Things the violas miss about the "Old Nutcracker"

Ok, I know it's true. It's been nearly 2 months since the end of Nutcracker and I know you are thinking it - you miss the Nutcracker! Come on, admit it!
Well, if you were a member of the viola section you would miss the following things about the "Old Nutcracker"
1. The "Party Girls" dance with the dolls. We knw all the moves, and so did the French horns.
2. The painfully slow tempi (at least we could get most of the notes...)
3. The old Nutcracker with the really big white teeth.
4. Ratchets
5. The tricky maze of cords for stand lights that made the pit a fun obstacle course. (Yes, we had battery operated lights for this most recent edition.)
6. The death of the Rat King. We now find him a tad annoying after intermission.
7. The "magically soft overture" Now we have to outplay the booming voice in a battle.
8. The thick "Angel of Death" cloud tha twould spill over into the orchestra pit. You can still smell it, can't you?
9. The violin solo, "Meditation". We heard some absolutely "stunning" performances of this piece.
10. Nit picking. "At the tip!" "Bows Down!" "More crescendo!" "You missed that accent!" "That sounded more like fff instead of ff!" We believe there should be more discipline like that!
11. The Arabian Dance. Oh wait....we still do that one. But we DO miss the guy sticking his flute down his pants.
12. The aromatic stench of sulfur and the defeaning explosions from pyrotechnics. That has been replaced with the exiting "clink" of plastic swords.
And the NUMBER ONE thing the violas miss about the "OLD" Nutcracker -
...The emotioanlly charged conducting that made one pour every ounce of energy into making every note beautiful and meaningful for every performance. The conducting that unashamedly drove each phrase to its glorious climax, not daring to exhale until the music allowed, eyes rolling back, reaching for a cigarette....

Ok, maybe we did leave them in the pit too long...

Nutcracker withdrawal

Now, I don't think this will happen; but it's possible, it's quite possible that I may experience a case of Nutcracker withdrawal in the coming days. In the unlikely event that this does happen, this image is posted of as a reminder of the cramped quarters musicians were squished into for a week. A reminder of the drama. A reminder of...well, yeah, a reminder.

The Rat King was here

Yes, those are rat droppings left on the conductor's second act score for the Nutcracker. This creative Nutcracker gifting is the product of the viola section's creative juices. Apparently the violas were just a wee bit annoyed by the rat king's appearance in the second act. Other viola Nutcracker gifts included a water pistol, whoopie cushion, mousetraps, a licker clicker (I kid you not, this was the name of the piece of candy that included a whistle, clacker, and sucker), a lottery ticket, as well as a variety of chocolate and nutcracker inspired candy. The viola section has a long running history of gifting the conductor upon each entry to the pit for performance.

Behind the curtain of the New Nutcracker

This week the local newspaper added a web portal that features images, news stories, and video interviews with members of the creative team. If you can't be here in Amarillo with me to see the scale of the production, this portal gives you a detailed glimpse. Even if you are here to see the show, this backstage view will take you places audience members cannot go.

Nutcracker: The fun begins today

Tuesday, December 4 the day a part of me has been dreading for quite some time. Today is the day that full technical rehearsals for the Nutcracker begin. The months of preparations will culminate in this final week of rehearsals. The dancers will be in costume, the orchestra will play, the stage crew will run set-changes all with the hopes of being ready for Friday night's opening gala of the New Nutcracker. If you want read more about all of the hype, check out this article from Sunday's paper.

In case you were wondering, the proposed TV documentary is not proceeding at this time. (At least as of the writing of this blog).

I'll keep you posted of fun Nutcracker updates as the week progresses.

Lights, Camera, Dance

That's what the folks at LSB announced on Friday. The local production of the Nutcracker is undergoing a $1.3 Million upgrade. As you can imagine, an overhaul of a production on that scale attracts some attention. This year's production has attracted the attention of a television producer that hopes to document the production process for a television documentary. Local media have pegged the production as a reality television show.

If the project is carried through to completion (and there are a lot of ifs along the way) the symphony will be involved in the project. This could be just one more unique aspect of the renovated show. (and possibly worthy of a few bottles of tylenol along the way)