Presentation of The Nutcracker Ballet to Feature Two Boston Ballet Dancer

Performances to be held in Tang Theatre December 5-7

November 20, 2008 --The Phillips Academy Department of Theatre and Dance will present its biannual production of the holiday favorite, The Nutcracker Ballet, in the Tang Theater located on the school’s Andover campus in George Washington Hall. The cast of 60 includes not only Phillips Academy students, but faculty members, students from the town of Andover and surrounding communities, and two guest artists from the Boston Ballet.

The show, which is open to the public, will be presented four times over the course of three days beginning Friday, December 5. Tickets can be reserved by calling the theatre box office at 978-749-4433.
 
Directed and choreographed by Andover instructor Judith Wombwell, this full classic ballet becomes both intimate and magical as it is set in colonial Andover. Mice and soldiers become revolutionary war figures, party guests celebrate in the Abbot barn, but Clara’s journey through the Christmas tree into the Land of the Sweets remains the timeless story of a child’s fantasies.

The beautiful period costumes were designed and constructed by Andover instructor Billy Murray. For this year’s performance, he and his costuming class created new costumes for the Snow Queen and King and the Snowflakes. The set was designed and built by Andover instructor Bruce Bacon.

This year’s production includes a stunning new pas de deux featuring Sayer Mansfield ’10 and Christopher Massie ’10 as the Snow Queen and King. Clara will be played by Carolyn Calabrese ’09 and Jennifer Chew ’10, and the dance of the Candy Canes has been choreographed with a more contemporary feel to become “Spice Drops.”

The “Grand Pas de Deux” will be performed by guest artists Rie Ichikawa and Jared Redick, soloists from Boston Ballet, in the featured roles as the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier. Prior to joining the Boston Ballet in 1999, Rie Ichikawa was a soloist and performed the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy with Ballet Arizona in addition to winning the Markova Award in 1994. The Boston Ballet promoted her to second soloist in 2004 and to soloist in 2006. Jared Redick had extensive training and performance experience before joining the Boston Ballet in 2002; he was promoted to soloist in 2003. He is also a soloist with Suzanne Farrell Ballet and was featured in Balanchine’s Don Quixote in the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland. Redick’s photography has been published in Playbill, Dance Magazine, Pointe magazine, and The Boston Globe.

The first performance of The Nutcracker Ballet will be given on Friday, December 5 at 7:30 p.m. Additional performances are scheduled for Saturday December 6 at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and for Sunday, December 7 at 2 p.m. Admission is $10 for the general public, and $5 for children, students, and seniors