Christmas=Nutcracker...

Tonight I had a moment of realization of how lucky I feel to be a musician. More to the fact how much I love to play the Nutcracker!
For those of you who aren't musicians you must know that a lot of professionals hate the Nutcracker. Year after year they trudge to the pit to play yet another 2 hour ballet that they have been playing since they were 15!
Me...well I have a different view point. I LOVE it! My story of the Nutcracker begins when I was probably 8 years old and my cousin Jordan took me to see it at Capitol Theater. I was hooked. More importantly I wanted to be on the stage. I was not a great dancer...in fact I did get on stage but I was a soldier. The epitome of non-graceful dancer. I was a red soldier in 6th grade and the riffle-man in 7th. I didn't care. Those were some of my most memorable Christmas's as a kid.

Fast forward to 2003-Christmas. I had just moved back to the states after a 5 year stint in Prague and London. Music school had pounded into my head that you always said "yes" to every job that came and figured out how to do it after. So that is what I did when the principal harpist at Ballet West called me to play "one or two" performances. I said "yes. I know it!" The truth was that I had learned the harp solo but had not ever seen the rest of the part.
She then continued to tell me that there was only one rehearsal for the orchestra and she was already doing that so I would just jump in on the 2 dates.
OK...I was panicked! To say the least. Talk about baptism of fire!!! I had never played a ballet let alone the Nutcracker! I just figured though that I would practice hard and make it work!

I made it through thanks to my former teacher ShruDe who loaned me her old music and listened to me play the part. She also gave me the sound advice of getting to the pit 45 min ahead of time so I could be alone in the pit. After the longest 2 hours of my life (I don't think I breathed at all!) I made it. More importantly I made it through the performance without anyone noticing that I had never done that before. The other thing they taught us at the Academy was to act like you knew what was going on all the time rather than ask someone a question. I think the motto was JUST FIGURE IT OUT! By the end of that run I got to do 4 performances.

I have played every year with the exception of 2006 (Claire was born) and it has only been this past year that I have found to really enjoy the part. In fact, I love it! It is so much fun to have something that challenges me and that I honestly don't get sick of listening to every time I play it.

I wonder if Tchaikovsky knew when he wrote this ballet that it would become iconic. I dare say the most famous ballet!

He probably didn't but I for one and so grateful he wrote it. It doesn't feel like it is Christmas to me without a little Sugar Plum Fairy and a little Waltz of the Flowers.