New exhibition - San Francisco ballet's nutcracker: A 75th anniversary celebration
The Museum of Performance + Design celebrates the historic 75th anniversary of San Francisco Ballet's Nutcracker with a new exhibition commemorating aspects of all five of the Company's productions from its premiere to the present day.
On December 12, 1944, San Francisco Ballet made history when it premiered the first full-length production of Nutcracker in the United States. For the past 75 years, Nutcracker has served as a cornerstone of San Francisco Ballet's holiday season. The historic first production featured original choreography by Willam Christensen, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s iconic score, sets by Bolivian-emigre Antonio Sotomayor, and costumes by MP+D’s founder Russell Hartley. The production was a success, a holiday tradition was established, and the custom of a dark War Memorial Opera House in December was ended.
In 1954, Lew Christensen, who was Willam’s younger brother and had taken over as Artistic Director in 1952, created a new Nutcracker, featuring costumes and sets designed by Leonard Weisgard. Thirteen years later, Lew premiered a new production with costumes and sets designed by Robert O'Hearn. In 1986, a new version premiered featuring costume and set designs by Jose Varona, choreography by Lew, and additional staging and choreography by Willam and Helgi Tomasson, who had been appointed Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer of SF Ballet the previous year.
In 2004, Tomasson, working with designers Michael Yeargan and Martin Pakledinaz, developed the current production, a uniquely San Francisco-based version inspired by the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exhibition.
MP+D's exhibit features vintage Nutcracker posters, original costume and set designs, set models, historic video recordings, photographs, and other memorabilia.
The exhibition is open free to the public Tuesday - Friday from 1pm -6pm and the first Saturday of each month from 1pm - 5pm through February 1, 2020. PLEASE VISIT https://www.mpdsf.org/visit for detailed information on the Museum’s hours during the upcoming holidays.
There will also be a corresponding pop-up exhibition on display at the War Memorial Opera House during San Francisco Ballet’s Nutcracker performances from December 11 to December 29. Performance ticket required.
