Each is tasked with fulfilling the lofty visions of Tony-award winning director and choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, who with Caldecott-winning author and illustrator Brian Selznick have moved the ballet's setting from an upper-class German living room to a shanty at the fairgrounds on the near south side in 1892 Chicago, the winter before the Columbian Exposition would open. Ms. Katz, Mr. Crouch and Mr. Pearcy reflected on the artistic process and the realization of Christopher Wheeldon's dream for his Nutcracker in electronic correspondence with Windy City Times.

"Working with Chris is heaven," wrote Natasha Katz. "I've worked with Chris for over 15 years and I think he makes me a better designer every time I work with him." Ben Pearcy agreed: "Working with Chris is many things—exciting, challenging, joyful and, above all, great fun. … He has a wonderful ability to be both demanding and kind and really brings out the best work from his collaborators."

Many choreographers work on the movement first and build design elements in after the dance is formed. The team said the working with Wheeldon is different because has a vision for lighting, sets, projections and props from early in the process. "Chris is the kind of director who has a very singular vision and is very closely involved with every aspect of his productions," wrote Julian Crouch. "A fair amount of my relationship with Chris is trying to unpick his thoughts and read his mind, because I know the show is already in there… in my opinion he is more theatrically and story minded than many pure [theater] directors that I've worked with."

Working together to tell the story liberates the designers to fully exploit their respective mediums, but it also unites them toward a common goal, meaning no one element speaks louder than another. "It is a collaboration in the deepest sense," wrote Crouch. "The influence we have on each other and the production is constant and equal. I think each one if us want the very best for the production, and are willing to blur the boundaries of our separate skills to achieve a seamless whole." Katz agreed: "Collaboration is everything on this ballet. It's a wonderful mix of scenery, costumes, projection and lighting, choreography, storytelling and music."

For better or worse, the dance world is influenced by ghosts of Nutcrackers past. "The Nutcracker comes with many expectations," wrote Crouch, "and the greatest challenge was to honor this while simultaneously delivering something fresh and exciting." Christopher Wheeldon takes care to ensure certain needs and expectations are met, partly because they are dictated by his use of the original Tchaikovksy score: the tree will grow; there will be snow, and mice, and a kingdom of worldly delights. It is some of these elements, however, that have been most difficult to see realized. "The transformation of the tree has been very challenging to get right," said Pearcy. "It's the marriage of every element of the production, and that integration has to be seamless for it to work."

What is most interesting about this Nutcracker team, however, is the relative novelty each brings to the Nutcracker. For Katz and Crouch, this is their first Nutcracker. Pearcy drew some influence from a Chicago production at the Arie Crowne Theatre in the early 1990s. "I was the assistant lighting designer for Tom Skelton," he said. "That production was very different visually and conceptually from [Wheeldon]'s Nutcracker, but I did take some inspiration from how the Overture was staged. Tom crafted a story with light on the show curtain that took the audience on a journey through the idyllic town that was painted onto the curtain. I'd like to think that our imagery for the Overture also creates a journey for the audience and brings them into our unique story."

The Broadway-bred group of designers is feeling the idiosyncracies of the dance world, with the most obvious challenge begin time. "Lighting is very exacting and it takes time in the theatre to get the lighting exactly right," wrote Katz. "We have worked very fast, since the vision has been in our collective head for months." Ballet costumes and sets presented unique challenges for Crouch, including that his elements be able to withstand wear and tear over the next several decades. "The Joffrey needs a show that will last a very long time," wrote Crouch. Indeed, the original impetus for commissioning the ballet was one of practicality; when Artistic Director Ashley Wheater took the Joffrey's helm in 2007, he found the quarter century-old sets and costumes of Robert Joffrey's Nutcracker ( for which he danced the role of Father/Snow King in the 1987 premiere ) in tatters.

It may or may not be coincidence that the World's Fair and the Nutcracker it inspired have been chock full of challenges, not least of which is Wheeldon's ankle-breaking fall into the orchestra pit in Iowa City ( as reported by the New York Times ). Despite the challenges, the show will go on, as the World's Fair did, and will undoubtedly bring magic, wonder and delight to the masses.

Christopher Wheeldon's Nutcracker, presented by the Joffrey Ballet, runs Dec. 10-30 at the Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress Pkwy. For more information and tickets, visit Joffrey.org .


This article shared 696 times since Wed Dec 7, 2016
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

Theater Review: Billy Elliot, The Musical 2024-02-19
- Book and Lyrics: Lee Hall; Music: Elton John. At: Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora Tickets: 630-896-6666 or Paramountaurora.com; $28-$79. Runs through March 24 Billy Elliot: The Musical may nearly be two decades old, but ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ JoJo Siwa, Tom Holland, Bowen Yang, Pet Shop Boys, Mariah Carey 2024-02-02
- In the wake of Nigel Lythgoe exiting So You Think You Can Dance, queer personality JoJo Siwa is returning to the series, per Deadline. Siwa, who was a judge on season 17 of the Fox show, will replace Lythgoe, who left ...


Gay News

DANCE Choreographer Dwight Rhoden talks David Bowie, Alvin Ailey, queerness 2024-01-31
- In "STAR DUST: A Ballet Tribute to David Bowie," Complexions Contemporary Ballet co-founders Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson—backed by their Alvin Ailey lineage—and their dance troupe tackle many of the ...


Gay News

Chicago Dancers United and The Dancers' Fund become Chicago Dance Health Fund 2023-12-14
--From a press release - Chicago Dancers United, which has supported the health and wellness of Chicago's professional dance community through The Dancers' Fund for more than 30 years, announces that, effective January 1, 2024, the organization will operate and distribute ...


Gay News

DANCE 'Sugar Hill: The Ellington/Strayhorn Nutcracker' running Dec. 20-30 2023-12-12
- Tony-winning producers David Garfinkle and Dr. Ron Simons announced the world-premiere of "Sugar Hill: The Ellington/Strayhorn Nutcracker"—a holiday dream told in dance—which will play at Chicago's Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. ...


Gay News

MOVIES Rick Cosnett chats about 'Shoulder Dance,' Molly and Jason Momoa 2023-12-05
- In the new movie Shoulder Dance, which is out on streaming, friends Ira (played by out actor Matt Dallas, looking and sounding quite different than from his days on TV's Kyle XY) and Roger (played by ...


Gay News

DANCE Deeply Rooted performing Nov. 3 at the Auditorium Theatre 2023-09-27
- The Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Ida B. Wells Dr., is presenting Deeply Rooted Dance Theater—a Chicago-based contemporary dance company rooted in traditions of American and African-American dance—in a one-night-only performance ...


Gay News

Chicago Dancers United raises more than $365K at Dance for Life 2023-08-29
- Chicago Dancers United (CDU)—which supports the health and wellness of Chicago's professional dance community—welcomed 1,600 people to the 32nd annual Dance for Life on Aug. 19 at Auditorium Theatre, per ...


Gay News

Teen suspect arrested in killing of gay dancer 2023-08-05
- The New York Police Department arrested a suspect in the fatal stabbing of 28-year-old O'Shae Sibley, who was attacked last weekend at a Brooklyn gas station. According to The Advocate, Sibley, a professional dancer, had been ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Drag news, HIV-bias lawsuit, Disney, Brittney Griner, gay dancer 2023-08-04
- Swastika flag-toting neo-Nazis, some of them armed, were at a Wisconsin LGBTQ+ Pride celebration that included a drag show, The Advocate reported. Members of the neo-Nazi extremist group Blood Tribe joined other right-wing hate groups, like ...


Gay News

Billy Masters: Cattrall passive-aggressively returns just like that 2023-06-06
- "I kinda look like a 200-year-old pole dancer now! I don't think that's gonna happen, but thank you anyway." —Sylvester Stallone's response when Sherri Shepherd asks if he'll wear his tank top and booty shorts in ...


Gay News

ART on THE MART's summer programs include Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project, Pride celebration 2023-05-11
--From a press release - CHICAGO, IL — ART on THE MART, an innovative digital art project that transforms a Chicago architectural landmark into a larger-than-life canvas, will introduce two new commissions this summer. Building Light, a new projection by Gensler, ...


Gay News

South Chicago Dance Theatre to debut 'Memoirs of Jazz' on June 10 2023-05-09
--From a press release - (May 8, 2023) Through the 1960s and '70s, Jazz in the Alley on Chicago's South Side was a hotbed for jazz and a meeting place for some of the country's prominent musicians, visual artists, poets, activists, ...


Gay News

Artemis Singers presents June 10 "Better Times Will Come" Pride Concert and Dance 2023-05-03
--From a press release - CHICAGO─Artemis Singers, Chicago's lesbian feminist chorus, will present "Better Times Will Come" Pride Concert & Dance, Saturday, June 10, at the Irish American Heritage Center, 4626 N. Knox Ave. ...


Gay News

Andersonville Midsommarfest to return June 9-11 in its 57th year 2023-04-30
--From a press release - CHICAGO (April 27, 2023) — The Andersonville Chamber of Commerce (ACC) is pleased to welcome summer with Andersonville Midsommarfest, one of Chicago's oldest and most beloved summer street festivals. Now in its 57th year, the ann ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.