Well, today was our last day before opening night. It’s been a little weird having such a limited amount of stage time. Yesterday evening was our first rehearsal on stage, tonight we had our dress rehearsal, and tomorrow afternoon we open!

Dress rehearsal went fairly smoothly, all things considered, and I feel pretty confident in the quality of show we’ll give tomorrow. I think many of us are uncertain of how we’ll be received because we are quite different from the russian trained dancers they are used to seeing.

I’m still very much in awe of the theater we are performing in. They stage is huge, and while the house is quite large, it still has a very intimate feeling to it. Also, I’m a sucker for any theater with a chandelier in it. Here are some shots from the back of the stage, back of the house, and of the chandelier.

Lastly, one of my favorite things about Nutcracker is being transformed into a character through make-up, and especially the time between when I get my make-up done and when I put my costume on (my make-up call is and hour before curtain for this run, and my costume is very hot, so I usually don’t get dressed until 15 before curtain). I feel so funny wandering around backstage looking like an old man from the neck up, and my 24 year old self from the neck down. Here’s Javier as Grandfather and me as Drosselmeier killing time before putting on our costumes.

On a non-dance related note, the cicadas here are going crazy. This is the loudest I’ve ever heard cicadas be. Also, after many years of visiting family back in Pittsburgh and Ohio and hearing the noise constantly, I finally got to see what one looked like. Brian and I were visited by one outside our room this morning so I snapped a shot. They are so weird looking. Anyone recognize those wings?

Alright, I think that’s all I’ve got for today.

-Steven