Behind the Scenes: Constructing 2 New Nutcracker Heads
The Nutcracker is a holiday classic filled with dazzling scenes, characters, and music. Essential to sharing Marie’s journey to the Land of Enchantment, is Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s (PBT) Costume Director Kristin McLain. For her, typical Nutcracker preparations include checking items for repairs, fitting and altering pieces for the upcoming cast, and re-creating items that are beyond restoration, like Nutcracker jackets, Snowflake sleeves, Marie dresses, and headpieces. This year, however, such tasks were joined by the construction of two new Nutcracker heads.
Originally made out of thermoplastic, a malleable material often used in the medical field for splints, PBT’s former Nutcracker head was flexible and able to accommodate movement. Mesh was placed over this foundation to allow for the painting of facial characteristics. It also came in two different skin colors, McLain explains; depending on the artist, it could be attached or detached from the head’s base. After many performances, however, the thermoplastic began to crumble, tasking the mesh with holding its cracked surface together. In response, McLain created another temporary version, one which broke down even quicker. “So then I thought, we just have to make a new one.”
To get started, recognizing that the piece needed to be breathable, McLain first constructed the head shape: a foundation of foam covered by mesh. Underneath, she attached a construction helmet with a lock and understrap, allowing for both security and stability. In addition to referencing the original head, McLain utilized her knowledge of bridges to aid her process. “Bridges have to be built to be able to move, because if they are too rigid, then that force just breaks down,” she shares. Applying this concept, she made the new head quite flexible. There is one scene in The Nutcracker where the Nutcracker grows below a sheet; Drosselmeyer removes this silky cover quickly for a dramatic reveal of the character. The head’s ability to move with the sheet allows it to stay on the dancer’s head as well.
McLain notes that plastic is baked into the mesh string, so that even when the material cracks a little bit, entire sections will not fall off because of this string network. On top of the mesh, to depict vibrant facial features, she used a combination of fabric, acrylic, and airbrush paint. With the addition of rosy cheeks and colorful red lips, the head springs to life. Even its eyes are painted on, as dancers look through the head’s mouth, she reveals.
McLain says that it was important for her to create two Nutcracker heads with two different skin colors. As there are people of color in these roles, she explains, it only makes sense that the Nutcracker’s transition from human to toy maintains continuity. For example, “it shouldn’t be white toy turning into a non-white human.” But McLain also stresses the importance of representation, expressing that “if we’re going to cast someone in that role, that’s the first step. And then just to make sure that all of the costumes and accessories correspond to who’s wearing them, I think is important too.” In the future, she hopes to create a third Nutcracker head of another skin color.
Although constructed carefully to promote stability and security, the act of dancing with a large structure on top of one’s head remains unpredictable. Therefore, McLain had to finish the heads before a deadline, allowing enough time for the dancers to get accustomed to them in rehearsals. And she did. Embellished with makeup, gold accents on their collars, and flaunting extravagant hats, both Nutcracker heads are ready to be worn for upcoming rehearsals and performances.
The Nutcracker heads can be seen on stage at the Benedum Center until December 28th.