Balletdork -- we had our first (well...not the first, the mice/angels/party boys/party girls/soldiers/bon bons/clowns have all been rehearsing on their own since September 28!) group rehearsal this past saturday. It still felt WAY TOO FREAKING early to be starting Nutcracker. Staging the party scene...always a bucket of fun. =)
Did you see the Simpson's christmas episode last year? They did a little Nutcracker spoof, with the Simpsons singing and dancing to select pieces from the Nutcracker. Hilights included Moe trying to commit suicide (unsucessfuly) to the Reed Flutes, then Homer forgetting to get Marge a Christmas present -- he runs out of the house singing (to the Russian dance), "I need a present for my wife, or I'll get no sex for life!" (go ahead...try singing it...). Finally he comes back and he and Marge work it out as the Grand Pas plays....it's beautiful.
Now whenever I hear Reed Flutes I think of Moe trying to kill himself. So fitting for that piece...
Just think of this -- for the audience, it's either "the same magic year after year" (this was an actual quote from our AD that appeared in the paper last season -- we gave him a lot of grief about it!) and for those who are experiencing their first Nutcracker, what a joy it will be for them! For some people, "The Nutcracker" is their most important important holiday tradition.
For those of us in the business....well....at least for me, there's something really comforting in calling a show you've been doing for the past 5 years, knowing you could call it in your sleep and the crew could do it in their sleep..thus freeing up more time for chit chat, fun, and games, over cans.
Let's commiserate over the next two months!