Nutcracker season!

It is Nutcracker season!  That means my daughters are hard at work on their roles in the Houston Repertoire Ballet company’s annual production.  They put on five shows from December 1-3.  I may be a little biased, but it really is a good production.  Two members of the American Ballet Theater in New York City come to play the lead roles, and local talent plays the rest.     

It costs a whole lot less than the Houston Ballet, so if you are in the NW Houston area it is a great way to kick off the holiday season.  They have an “Arts and Entertainment” show on Sunday afternoon, Dec. 3 which caters to the younger crowd.  The cast members come out in the audience afterwards to meet the kids and sign autographs.   

Last year I got to be a part of the production.  It is sort of a glorified crowd scene role.  There are six families in the opening party scene, so they need some dads to be involved.  The role is referred to as “Party Dad,” but not in the sense of, “Woo-hoo!  Hey hey!  Party Dad!”  We basically mingle, pretend to talk, and do some limited old-timey dancing (not ballet).  The Party Dads have two Party Wives each (insert joke here!) that alternate shows.  The marriages are arranged.  We have Party Kids who are a lot of fun.   

My presence onstage resulted in increased ticket sales, as some friends just had to come see me doing something so out of character. My fear was that one of our close friends, who shall remain nameless (Anita!  Anita!), would burst into laughter when I came onstage (it isn’t a comedy).  She exercised remarkable restraint. 

Here are three things I heard last year that I never expected anyone to say to me:

1. You need more lipstick.
2. Your makeup looks nice.
3. How did your tights fit?  (Just fyi – the tights went on under some short pants.)

I’m back again this year to reprise my role.  I think it is one of those Mafia things where once you do it, you’re in for life.  Seriously, it is so much fun to be part of it and to see the girls enjoy it so much.  Last year one of K’s (Daughter #1) roles was a Soldier Doll that came alive to do a dance.  I got to pick her up and carry her in and out of the box.  That is us on the right, then a photo of her leaping.

Here is J (Daughter #2) from last year:

This year J has the role of Clara (the young girl who gets the Nutcracker doll) for three of the shows, so I’ll get to be onstage with her and K at the same time (K plays a maid as one of her minor roles).  K had the role of Clara a couple years ago and had a blast with it (lots of stage time!) so we are excited for J this year.  We just need to find a way to get my real wife up there.  K will play a big role in the 2^nd act as the Dewdrop Fairy and they both are in other roles as well.   

If you are still reading this, then you must be really, really interested, so click here to order tickets!