OKLAHOMA CITY — Free Press and other members of the media were treated to an exclusive backstage tour before the donors’ preview night of The Nutcracker on December 13th, 2024.
Oklahoma City Ballet’s annual holiday tradition has been given some updates and changes for this year.
Thanks to generous contributions from Devon Energy and the Chickasaw Nation, The Nutcracker features new costumes, sets, and props for audiences to feast their eyes on.
Earlier this fall, Ballet company members traveled to New York City to meet with Costume Designer Holly Hynes. The famed Costumer, who worked for the New York City Ballet for 21 years, designed over 190 new costumes for this year’s production in Oklahoma City.
Along with OKC Ballet Artistic Director Ryan Jolicoeur-Nye, the costumes are a beautiful collaboration that comes to life on stage. The costumes themselves are a work in progress, with corrections and tweaks being made even up to mere minutes before the show begins. Each costume is tailored to fit the artist perfectly, and not a single thread can be out of place by the time the curtain goes up.
The Sugar Plum Fairy and the Pistachio Baklava costumes were designed exclusively for the Oklahoma City Ballet by Eric Winterling. Winterling and his team have previously worked on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, HBO’s The Gilded Age, Broadway’s Funny Girl, Wicked, and Frozen, plus some of the nation’s top ballet companies, now including Oklahoma City Ballet.
Winterling and his team also created new designs for the Sugar Plum Fairy’s tiara and wand. Every intricate detail makes for a spectacular presence on stage.
“Working with these designers and artists is a dream come true. Oklahoma City Ballet deserved the highest quality production of The Nutcracker that will not only wow audiences, but will be enjoyed for years to come,” said Jolicoeur-Nye.
The candylike world of The Land of Sweets makes for a gorgeous backdrop to the performance.
The new scenic design by Michael Raiford accompanies the costumes, completing the tale and giving the ballet a fresh, new look. More than a touch of paint and lighting, the all-new design creates a warm, inviting world of candy-colored scenes and festive hues. Audiences can embrace their inner child as they watch and let the dancers carry them away into this Christmas fantasy land.
“We moved onto this stage earlier this week, and we didn’t know at first how large the set was,” said Lestari Kusumawardani, Marketing Manager for OKC Ballet. “We’ve made a lot of progress even from the beginning of the week.” She said.
During the backstage tour, the ballet company warmed up on stage to some modern tunes, grooving and practicing before the performance began.
The curtain came up during this warmup and audience members were treated with the chance to watch the dancers onstage. As the audience filtered in and found their seats, the company continued their class, under the expert guidance of Rehearsal Director Ben Tucker. The company looked and felt ready, and patrons were rapt even without the costumes and glitter to dazzle them.
The pure talent and poise of the dancers were enough to keep the audience engaged, and that is a true testament to the showmanship and professionalism of this company. Even warmup is breathtaking with this group of pros.
Watching in awe from the side stage gave the journalists an especially unique perspective.
The dancers are only the tip of the iceberg that looms behind a production of this magnitude. An entire team works behind the scenes to make the magic happen on stage, and the technicians are experts at their craft.
Under Stage Manager Courtney DiBello, this new production is a hurricane of a show, with constant motion and lights. “I joined the company in 2010” said DiBello during the backstage tour. “And The Nutcracker is the first production I worked on for the ballet.” She said, adding, “The process (of the new production) has been challenging but rewarding. This production is 4 times more complex than our previous production.”
Discussing what she hopes audiences will experience, DiBello said, “I’m very excited to hear the audience react when we reveal each new location, costume, and lighting moment. Oklahoma City should be very proud of the scale and professionalism of their home ballet company.”
“It’s fascinating that we have access, at this day and age, to what was once considered royal entertainment,” said Kusumawardani, discussing the rich history surrounding ballet and its roots in Russian Imperialism. “For classical ballet performance, that’s what the kings and queens had for their parties. We can all enjoy being royalty for a night at the ballet,” she said.
Despite its size and overall production value, The Nutcracker maintains a gauzy, breezy presence, and the dancers uphold the childlike wonder that’s only ever seen in two places; deep in Christmas dreams, and once a year in this ballet.
Adrienne Proctor is a theater and arts writer in Oklahoma City. She's been contributing to the arts reporting space since 2017.
