A&E

The Nutcracker’s lavish costumes further energize Nevada Ballet Theatre dancers

Image
A Peacock costume for ‘The Nutcracker’ in the wardrobe room of Nevada Ballet Theatre’s Summerlin studio.
Photo: Wade Vandervort

It’s officially holiday season in Las Vegas when the red battledress, plum tutu and Mouse Queen mask come out of Nevada Ballet Theatre’s immense costume closet.

The Nutcracker, built upon Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s famous music from the late 1800s, was first performed in its entirety in the U.S. in 1944. The characters remain recognizable to this day, thanks largely to the intricate outfits that help bring Clara’s dream to life.

Nevada Ballet Theatre’s wardrobe coordinator, Amanda Williams

The costumes Smith Center attendees will see onstage this year have been with NBT since 2012, Amanda Williams, wardrobe coordinator for the company, tells the Weekly. The pieces were handmade by costume designer Sandra Woodall, who has also contributed her work to the San Francisco Ballet, Houston Ballet and troupes abroad.

“They were made in a big house, the costume shop, in New York City by many, many artisans … with a lot of people it would’ve probably taken a few months,” Williams says. “They have to design, buy the fabric, do the pattern work and then cut the fabric and hand it off to the stitchers to build. Then they do the fittings. So it’s a really long process.”

Though colors look vivid and sequins shine brightly under the bright lights at Reynolds Hall, the details are far richer up close. The Snow Queen’s snowflake details are made with a soft velvet material, and the impressive ombre effect of the Sugar Plum Fairy’s piece can be seen clearly.

And these costumes can be heavy; the colorful and bejeweled Peacock tail contains a harness with a metal plate, which Williams estimates weighs about 15 pounds. Though the audience might not be able to observe every detail, Williams says they still serve an important purpose.

“There was a famous designer, [Barbara] Karinska, [and] what she always did was make certain that the dancers felt special,” Williams says. “It wasn’t always about the audience reading the details; it was about what [the dancers] felt. It put them into that headspace [of the character], like an actress.”

A Sugar Plum Fairy costume from Nevada Ballet Theatre’s ‘The Nutcracker’

The wardrobe coordinator makes alterations that ensure the costumes work for the dancers every year, since their roles change. And, to preserve the works of art, Williams replaces any elastics once a year, since they typically deteriorate in the desert heat.

After every performance, the costumes are hung on a rack with fans blowing in their direction to help them dry. They’re dry cleaned immediately after the full run of performances—and then hung in NBT’s costume room inside its Summerlin Studio in a way that doesn’t put stress on sensitive areas, such as the shoulders or armpit areas.

All of that work helps to “create the fantasy,” Williams says.

NBT’s artistic director Roy Kaiser adds, “Part of our job is to create another world, and the costumes are certainly a huge part of that, along with the sound, lighting and everything else. When you’re sitting in the audience, we take you someplace else.”

THE NUTCRACKER December 9-24, days & times vary, $36-$186. Reynolds Hall, thesmithcenter.com.

Click HERE to subscribe for free to the Weekly Fix, the digital edition of Las Vegas Weekly! Stay up to date with the latest on Las Vegas concerts, shows, restaurants, bars and more, sent directly to your inbox!

Share
Top of Story