ABT to perform ‘Nutcracker’ 13 times in Cali

Misty Copeland as Clara the Princess and Herman Cornejo as Nutcracker PrinceCalifornians, you have 13 chances to see American Ballet Theatre’s The Nutcracker in your home state this month! Thanks to Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, you can see leading dancers like Misty Copeland and Daniil Simkin perform the choreography by ABT Artist-in-Residence Alexei Ratmansky live from December 7-17.

 

Casting was announced in September for the highly anticipated engagement. Copeland and Simkin will lead the opening night cast on December 7, dancing the roles of Clara, the Princess and Nutcracker, the Prince, respectively. Subsequent casts include Sarah Lane and Herman Cornejo, Stella Abrera and Alexandre Hammoudi, Hee Seo and Cory Stearns, and Gillian Murphy with Marcelo Gomes. Plus, Blaine Hoven will dance in leading roles.

 

For this production, scenery and costumes are by award-winning designer Richard Hudson and lighting is by Jennifer Tipton. Pacific Symphony will perform the magical score by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky live.

 

Excitingly, select students from the ABT William J. Gillespie School at Segerstrom Center have been afforded the opportunity to perform alongside the renowned ABT troupe in this classic tale that takes the young, romantic Clara and her Nutcracker Prince on a dreamlike journey.

 

ABT invites Californians to come see why The Los Angeles Times declared Ratmansky’s Nutcracker “his own Christmas miracle: a joyful Nutcracker ballet that is ravishing and clever enough to inspire multiple viewings.”

 

This engagement of The Nutcracker continues an on-going relationship between Segerstrom Center and ABT, as the company has appeared at the Center since 1987.

 

For more information, or to book tickets, visit www.scfta.org.

 

Photo: American Ballet Theatre’s The Nutcracker with Misty Copeland as Clara, the Princess and Herman Cornejo as Nutcracker, the Prince. Photo by Doug Gifford.