Since graduating, I haven't really done much, musically. But! I have been involved with a couple projects and the one I'm currently involved with, is, I must say, super friggin cute. And it being officially the holiday season, it comes to no surprise that the Nutcracker is involved.
A SF ballet troupe came up with the idea of cutting down the origional 2.5 hour ballet into something that a small human could easily enjoy. It's colorful, energetic, and most importantly, short. So they contracted Michael Morgan, the conductor of the Oakland Symphony to go in and decide what parts are the most crucial to the story. Not only did he have to cut so much music, but he had to condense the 60-100 piece orchestra into something 9 people can play.
Last year, things were a bit rough. I was interning with Magik*Magik Orchestra at the time, so there was plenty to do. Music to correct and copy, errands to run, etc. etc. The show doesn't just involve musicians and a ballet troupe, but little kids as well! They play the Nutcracker's gunmen, the two ADD kids in the toy shop causing trouble, and the minions of the Sugarplum Fairy. I think it just adds a little something extra by including kids IN the show.
Basically, this show is flippin cute.
There's one part in particular where the dancer dressed as a nutcracker, unknowingly to the audience, crawls under a table and places a doll sized nutcracker where he was. Another character is holding up a cape so that the kids don't see what's happening. And when the little nutcracker is revealed, I always look at the audience. The kids in the audience will actually get out of their seats in wonder. It's so cute.
Well this year, things went a lot smoother. We had the same musicians even. I'm not interning with Magik, but they did request a budget in order to hire me. : )
I actually told my boss that I felt bad that she was paying me to do this. I quite literally just show up and stick around.
Something else that's different this year is that we're providing a couple free shows in downtown SF. Why limit this to just families that can afford it? Isn't the holidays about giving? We do, however, have to condense the performance even further! Regardless, I think it'll be fun... unless it rains. It's suppose to rain. We'll see!!
In other news, Happy Hanukkah!!
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