Production stage manager Katie Orr has been working at the San Francisco Ballet since 2017. Previously at the New York City Ballet, she’s worked on hundreds of productions of The Nutcracker, the story of the little girl, Clara, who receives a nutcracker doll for Christmas and dreams it comes to life.
But Orr still loves Tchaikovsky’s music and choreographer Helgi Tomasson’s production, which debuted in 2004.
It’s set in 1915 San Francisco, with Victorian homes, an indoor snowstorm, and scenes in the Conservatory of Flowers. At the time, San Francisco had just gotten electricity, which makes for a dramatic moment in the party scene in the first act.
Fernando Carratalá Coloma and San Francisco Ballet School Students in Tomasson’s ‘Nutcracker'( © San Francisco Ballet, photo by Lindsey Rallo)
“We gather all the kids together, and it’s the big reveal of, ‘Look at the Christmas tree,’” Orr says. “We turn the lights on—not just candles that are lit up. We plug it in, and it’s a big deal.”
Orr, who describes herself as a “Christmas person,” loves the audience’s response to this, as well as to the snowflakes that fall at the end of the first act.
“Once it begins snowing, it doesn’t stop. In fact, the snow gets heavier and heavier and heavier throughout the scene, so by the end, you are just in a blizzard of a winter wonderland,” she says. “It’s so exciting for the dancers to dance through it as well. As much as it gets on them, it’s still so beautiful to see. One of my favorite moments is the snow scene, simply because we don’t get snow here. Most people kind of ooh and ah at that scene.”
Principal dancer Sasha De Sola who has been with the company 20 years loves it too, along with other elements of the production.
“One is the change from the party scene into the battle scene, where everything grows to this colossal size,” she says. “It’s quite impressive when you see it, and then the stage goes black. We have an enormous stage, and having a huge black stage that all of a sudden opens up into this pristine snow scene is beautiful.”
San Francisco Ballet in Tomasson’s Nutcracker (© Erik Tomasson, courtesy of SF Ballet)
De Sola has danced all the female roles in the ballet in San Francisco, except for the first act’s dancing doll (whose costume weighs almost 20 pounds). This season, she will take on two roles—leading the “Waltz of the Flowers,” the music you probably think of when you think of The Nutcracker, and dancing in the Grand Pas de Deux at the end.
For De Sola, the show is both nostalgic and fresh. She loves being part of a tradition and introducing audiences to the ballet.
“My personal favorite thing is knowing that very often, people’s first time coming to a ballet is going to see The Nutcracker,” she says. “If people can feel connected to it right off the bat from its setting in San Francisco and recognizing the architecture and the energy of the city, hopefully then they come back and see more ballets. I think that’s what’s special about The Nutcracker.”
Madeline Woo, a principal dancer from Huntington Beach, came to San Francisco from the Royal Swedish Ballet, drawn by artistic director Tamara Rojo’s leadership. She is dancing her first Nutcracker with the company.
Woo remembers being enchanted when her aunt and uncle took her and her sister when she was 10.
San Francisco Ballet in Tomasson’s Nutcracker( © San Francisco Ballet, photo by Lindsey Rallo)
“They were like, ‘Let’s treat the girls and get them tickets to see The Nutcracker at San Francisco Ballet.’ We were super excited. They got us box seats. It was very bougie and luxurious. I remember we dressed up, and it was super fun, and we got some soup dumplings right before,” Woo says. “It was so magical. I remember being amazed by the massive sets they had, and when the Christmas tree grows and all the presents grow. I was just so in awe of that.”
There’s lots to amaze audiences, as well as touches in the production they might not be aware of, says Orr. For example, in the party scene, the portraits hanging around the fireplace are the family of dancer and choreographer Lew Christensen, who co-directed the San Francisco Ballet with his brother beginning in 1948. All the dancers in that scene have names and backstories about who they’re married to and how many children they have.
She loves to see reactions from the audience, particularly young children.
“Student matinees are my absolute favorite because I love hearing the kids laugh at unexpected moments that you never thought were funny, but it makes them giggle. I love that you get the oohs and the ahs at the right moments and the applause at the right moments,” says Orr. “But when they see the snow blizzard, and you’ll just hear a little kid shout, ‘That’s so cool!’ Those are the moments I love—the unexpected responses from kids.”
// ‘The Nutcracker’ runs December 5-28 at the San Francisco Ballet at War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave. (Civic Center), sfballet.org
Jasmine Jimison and Fernando Carratalá Coloma in Tomasson’s Nutcracker( © San Francisco Ballet, photo by Lindsey Rallo)