“Immersive, Awe-Inspiring, Proud of Pittsburgh”: Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Announces a New Iteration of ‘The Nutcracker’

PHOTO BY OLLIE GRATZINGER

“The Nutcracker” is getting a makeover — Pittsburgh-style. 

The famed ballet, put on each holiday season by Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre at the Benedum Center, is based on German author E.T.A. Hoffman’s 1816 tale “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” and performed to the 1892 score composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It follows the adventure of the young hero, Marie, whose coming-of-age story begins when her dolls come to life and transport her to a magical realm called the Land of Sweets.

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre has performed six different versions since its inception in 1969. Next year, it will debut the seventh.

“All the choreography is new. All the sets are new. All the backdrops are new. We’re including projections,” teases Adam W. McKinney, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s artistic director. While PBT is only able to reveal some of what they have planned, McKinney explains that the revamped production will have a hyperlocal twist; the story will be set in 1906 Pittsburgh, and many design elements will be inspired by the Steel City’s distinct and vibrant history.

The new production will also be designed specifically for the Benedum Stage — a unique challenge, McKinney says, since the Benedum boasts one of the largest stages in the U.S.

“Pittsburgh is a special place,” he says. “And so what you’ll see on stage, you’ll get a sense of that. The snow scene will still be full of majesty and magic, and the second act, which is situated in the Cloud Kingdom — which very much reminds Marie of her Pittsburgh neighborhoods — is reminiscent of Pittsburgh in terms of the colors that we will see.”

Marie, the Nutcracker and Uncle Drosselmeyer will even take the Duquesne Incline from the snow scene up into the Cloud Kingdom for Act II, McKinney says.

The new iteration will begin in 1956 with Marie, now a grandmother, telling the story of The Nutcracker to her young granddaughter, Clara. Aesthetically, McKinney adds, the production’s prologue will hone in on the style and couture of the 1950s, and then assume the style of turn-of-the-century Pittsburgh as Marie’s childhood story comes to life on stage.

“We’ve taken into account some of the architectural influences on the city to inform the design,” McKinney says.

The new production will also bring back a composition from the original Tchaikovsky score, the English divertissement, in which a group of baseball players will dance in a nod to the city’s love of sports. There’s also a “steel dance” that will be performed by the baseball players, along with a special, yet-unrevealed soloist. 

Some of the dances in Act II are even inspired by Pittsburgh’s distinctive food culture.

“Pierogies, of course, will be central to the production,” McKinney adds, explaining that “baby pierogies” will be played by students from PBT’s ballet school, dancing to Tchaikovsky’s “Trepak,” or Russian Dance. 

The Sister Bridges, too, will make an appearance in the form of ballerinas, and the Waltz of the Flowers will take place at a recreated version of Phipp’s Conservatory. McKinney and his creative team also have been in talks with the Carnegie Museum of Natural History about its gem collection, which will inform “The Nutcracker” pas de deux, a dance about geodes.

McKinney describes the production as “immersive, awe-inspiring, exciting, surprising, amazed and proud of Pittsburgh.”

“Because we love Pittsburgh, and because we understand the importance of place … I have a sense that audiences are just going to fall in love with ‘The Nutcracker’ over and over and over and over again, from generation to generation,” he says.

Laurie Rieger, PBT’s public relations and media manager, agrees; she says the “Pittsburghesque” of the new ballet is something that audiences will enjoy.

“A new ‘Nutcracker’ is literally a once-in-a-generation kind of thing that happens every 20-25 years,” she says. “They might be a little nervous about what it’s going to be like, but I think people are going to be excited.”

The time was right for a new iteration, McKinney and Rieger say. Over time, the production’s costumes break down from steady use; the revamped ‘Nutcracker’ will feature a completely new wardrobe, made fresh for the 2027 holiday season. Similarly, new innovations in both dance and production technology offer opportunities to tell the same traditional story in a modern way. Thus, a new generation can grow up with their own version of the classic ballet.

“My question as a director is, ‘How do we create a ballet for audiences now who will be 5 years old coming to the ballet and who will be coming to the ballet in 25 or 20 years when they’re 25 or 30?’” McKinney says. “The choreography itself, the technology itself, has to remain relevant. The way we perform ballet now, the stories that we perform, continue to evolve, and so must ‘The Nutcracker.’”

Making changes to such a cherished Pittsburgh production is not something PBT takes lightly; McKinney says he’s been working on developing the new show and putting together its creative team since he came on board at PBT in March 2023. That team now includes Trey McIntyre, who developed the new choreography and who worked alongside McKinney to develop the concept for the show; Susan Roemer on costume and set design; Japhy Weidman on lighting design; Stefania Bulbarella on projection design; and magician Dr. Kenrick Ice McDonald on magic tricks.

“It’s just been such a pleasure working with the staff; everyone is jumping on board and understands the importance of collaboration,” McKinney says. “We are all going full force toward this beautiful, beautiful production.”

McKinney echoes that changes to the show are a rare and special thing that must be handled with care.

“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to get it right and to provide Pittsburgh with this beautiful gift,” he adds. 

Indeed, the last time anything changed in the production or performance of ‘The Nutcracker’ was 2002, when Terrence S. Orr choreographed and conceived its current iteration, which will conclude its 24-year run Dec. 4-27. Starting next year, new characters, costumes and choreography will complement the original story and score, which McKinney says will mostly remain the same. 

“From a directorial perspective, you don’t want to change too much,” McKinney says. “This is not a ‘Nutcracker’ that is indecipherable; this is a Nutcracker that we know and love and that has a Pittsburgh flair.”

Many of the ballet’s beloved characters, including Marie, Fritz, Uncle Drosselmeyer, the titular Nutcracker, Rat King, Snow Queen and King, Snowflakes and Sugar Plum Fairy will remain in this new version. Traditional dances such as “Waltz of the Snowflakes,” “Waltz of the Flowers” and the “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” will also remain the same. Other dances will have the same music with new characters performing. 

Traditional characters who were missing from PBT’s previous version will once again be included in the new show, including the Dew Drop Fairy and Mother Ginger. New characters inspired by Pittsburgh — including the pierogies and Three Sisters Bridges — will also be introduced in Act II divertissement dances.

McKinney stresses the importance of “The Nutcracker” to PBT, to Pittsburgh and to ballet as a whole.

“It is the ballet that people see for the first time, and it is the ballet that people fall in love with, and so for that very reason, it’s important to build a production that is both accessible and awe-inspiring,” he says. “The first weekend of December 2027 is going to be monumental for Pittsburgh, for PBT and for the field of ballet. We’re creating a beautiful, beautiful production.”