Ricky Graham Productions Presents THE PECAN CRACKER

Ricky Graham Productions will present THE PECAN CRACKER, by Ricky Graham, Sean Patterson, and Mandy Zirkenbach, with music arranged by Jefferson Turner, in the Southern Rep City Series.

This original Louisiana-style Musical, based on The Nutcracker (the E.T.A. Hoffmann stories and the traditional Tchaikovsky ballet), is a fresh New Orleans-style take on a beloved Christmas classic. Join us for a magical journey filled with buttermilk drops, a cockroach army, dancing alligators, and snowflakes in City Park. And best of all -- this production will be fun for the whole family!

The most fun part of this show has been finding ways to bring a New Orleans flavor to it. It really has become a fairy tale that happens here, about a grouchy little girl from Gentilly who takes a journey through a magical land and learns to love Christmas. It's got a little CHRISTMAS CAROL, a little ALICE IN WONDERLAND, a little WIZARD OF OZ... And Ricky, Mandy, and me, each of us has brought these ideas that we loved - roaches, alligators, crab dip, turtle cookies, fruitcake - and woven them into the fabric of this fabulous crazy quilt. The songs were of course inspired by the Tchaikovsky music, and then Jefferson Turner gets his hands on them, and he makes it all fresh and new and specific to us. It's really been an exciting process.
-Sean Patterson, PECAN co-writer

This production, directed by Ricky Graham, features an ensemble of New Orleans' favorite performers: Brian Falgoust, Yvette Hargis, Katherine Hebert, Heidi Junius, Patrick Mendelson, Gary Rucker, and Mandy Zirkenbach, with musicians Jefferson Turner and Brian Albus. Costumes are by Cecile Casey Covert, Scenic Design Edward R. Cox, Lighting Design Daniel Zimmer, and Musical Staging by Mandy Zirkenbach.

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