Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2013 - 30

such tactics to win the Boston Ballet commission. It came via a
phone call in February 2011 from Nissinen's office , asking if he
would be interested, which led to conversations with Nissinen.
"When you engage in The Nutcracker, you need to know how
supportive the company would be. They said $2 million, so I
understood they were serious," he said. According to Nissinen,
the actual budget came to "north of $2.5 million."
Perdziola had earlier planned a Nutcracker for former
ABT star Ethan Stiefel's company, Ballet Pacifica, in Orange
County, California, but the troupe folded before his designs
could be built. In preparing for the Boston Ballet production,
Perdziola surveyed many shows around the country, attended
the Senn-Pond-Walker version at the Boston Ballet, and spent
Christmas Eve a year ago watching the PBS-TV marathon telecast of various Nutcrackers around the world. "I'm redoing
a revered, good production. They (Senn, Pond, and Walker)
gave Boston a beautiful production. It's a little intimidating,"
he said.

Drawing room to dream world
Act I of The Nutcracker opens in the central square of the European town where Clara lives with her family, then continues
in her family's drawing room on Christmas Eve, and finally ends
in the snowy forest. For just the first act scenery, the designer
must represent three different locales, plus find a solution to
turn the drawing room into a dream world. The scene must
refer to Clara's house but provide a setting for a mock battle
between the Mouse King and his legions of mice, who live be-

Mouse King. Costume design by Robert Perdziola.
The Nutcracker, Boston Ballet, 2012.
Courtesy Boston Ballet.
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neath the stairs and in the walls of the home, and the soldiers,
led by the Nutcracker, who has been transformed from a small
doll to a life-sized character. After the Nutcracker and his army
are victorious, through Clara's courage in helping defeat the
Mouse King, the scene evolves into the wintery forest, which the
pair must cross on their way to the Palace of the Sugar Plum
Fairy. The designer must also keep the scenery moving as Clara
progresses on her journey-no blackouts for scene changes
because the action is continuous.
As can be imagined, the dozens of children in the production are the major attraction for the audiences. In Act I, they
appear as ragamuffins watching the street theatre performance,
as party children (boys and girls), little mice, soldiers, and as
reindeers to draw the sleigh in the Snow Scene. Other children
perform in the second act as angels, friends of the Chinese
dancers, little sheep, and the tiny clowns called Polichinelles,
who tumble out from under Mother Ginger's skirt. Of course,
each child needs a costume, and since they comprise three alternating casts, there are extras to account for different sizes.
The members of the professional company must have costumes
as well, not only the leads but the hardworking corps de ballet,
who transform from adults at the party to twirling Snowflakes,
to attendants around the Sugar Plum Fairy, to flowers dancing
their way through the famous Waltz.
After intermission, Clara, the Nutcracker Prince, and
Drosselmeier travel to the grand castle of the Sugar Plum Fairy,
where they are welcomed as honored guests. The second act
unfolds in the Palace ruled by the Sugar Plum Fairy and her
consort, the Nutcracker Prince. (In the Boston Ballet version,
he leaves Clara to partner the ballerina. Other productions bring
in a second lead male dancer as the Cavalier to the Sugar Plum
Fairy to keep the Nutcracker Prince at Clara's side). Characters
from the court perform their ethnic dances: Spanish, Chinese,
Russian, Arabian, joined by a grotesque Mother Ginger and
her children, a charming Shepherdess and her sheep, and the
Dew Drop Fairy, surrounded by her waltzing flower maidens. At
the end, Clara and Drosselmeier fly back in the cloud carriage
which has taken them away from the white birch forest of Act
I and deposited them in the Kingdom of the Sugar Plum Fairy.
The aerial effect is from Flying by Foy. A tiny mechanical ballerina is turning in the center of the stage. The show curtain for
both acts pictures a castle resting on a cloud.
The new ending for the Boston production finds Clara
waking from her dream. As she touches the top of her head,
she finds the tiara that was bestowed upon her by the Sugar
Plum Fairy, suggesting that her dream might have been true.
Drosselmeier, director and chief performer of the children's
theatre in the middle of the town square, has served as the
quasi-master of ceremonies throughout the ballet.
The Senn-Pond settings employed a miniature toy theatre
as the unifying visual theme, carried in as a model in the first
act to entertain the children. The Palace of Sweets mirrored the
décor of the toy theatre when it was enlarged for Act II.
Perdziola found his inspiration in the Baroque castle

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