Pinocchio at PNB

Every year the Pacific Northwest Ballet School performs a story ballet on the McCaw Hall stage as part of the Family Matinee Series. They rotate through three ballets. I’ve already seen and written about Hansel & Gretel and Snow White. This year I finally got to see Pinocchio.

Not Disney’s Pinocchio

I recently watched the Disney version of Pinocchio with my kids, so the ballet felt timely. But the ballet is not quite the same as the Disney movie. It is based more directly on the Italian storybook that the movie was based on. In this version Pinocchio does not fall in with bad boys who go to a carnival and turn into jackasses. But he does dance in a puppet show instead of going to school and he does lose his money to a pair of con artists (a cat and a fox). He also rescues his father, Gepetto, from the belly of a whale, for which he is rewarded by the Blue Fairy with life as a real boy. But in every version, the cricket (never called Jiminy in the ballet) is the most interesting character.

Not (Quite) PNB Co.’s Ballet

Compared to a regular PNB performance, these family matinees are quite informal. Crying babies and fidgety toddlers are numerous. The entire show is only about an hour long. This year there was a fifteen-minute intermission. There is a narrator to explain the action. My 14-year-old exclaimed “Breaking the fourth wall!” when he announced, “Come back after the intermission to see what Pinocchio did when he woke up.”

In Pinocchio, all performers were from the ballet school except guest artist, narrator Allen Galli. But some of the students were nearly grown and quite skilled. I particularly enjoyed the dance of Neptune and the Pearl. Compared to the other student ballets I think Pinocchio may have slightly more challenging parts overall.

Fun Stuff

These ballets, with their cheaper tickets, shorter run times, and accessible presentation are an obvious choice for introducing really young kids to the art form. But even my kids, who are not only older but have watched tons of professional ballet, still enjoy them. I’m not a huge fan of story ballets, and I find narration distracting, but it’s still fun to watch the young dancers and try to guess who is going to appear in company ballets in the future.

For those who are new to ballet, these performances also have fun stuff outside the auditorium. Classical KING FM, in collaboration with Music Center Northwest, always hosts the Instrument Petting Zoo in the main lobby. A free keepsake craft table and story-time dance classes are offered pre-show in the lower lobby. My kids are always too self-conscious to join the story-time. Nowadays they are too old for it, but they still never miss the craft table. This year they came home with paper-doll-style Blue Fairy puppets.

Details:

There is one remaining performance of Pinocchio – at 3:30 pm on Saturday, March 23. If you miss that one, you’ll probably have to wait until 2022. Tickets are available online.

Pinocchio

Inspired by “The Adventures of Pinocchio” by Carlo Collodi
Music by Nicola Piovani and Amilcare Ponchielli
Conceived & Choreographed by Bruce Wells
Staging by Michele Curtis
Narrated by Allen Galli
Scenic Design by Edith Whitset
Costume Design by Pacific Northwest Ballet Costume Shop
Lighting Design by Randall G. Chiarelli

Running Time: One hour and 20 minutes, including one intermission