En Pointe

Ballet Austin celebrates 50 years of The Nutcracker tradition with specialopening ceremonies

Ballet Austin's The Nutcracker.
Photo by Tony Spielberg
Photo by Tony Spielberg
Photo by Tony Spielberg
Photo by Tony Spielberg
Photo by Tony Spielberg

For 50 years, Ballet Austin has been bringing the magical story of The Nutcracker to life on the Central Texas stage. In its half-century history, over 1.5 million residents have watched the whimsical tale of Clara and her holiday wonderland.

The golden anniversary of Ballet Austin’s The Nutcracker opens Saturday, December 8 and runs through December 23 at the Long Center, bringing with it the traditions you've grown to love, along with some new celebratory elements.

The milestone production kicks off with a special opening ceremony on Saturday before the first performance. Ballet Austin’s Artistic Director Stephen Mills, explains the importance of the landmark celebration.

The opening of our 50th anniversary expands the idea of tradition and family. We're organizing a reunion of cast members for the performance and a party afterwards. We're hopeful that anyone who played a mouse, angel, soldier or any other character in the Ballet Austin production over the past 50 years will participate. It has the potential to be a huge event.

In addition to the reunion, Saturday’s opening ceremony will usher in the holiday spirit for audience members with a white carpet, appropriately made of snow, where guests can have photos taken, while donning their Christmas best.

Of course, the ballet is the real delight of the season, and the golden anniversary will include all of the fantastic images and nostalgia that The Nutcracker has conjured for years. The Mouse King, Sugar Plum Fairy and Clara will be attendance, as will Mother Ginger and her bon-bon children. And in traditional Ballet Austin fashion, the larger-than-life Mother Ginger will be played by a rotating cast of local (and not-so-local) celebrities, including Jenna Bush Hager, Sara Hickman and Sandy McIlree.

The special Community Choice role of Mother Ginger, voted on by the public, will be played by Kay Gooch (Gullet Elementary School Librarian, Texas Library Association) at the December 23 matinee performance. "I am so excited and overwhelmed I can hardly sit," Gooch says of her upcoming stage debut.

"I'm just floating on air and when I went to sit and read Rudolph to my students, I had to think about it. It's been so exciting to have the little kids running up to me and hugging me and calling me 'Mother Ginger!'"

As for the choreography, scenery and costumes of this year’s rendition of The Nutcracker, you can take comfort in knowing that Mills is sticking to the classics. “I make small changes each year but that's mostly for the dancers,” he says. “I've found that when I make discernible changes many audience members get upset. It's not called a tradition for nothing!”

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Ballet Austin's The Nutcrackeris on stage at the Long Center from December 8 – December 23.

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Historic Austin museum will close for more than a year for restoration

Photo courtesy of the City of Austin

The Elisabet Ney Museum will close at the end of 2024 and reopen in mid-2026.

Every building needs some maintenance here or there, and the historic Elisabet Ney Museum needs some extra-special care. Formerly the art studio and residence of its namesake, it's been standing since 1892. It'll spend 2025 in relative solitude, as it undergoes renovation for a year and a half with no visitors allowed.

The museum will close to the public December 30, 2024, and open again in the summer of 2026 if all goes according to plan, a news release from the City of Austin shares. It'll be a quiet period compared to the 21,000 people visiting from around the world each year.

According to a museum overview on the city's website, Elisabet Ney, a European portrait sculptor, bought the property and called her new studio Formosa. She worked on sculptures depicting important Texans like Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston, and collected works of European contemporaries.

The building at 304 East 44th St. includes 3,700 square feet of museum space, which was converted by Ney's friends after her death in 1907. It retains its unique look that juxtaposes a Neo-Classical main studio from 1892 with a later addition from 1902 including a tower for her husband, Edmund, to write in. It is also on 2.5 acres of land, which has largely been restored to its natural state with native species.

A press release lists these tasks (verbatim) within the scope of the new work, referred to as the Capital Improvement Project (CIP):

Restoration of original exterior wood doors and windows
Upgrades and replacement of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system
Replacement of the exhibit and general lighting systems
Repairs to the roof, masonry, plumbing, and interior finishes.

There will also be work to do outside of the building. Workers will replace the pedestrian bridge across Waller Creek, stabilize a 20,000-square-foot portion of the bank, and make the grounds more accessible by adding new pathways.

Funding comes from several sources, according to a release: "the 2012 Bond, Proposition 14, the Parkland Dedication Fund, the Historic Preservation Fund, Partners in Preservation through the National Trust, and contributions from the Friends of the Elisabet Ney Museum."

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