 |
The New Production
Will Feature New Choreography, Costumes, Sets and an Expanded Storyline |
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre (PBT) is excited to announce that it will debut an all-new production of The Nutcracker in December 2027. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for both PBT and for Pittsburgh audiences to experience an updated adaptation of this cherished holiday tradition.
With concept by PBT artistic director Adam W. McKinney and choreography by Trey McIntyre, PBT’s all-new The Nutcracker, set in early 20th-century Pittsburgh, will stay true to the beloved classic story and promises to be a unique and unforgettable experience. Susan Roemer will design costumes, sets will be designed by Beowulf Boritt and lighting by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew.
“I am thrilled to be creating a new, classical interpretation of The Nutcracker for PBT with an amazing, world-renowned artistic team,” said Adam W. McKinney, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre artistic director. “I cannot wait to unveil our new The Nutcracker for Pittsburgh audiences in December 2027. I think every scene will surprise and delight!”
PBT’s all-new The Nutcracker will feature new choreography, costumes, sets and Pittsburgh-inspired themes that celebrate the city's rich and eclectic histories. While maintaining Tchaikovsky’s score and beloved characters, updates will also include an expanded storyline and a few new characters. The themes explored in this production are those of family, transformation, adventure, community and, of course, magic.
Productions of The Nutcracker typically have a 20-year lifespan due to the wear on costumes and sets. PBT’s revised The Nutcracker is an opportunity to move this classic ballet forward, blending cutting-edge design and technology with timeless storytelling. PBT will announce updates on characters, plotline, sets, and costumes over the next two years, so that audiences will feel included in this creative journey, building excitement for the new version and a sense of shared ownership in this Pittsburgh milestone.
About PBT’s Artistic Team for the 2027 Nutcracker Production
Adam W. McKinney has been the artistic director at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre since 2023. He has a diverse and accomplished background in arts leadership across the globe, having served as an arts organization director, tenured professor, choreographer, dancer, educator and activist. McKinney was an Associate Professor of Dance in Ballet with tenure in the School for Classical & Contemporary Dance at Texas Christian University. There he taught courses in classical ballet, modern dance and choreography. He was the Co-Director/Co-Founder of DNAWORKS, an arts and service organization committed to healing through the arts and dialogue. Previously, he was the inaugural Dance Department Chair at New Mexico School for the Arts in Santa Fe.
He has danced with some of the world’s preeminent dance companies, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Béjart Ballet Lausanne (Switzerland), Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet and Milwaukee Ballet Company. McKinney has led dance work with diverse populations worldwide. A leader who is committed to making ballet and dance accessible to all, he served as a U.S. Embassy Culture Connect Envoy to South Africa through the U.S. State Department. McKinney has created community social justice and awareness projects, including the interactive Fort Worth Lynching Tour: Honoring the Memory of Mr. Fred Rouse and “The Borders Project” at the Mexico/U.S. and Palestine/Israel borders. He was also honored with the NYU President’s Service Award for his dance work with populations who struggle with heroin addiction.
McKinney was named one of the most influential African Americans in Milwaukee by St. Vincent DePaul. He holds a BFA in Dance Performance with high honors with a focus on classical ballet from Butler University and an MA in Dance Studies with concentrations in Race and Trauma theories from the Gallatin School at New York University.
Choreographer: Trey McIntyre
Trey McIntyre trained at North Carolina School of the Arts
and the Houston Ballet Academy. In 1989, Houston Ballet named him the company’s
first choreographic apprentice, and in 1995, he was appointed choreographic
associate. He has worked for more than 30 years as a freelance choreographer,
producing more than 100 works to date for ballet companies around the world.
He has won numerous awards and honors, including the Choo San Goh Award for Choreography, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Society of Arts and Letters, two personal grants for choreography from the National Endowment for the Arts and is a United States Artists Fellow. In 2019, he won the Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography for his work, Your Flesh Shall be a Great Poem, created for San Francisco Ballet’s “Unbound” festival. He was named one of Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch" in 2001. He has been praised by the New York Times for his “fertility of invention and a modernity of spirit.”
In 2005, he founded his dance company, Trey McIntyre Project, creating over 23 original works for the company as well as film projects, interactive site-specific works and photography collections. In September of 2024, he joined the Los Angeles-based company BODYTRAFFIC as Creative Partner. McIntyre is also known for his photography of the human body, having written several published essays, and completed the feature-length documentary, Gravity Hero, which premiered at the Dance on Camera Film Festival at Lincoln Center.
Costume Design: Susan Roemer
Susan Roemer is a costume designer and founder of S-Curve
Apparel & Design, based in Sonoma County, California. A former professional
dancer, she performed with several ballet companies before spending nine years
with Smuin Ballet, where her interest in costume design began. She later
studied design and construction at Apparel Arts in Oakland, California. Roemer
has designed and constructed costumes for San Francisco Ballet, Smuin Ballet,
Joffrey Ballet, Amy Seiwert’s Imagery, Ballet West, Ballet Memphis, AXIS Dance
Company, Tulsa Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, BalletMet, Ballet Austin, Eugene
Ballet, Singapore Dance Theatre, and Red Panel Creative, among others. Roemer
was awarded an Isadora Duncan Award for Visual Design of Amy Seiwert’s
“Wandering” in 2017.
Set Design: Beowulf Boritt
Beowulf Boritt created 35 Broadway designs, including the Tony-winning sets for New York, New York and Act One, the Tony-nominated sets for The Scottsboro Boys, POTUS, Therese Raquin, and Flying Over Sunset. Also on Broadway, Come From Away, …Spelling Bee, Rock Of Ages. He created sets for 100 Off-Broadway shows and won an OBIE award for sustained excellence. He is the author of Transforming Space Over Time, about Broadway design. Beowulf is also the founder of the OBIE-winning The 1/52 Project, which provides grants to early-career designers from historically excluded groups.
Lighting Design: Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew
Jeanette is an award-winning multi-disciplinary designer for theater, dance, opera, musicals, music performances, art installations, digital productions and large-scale immersive experiences. Her designs were described by the New York Times as “clever” and “inventive.” She created the lighting designs for Kimberly Akimbo and The Thanksgiving Play on Broadway, as well as for numerous other regional productions seen across US cities and internationally. As a designer, Jeanette aims to create a visual environment that is organically integrated into the landscape and language of the production. Jeanette has won OBIE’s Sustained Achievement in Design, Henry Hewes Lighting Design Award, numerous Drama Desk, Lortel and Audelco nominations and was a NEA/TCG Career Development Program recipient. Jeanette is an Arts Professor with NYU Tisch Drama Production & Design Studio.
The History of The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker is one of the most well-known ballets of all
time, and is based on German author E.T.A. Hoffman’s 1816 tale The Nutcracker
and the Mouse King. The first ballet adaptation premiered in 1892 at the
Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. PBT has performed various
versions of The Nutcracker annually since its inception in 1969. The current
version, choreographed and conceived by former PBT artistic director Terrence
S. Orr, has been staged at PBT for 23 years.
Comments
Post a Comment