Artistic Director’s Notebook: George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® 2025

Dear Friends,

Welcome to our 10th anniversary of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®. Of course, it has been 14 years since I asked Ian Falconer if he would collaborate with me on the production you are about to see. Ian was a friend from New York days. He was also a household name because of his books about Olivia, the extremely independent-minded pig. The Boal family had all the Olivia books and can still recite them from memory. I knew Ian loved ballet—so did Olivia who dreamed of dancing in The Nutcracker. Ian said, “Yes.” In fact, it was more like, “Yes, I would love to.”

So began a multi-year dialogue about a new setting and new designs for the beloved story of Clara and her Nutcracker. I suggested an animated film to accompany the overture, where we would fly over a New England town to the Stahlbaum’s home. (I asked the film makers at Straightface Studios if they could add tiny mice opening the front door.) Ian wanted the bunny, known as “Hare Drummer,” to have the “full diaper look.” He suggested silhouettes on the parlor walls and a birch tree forest to blend with the snowfall. He wanted the reindeer legs to prance through the air. This feat was accomplished by using a windshield wiper motor. As we pieced together the production, we discovered we had both been watching Balanchine’s Nutcracker since we were tots—young Ian through the eyes of a fledgling set and costume designer, and junior me dreaming of dance.

Ideas may have started with two people’s visions of sugar plums, but it took hundreds to make these visions a reality. Jim Ingalls’ golden and citrus-hued lighting added immensely to Ian’s designs. Erik Andor built oversized mice with rotund bellies and bobbing whiskers. Dale Chihuly gifted a festive blown glass star. An extensive team of talented individuals constructed costumes, tiaras, props, and scenic elements. Stagers and rehearsal directors coached hundreds of students and company members in their roles, and musicians worked diligently to master Tchaikovsky’s score with Balanchine’s unique wishes for tempi, crescendo, and nuance. We would not have made it without essential support from generous donors, an inspired marketing plan, and an enthusiastic audience that arrived in droves to behold PNB’s brand new Nutcracker.

Trust me—not everything went as planned. To start, we had to delay the opening by a year as we finalized designs and refined the budget. Funny things happened too. The scale was off for the design of the clock which was supposed to be six feet tall. It’s nine. That’s why Drosselmeier must stand on a chair to adjust it. When we first placed the thirty-foot-tall, towering stacks of ice creams and toppings in silver dishes on the stage, they were directly in the path of the performers’ entrances and exits. During the opening season pom-poms from the Polichinelle costumes exploded with annoying regularity leaving little black clusters of tulle all over the stage. But from those very first performances audiences were enchanted. We’re pretty sure you’ll be enchanted too. And if you are, consider coming back for Cinderella, FIREBIRD, or our new production of the Japanese folk tale Momotaro premiering in March.

As you hear the orchestra tune and the audience hush in eager anticipation, take a quick look at Olivia. She’s just to the left of the orchestra waiting patiently or perhaps impatiently in her box. She’s been watching PNB’s Nutcracker for ten years and she’s excited, like you. I leave you with a quote from Olivia Helps with Christmas:

“Not a piglet was stirring, …well maybe just one.”

Kind Regards,