|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
It's that time of year again: Valley Dance Theatre is presenting its annual production of "The Nutcracker". For 2023, every show will feature a special dedication in memory of one of the theater's most prominent members through the years.
The dance company will perform Tchaikovsky's iconic "The Nutcracker" during the next two weekends at the Bankhead Theater in Livermore. VDT officials said this year its 43rd producing the classic family-friendly holiday ballet the performances will pay tribute to Rudolph John Fruscella (better known as "Rudy"), the father of VDT founder and artistic director Betsy Hausburg.
"I was really surprised by it," Hausburg said. "I thought maybe they might just mention him in the program, but they said they wanted to do more and dedicate every show to him, which I thought was very very sweet."
Fruscella was known to be an active supporter of his daughter and VDT shows. Over the years he attended 41 "Nutcracker" performances and was often known to bring a large number of friends to show off the work his child had accomplished. He died on Oct. 6 at the age of 101.
Hausburg recalled that during last year's production of "The Nutcracker", her father brought a number of folks to watch the show with him including his caregiver, his neighbors, friends and family.
The artistic director reminisced in previous years when her father would walk around the lobby and meet every dancer in the program.
"He would just tell them how impressed he was with them," Hausburg said.
Due to his unwavering support and dedication, the VDT board chose to honor Fruscella with this year's shows. Hausburg explained that an important part of the production is the immersive and family-friendly atmosphere.
"(After) the dancers go out in the lobby and audience members can have pictures taken with them or meet them. We try to make it immersive," she said. "When you see the costumes up close and all the people are dressed up, you get a whole different feel. It becomes more real."
"We try to make it more of a fun experience and not worry about if children make noise or cry or anything. It should be enjoyable and we always find that the children enjoy the shows so much. We have a fog machine so when the angels come out the stage gets covered in fog and they love it," Hausburg added.
Hausburg, having co-founded VDT in 1980, feels an immense feeling of pride in her students and their work.
"They do all their rehearsing, they come in and warm up and work so hard for these shows," Hausburg said. "I don't know how we've had the dancers that we've had. I'm proud of every single one of them."
The theater group tries to improve their production each time.
"Every year we try to add something different," Hausburg told the Weekly. "Over the last two years, before COVID-19 and since, we have replaced or fixed a lot of things. We had new sets made, we had new backdrops made. We're pretty happy with the way our production looks."
"It's very, very colorful by the end when all the set pieces have been out," she added.
In addition to the quality performances guests will find at "The Nutcracker" shows, they will also be charmed by the Bankhead Theater and its surrounding area, according to Hausburg.
"The nice thing about downtown Livermore is they've done so much with the plaza in front of the Bankhead and nearby restaurants, it's very nice. It's beautiful even just to walk around either before or after the show," she said. "And of course the caliber of dancing you're going to see here — the music you're going to see, the lighting and the costumes — are great."
"We're very lucky for this venue. The acoustics are very good, there's really not a bad seat at the Bankhead," Hausburg added.
Evening performances are 7 p.m. this Saturday (Dec. 9) and next Friday through Sunday (Dec. 15-17), while afternoon shows are 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays (Dec. 9-10, 16-17). Optional "Nutcracker VIP Tours" are offered at 12:45 p.m. ahead of each afternoon show. For tickets and other information, go to www.valleydancetheatre.com.
-cropped.jpg;w=960)
Downtown Livermore restaurant up for sale months after reopening from fire damageMarch 27, 2026 5:26 pm
