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Phipps Conservatory Combines Winter Flower Show & "The Nutcracker"

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Performances of "The Nutcracker" and the Winter Flower Show at Phipps Conservatory are two holiday traditions in Pittsburgh.

But this holiday season, Phipps is combining the two into one show.

Jordyn Melino, the exhibits director at Phipps, says the towering tree in the Palm Court of the conservatory is decorated in the fashion of Victorian England; appropriate for not only Phipps, but "The Nutcracker" itself.

"The ballet was written in 1892, and the Conservatory opened in 1893 – so we already have that Victorian-era architecture to really display 'The Nutcracker,'" said Melino.

Eight rooms feature eight different scenes and nutcrackers to match, most of them were found on eBay.

"This is the next portion on the journey to the "land of sweets," and this is Clara and the nutcracker prince traveling along the endless ocean," Melino explains the exhibit. "So, here we've taken the Victorian pond and our lovely 20-foot tree and decorated it in blues and silvers and whites."

With a corresponding blue Nutcracker to match.

The final destination is a splash of color, "the land of sweets," complete with a gingerbread house and a Sugar Plum Fairy.

"We get lots of 'wows!'" said Melino of visitors' reactions to the exhibit.

RELATED LINKS:
Phipps Conservatory: Winter Flower Show
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