Stowell and Sendack Nutcracker won’t be retired until an original Clara sees it one more time

After a 31-year run, the Pacific Northwest Ballet is putting the famous Stowell and Sendak “Nutcracker” in the vault and making way for a new production next year.

In 1983, Dodi Axelson was thrilled to be picked as one of the young Claras when the PNB premiered the Stowell and Sendak “Nutcracker.”

“As a little girl – it’s the ultimate. It’s what you want to be,” says Axelson.

The PNB version was choreographed by Kent Stowell and with sets designed by Maurice Sendak, who wrote the iconic children’s book, “Where the Wild Things Are.”

PNB’s Gary Tucker says their goal was to create a world-class production that was different from other Nutcrackers at the time.

“It’s a little bit darker. There are a lot more mice in it,” describes Tucker. “And in this second act, where most Nutcrackers go to a “Land of the Sweets” the Stowell-Sendack production goes to a “Pasha’s Palace” where there is a different set of dances than other Nutcrackers. It’s also the only one with peacock.”

In this production, the heroine, Clara, feels the angst of impending adolescence. Axelson remembers how she and another girl who shared the role. hung onto Sendak’s every word as he gave the dancers’ directions. “She and I sat in the audience of the opera house and Mr. Sendack said I just want to tell you the story of the Nutcracker of the way I feel it,” says Axelson. “This is encased in my memory as one of these fantastic moments in life. And you think, ‘Wow, I’m 13, and I’ve peeked!'”

So with such a long, successful run, fans were shocked when the PNB announced earlier this year that this will be the last season of the Stowell-Sendak production. In 2015, it will be George Balanchine’s version of the Nutcracker.

“Many people think of it as the signature Nutcracker in America,” says Tucker. “The thing that will make ours unique is the set and costumes are going to be designed by Ian Falconer. Kids would know his name from the series of books featuring Olivia the Pig.”

One thing that won’t change?

“It will be the same music,” says Tucker. “What all the Nutcrackers have in common is the classic Tchaikovsky music.”

It will still going to be telling the story of Clara and her family at Christmas, and her eccentric Uncle Drosselmeyer and he gives her a doll and then she goes to sleep and the mice come in, and then they go off to magical land.

But Axelson says there’s no way she was going to let this production retire without seeing it one more time. She flew back to Seattle from Mexico City so she could be in the audience with her twin sons.

“The Nutcracker here in Seattle needs to be thanked,” she says. “It has been an extraordinary and unique production. And it’s something you don’t let sneak away without saying goodbye.”

This weekend is sold out (with the exception of a few single seats) but you can still get tickets for performances later in the holiday season.