This year marked 25 years since the premiere of the Nutcracker set and backdrops which were custom made for the Richland High School Auditorium stage. In June of this year, we were notified by our original set designer, Greg Elder, that the Scenic Design Shop in Seattle, the fabricator and painter for the original set, had an unexpected opening in their schedule and that they could be available to update or create new set pieces for MCB. As many of our backstage volunteers know, our weary backdrops have been showing their age recently, having been folded and unfolded multiple times over the last 24 years. With a new look at the Richland High School Auditorium, it was only fitting that our Nutcracker scenery get a facelift as well. This decision had to be made quickly, and the MCB Board stepped up with unanimous approval, and then started looking for ways to fund the project.

The original Nutcracker Set was funded by local corporate sponsorship. So naturally, the MCB Board started by approaching the Columbia Center Rotary Club for help with funding this much needed update. As with many service organizations such as Rotary, there is a very active network of potential corporate sponsors. Very quickly, MCB was notified that four of our Community Organizations were willing to provide the necessary funding. MCB is pleased to announce our Nutcracker Backdrop Sponsors:

Many thanks to our Backdrop Sponsors for helping provide new backdrops which we will use for many more years to provide performance opportunities for our dancers and to bring artistic excellence to our Community.