Eye Wander Photography
Molly Buchmann and and Sharon Mathews' final curtain call as artistic directors of "Nutcracker: A Tale From the Bayou" before they retire in the spring.
When Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre Artistic Directors Molly Buchmann and Sharon Mathews set out to stage The Nutcracker for the first time in 1982, they wanted to find a way to connect the classic Tchaikovsky score to Louisiana. They had the idea that a Louisiana Clara was listening to the score on an old wind-up gramophone, Buchmann explained, recalling their excitement when set designer Nels Anderson found an antique gramophone cone to bring the idea to the stage. “That was the key, in my opinion, to us making it work—because why else would we be listening to a Russian score set in Louisiana? It was our Louisiana Clara dreaming, or imagining The Nutcracker as she listens to this score. And imagining it as only a Louisiana girl would: with a castle that looked like the Old State Capitol, and snow in an Oak Alley.”
Buchmann and Mathews still credit Anderson’s bayou-inspired sets, utilized for their production of The Nutcracker: A Tale from the Bayou to this day, with setting their dancers in a Louisiana winter wonderland that has delighted audiences for the last thirty years. “He designed, and scenic artists painted, this gorgeous bayou scene—and that really sort of opened the world of this ‘tale from the bayou’ to us.”
"It was our Louisiana Clara dreaming, or imagining The Nutcracker as she listens to this score. And imagining it as only a Louisiana girl would: with a castle that looked like the Old State Capitol, and snow in an Oak Alley.” —Molly Buchmann
Fellow dancer and friend John Lilly was also instrumental to the early inspiration of the production, along with many others. “The performance you see today is really a culmination of so many very talented people,” said Mathews. As years went on, they added the effect of snow to the production, “to really delight our Louisiana people, who could never see snow.” In 2007, the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra joined, solidifying The Nutcracker’s place as a cultural holiday staple of Baton Rouge. “So we just kept continuing to try to add, and make it better every year.”
Courtesy of Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre
Image from The Nutcracker: A Tale from the Bayou.
As Buchmann and Mathews approach their final production of The Nutcracker as artistic directors before their retirement in summer of 2024, they aren’t done surprising audiences, yet. One example is radio personality T-Bob Hebert joining the cast this year. “They'll have to come and see the new things that we've created,” Mathews said. “It's very exciting.”
"...it's really a family production and there's there's so much history there. So many dancers that we've seen develop as beautiful individuals and they're just all over the world, as we’ve worked with so many thousands of young people.” —Sharon Mathews
Courtesy of Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre
Longtime BRBT Artistic Directors Molly Buchmann and Sharon Mathews, taken in 1976, a few years before they launched the tradition of The Nutcracker: A Tale From the Bayou in Baton Rouge.
Even as Buchmann and Mathews continue to incorporate new surprises into the production, they say it is the relationships they have built with thousands of dancers over their decades as artistic directors that they cherish most. “At this point in our lives, not only do Molly and I have people we've danced with, but we have trained their daughters and sons, and now their grandchildren, like my grandchildren, are in The Nutcracker,” Matthews explained. “So it's really a family production and there's there's so much history there. So many dancers that we've seen develop as beautiful individuals and they're just all over the world, as we’ve worked with so many thousands of young people.”
“And this is not the end,” Buchmann said. “It will continue to do that. It's not stopping now.”
Buchmann and Mathews, though retiring this summer, will continue to be involved in a mentorship role as new artistic directors Rebecca Acosta and Jonna Cox step up to lead The Nutcracker in future years. “We're going to try to help them to continue the legacy,” Mathews said.
The Nutcracker: A Tale from the Bayou will be performed at the River Center Theatre for Performing Arts on December 16 and 17 at 2 pm and 6 pm. Tickets are $30–$90 at ticketmaster.com.
