“For a long time, Opus Performing Arts has wanted to present The Nutcracker ballet with live music,” says Yaniv Attar, music director of the Bellingham Symphony Orchestra. “This is the BSO’s 50th anniversary season — what a perfect time to give it a go!”
The symphony has collaborated with the ballet before: a 25-minute piece, Carnival of the Animals, for an educational concert. But this December’s Nutcracker performances will be next level, with four performances over three days, December 20–22, at the historic Mount Baker Theatre.
Attar sees collaboration as essential to community vitality. The BSO partners with local artists, schools, and organizations to create performances and educational opportunities that extend far beyond the concert hall.
“The orchestra isn’t just performing for the community — we’re performing with it,” he says, “helping cultivate a shared cultural identity that’s inclusive, vibrant, and ever-evolving.”
Dramatic Storytelling, Score and Costumes Over Four Performances
“One of our long-term goals was to have live orchestral accompaniment for our ballet productions,” says Opus co-founder Allan Redstone. He and his wife, Marie Christenson, founded Opus in 2014.
“We’re thrilled to be finally making this happen with the BSO — and the addition of the Bellingham Community Choir for the iconic choral accompaniment during the Waltz of the Snowflakes is icing on the cake.”
All of the intricate costumes — more than 300 pieces — were designed and hand-made by Christenson. “This adds such a dramatic layer to story-telling,” says Brooke Evans, artistic director of Opus. “Creating a tutu isn’t a common skill; each one takes more than 40 hours to create.”
The youngest dancers will perform as marshmallow sheep, cupcakes and gingersnaps, while more advanced students perform the technically demanding roles of Nutcracker, Sugar Plum Fairy, and Peacock.
Ian Bivins has served as The Nutcracker’s co-director, responsible for training the cast in acting nuance, in seven iterations of the classic ballet. He also gets to play Herr Drosselmeyer, which he says is a joy.
“The opportunity to bring our students on stage with a live orchestra is going to blow some minds,” he says.
A Complicated Process That Begins Early
The team has been working together since last spring on the creative elements of the performance, as well as ironing out the complex logistics involved in a show with 165 dancers, 35 orchestral instruments, and more than 30 choral singers.
Celeste Hartsook, assistant director of Opus, is in her 10th year teaching at the company. “People are often surprised to hear that we begin our Nutcracker process in June, with auditions for soloist roles,” she says. “Rehearsals begin as early as July for some dancers.”
Redstone explains that the majority of the orchestra—32 pieces, as well as the conductor—will be in the pit below and in front of the stage. Two pieces—the harp, performed by Jill Whitman, and celeste, performed by Andrea Rackl—will be “on stage” perched on either side of the orchestra pit in front of the main stage opening. (The celeste is the small piano-like instrument made famous in Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy).
“Historically,” Redstone says, “we haven’t choreographed our dances to use much of the area over the [normally covered] pit. We’re losing a bit of the downstage dance floor, so we’ve modified a few of the upstage props to make up for this.”
“It will be a tight fit,” says BSO Executive Director Gail Ridenour, who’ll play oboe in the event. “The dancers are adjusting, and the prop and set changes by Opus will give the dancers a similar footprint as in the past.”
The children’ s choir will enter from a “tunnel” during The Waltz of the Snowflakes and stand directly in front of the stage. Adult singers will also perform from backstage.
The Bellingham Community Choir is made up of 5th–8th graders in the greater Bellingham area, coordinated and conducted by Jen Lois, Connie Campbell, and Pearl Petaia.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for our middle schoolers to sing with a symphony orchestra,” says Lois, adding that middle school choirs don’t often get to sing music from this classical time period, because so much of it comprises large works that aren’t accessible for middle school voices.
“It’s also exciting to be able to combine different art forms,” she continues. “Choral singers don’t often get to perform with dancers and/or actors.”
“The audience is going to come away with a wonderful experience,” says Bevins. “Whether fawning over the cast of cupcakes and other denizens of the land of sweets, or being emotionally moved by the deft direction of Maestro Attar and the orchestra—it’s going to be a special run.”
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