New Jersey Ballet prepares for 37th season of Nutcracker
21 performances scheduled statewide from Bergen to Cape May
This year marks the 37th season of New Jersey Ballet’s Nutcracker, making it the longest running original professional production in the state. Since 1971, the company has given approximately 750 performances in theatres throughout New Jersey, with more than 5,000 dancers and children, and nearly a million viewers. Through the years, this production has become a cherished holiday tradition with generations of theatergoers throughout New Jersey and beyond.
The statewide tour takes months of planning. Nearly every year, new costumes and/or scenery is introduced to keep the production fresh and exciting. New Jersey Ballet Resident Choreographer George Tomal created original choreography for the Snow Scene and the Kingdom of Sweets. (Mr. Tomal appeared in the role of Drosselmeyer for nearly 30 years.) Former associate Joseph Carow staged the party and battle scenes.
The heart of today’s production is the company itself – 20 professional artists of international reputation. The company dancers hail from 12 nations -- Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Colombia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia, Tatarstan, Zaire, Ukraine and the United States. They have toured on every continent with such internationally renowned companies as the Bolshoi, Russian National Ballet, Ballet Argentino, Mongolian State Ballet, Hungarian State Ballet, Russian Imperial Ballet, the Royal Ballet, London, and Ochi International Ballet of Japan. Many have also performed with such acclaimed American companies as Stars of American Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Los Angeles Ballet, Fort Worth Ballet, Carolina Ballet, Ballet Austin, and the international tour of Riverdance.
Nutcracker, with a cast of nearly 100, features brilliant dancing, glorious costumes, wonderful special effects, and a sense of holiday magic that has inspired critics to call it “a spectacle that never seems to age…magic that should go on and on,” and “One of the best…as good as it gets.”
In Englewood, Cape May Court House and Manahawkin, local dance students will perform the roles of Mother Ginger’s Clown Children who skip and cartwheel across the stage to entertain Clara and the Nutcracker Prince. In Matawan, local students will also dance the roles of the angels who drift gracefully by just before Clara and her Prince arrive in the enchanted Kingdom of Sweets.
Catch up with Nutcracker at these locations:
bergenPAC
30 North Van Brunt Street, Englewood
December 1, 7PM; December 2, 1 & 4:30PM
Tickets: $50, $40, $30, $20
Box Office: 201-227-1030
www.bergenpac.org
Middle Township PAC
1 Penkethman Way, Cape May Court House
December 9 2 & 6PM
Tickets: Adult $18, Senior $14,Student $12, Child under 10, $9
Box Office: 609-463-1924
www.middlepac.com
OceanFirst Theater, Stafford Twp. Arts Center
1000 McKinley Avenue, Manahawkin
Tickets:$38, Seniors $30, Child $20
Box Office: 609-489-8600
www.njstac.com
Paper Mill Playhouse
Brookside Drive, Millburn
14 performances December 21 thru 30
With the Paper Mill Orchestra
Tickets $19 to $55
Box Office 973-376-4343
www.papermill.org
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