HOUSTON – Houston will not have “The Nutcracker” this holiday season, the Houston Ballet announced Monday.
The performing arts organization announced the change amid its redesigned season for the 2020-2021 year.
In a release about the changes the Houston Ballet shared these words about the holiday staple: " ‘The Nutcracker’ (November 27 – December 27, 2020), which generates $5 million in revenue, will not be performed as planned. The organization hopes to hold its first in-theater performance with the Margaret Alkek Williams Jubilee of Dance on December 4, followed by a limited number of performances of a holiday special.”
It’s unclear what the holiday special would entail.
“We are not finished creating,” says Houston Ballet Artistic Director Stanton Welch. “We’ve demonstrated that time and time again. While the future is uncertain, this is not. We can and will bring high-quality art to this city through dance, whether you see it from the house of a theater or your living room couch.”
Houston Ballet’s staff members are diligently preparing solutions for multiple scenarios in a reimagined 2020-2021 season. They hope to know more in the coming months about alternative programming, after further discussions with artists unions and healthcare partners.
“This pandemic is not the first time we’ve had to get creative behind the scenes so our dancers and production staff can make magic happen onstage,” says Houston Ballet Marketing and PR Director Angela Lee, who the organization notes “is well-seasoned from canceled and reshuffled performances from natural disasters such as Hurricane Harvey.” “We are considering all options for the future, from how to create a safer theater to optimizing technology for virtual experiences.”
For more information about the changes to the Houston Ballet schedule, go here for the full altered schedule.