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Deanna Pietrorazio dances the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy in the 2018 Brass City Ballet production of “The Nutcracker.” (Paulina Pietrorazio photo)
In addition to its usual full-length performances of the holiday classic, “The Nutcracker,” this year, for the first time, Brass City Ballet (BCB) will present a special one-hour narrated version, “Nutcracker Sweets,” on Saturday, Dec. 14, at 1 p.m. The special abbreviated performance will tell the traditional story and be followed by an invitation to the audience members to come onstage after the show to meet Clara, the Sugarplum Fairy, and dancers from the Kingdom of the Sweets.
The ballet’s 23rd annual production of “The Nutcracker” will be presented Saturday, Dec, 14, at 5:30 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 15, at 2 p.m. All performances will be at the Fine Arts Center Mainstage of Naugatuck Valley Community College at 750 Chase Parkway in Waterbury.
Online tickets for this family favorite are $25 for adults and $20 for seniors and children 18 and under. Tickets may be purchased online until noon on Saturday, Dec. 14, at Tututix.com or by calling 1-855-222-2849. On the days of the performances, tickets will be available for purchase at the door at $35 for adults and $30 for seniors and children 18 and under.
Brass City Ballet opens its “Nutcracker” auditions up to the general community, and performers from Cheshire and Watertown to Waterbury and Southbury take part. “Our Nutcracker has a diverse cast consisting of our pre-professional students, returning alumnae, guest artists, and seasoned professional actors,” said BCB Artistic Director Elizabeth Fisk Barisser, “but the ones who steal the show are the little Gumdrops and Pfeffernesses who come jumping out from under Mother Ginger’s skirt.”
The lead roles this year are performed by Savannah Gould of Wolcott sharing with Kate Gilchrist of Middlebury the role of Clara, Gabrielle Harris of Middlebury as Snow Queen, Livia Sarnelli of Naugatuck as the Dew Drop Fairy, and Lindsey Matthews of Middlebury as the Candy Cane. The role of the Sugar Plum Fairy this year is performed by Nadia Stronkowsky of Middlebury. Stronkowsky, a senior at Pomperaug High School has been dancing at BCB for 12 years.
At each performance, Brass City Ballet holds a toy drive to collect new, unwrapped presents that will be donated to children at St. Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury. BCB dancers, dressed in costume, will deliver the toys to the children in person.
Brass City Ballet is a nonprofit dance school and student performing company with studios in Middlebury, Conn. The school offers recreational and pre-professional dance classes in classical ballet, hip-hop/jazz, contemporary and modern dance. BCB serves students ages 3 to adult with year-round enrollment. For more information, call 203-598-0186 or visit www.brasscityballet.org.
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