On Saturday, November 19, 2022, the doors of the Upcountry History Museum will open to an ever-familiar story but the Greenville debut of an exclusive holiday favorite, “Nutcracker: The Exhibition.”
While the toy soldiers march and the sugar plum fairy dances during traditional Christmas performances of “The Nutcracker” ballet this season, there is much more to the story – a chronicle that originated as a short story by German writer E.T.A. Hoffman in 1816 and was followed by the setting of the story to music as a ballet in 1892 by renowned Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Organized by the Upcountry History Museum, this extraordinary holiday exhibition will showcase original costumes from Walt Disney’s 2018 live-action film “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms,” as well as props, ballet costumes, original illustrations and drawings from partnerships with Walt Disney Archives, The Walt Disney Family Museum, The Charles M. Schulz Museum, acclaimed children’s author/illustrator James Ransome, and Greenville’s own Carolina Ballet Theatre. In addition, the exhibition will explore the unique connection between Disney’s 1940’s animated classic, “Fantasia,” and Tchaikovsky’s musical sequence in the ballet’s “Nutcracker Suite” as it presents what animation historian John Canemaker calls “one of the most exquisite examples of Disney fantasy ever created.”
On display through February 19, 2023, “Nutcracker: The Exhibition” will take visitors on a journey of discovery through which they can explore a kaleidoscope of artistic re-imaginings of the classic tale from the 1820s to the present. It will showcase the cultural and technological shifts that have compelled filmmakers, artists, and fans to return to the tale of “The Nutcracker” time and time again.
The Upcountry History Museum is located at 540 Buncombe St., in Greenville, S.C. Hours of operation are Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.; Sunday from 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. For more information, call 864-467-3100 or visit www.upcountryhistory.org.