On a Saturday afternoon in December at Kaufmann Concert Hall at the 92nd Street Y, I attended Nut/Cracked, a contemporary reimagining of The Nutcracker choreographed by David Parker, with lighting design by Kathy Kaufmann. The piece was conceived in 2003 by Parker and The Bang Group.
Kaufmann Concert Hall (no relation to Kathy Kaufmann), completed in 1930, is defined by its rich wood paneling and old-world craftsmanship. While the lighting and audiovisual systems are there, and clearly capable, they are carefully folded into the architecture. Nothing announces itself.
This restraint sets the tone for Nut/Cracked. Rather than the elaborate audio/visual effects, scenic automation, and lavish costumes often associated with The Nutcracker at Lincoln Center, this production depends on a more intimate, human approach to staging and lighting. The dancers wear track pants and white T-shirts. There are no painted backdrops, castles, or elevating four-poster beds. What carries the piece visually is shadow, angled light, rich color, and precise timing.
Early in the show, a simple handheld flashlight illuminates faces in near darkness. This low-tech choice is both charming and refreshing, drawing attention to the dancers’ faces rather than fancy effects. Voices and tap-dancing feel largely unamplified. Rather than attempting to dazzle the audience, sound and light are clearly at the service of the bodies in motion and the relationships between performers.
As the piece unfolds, lighting establishes clear visual chapters, a point Kathy Kaufmann was careful to emphasize. Within each scene, shadows stretch and compress the figures as they twirl and tap across the stage. Silhouettes sharpen, then dissolve. The humor lands not because of visual excess, but because the audience is guided precisely to where they should be looking – the dancers’ faces.
Some familiarity with The Nutcracker enhances the jokes. Since its 1892 premiere with music by Tchaikovsky, the ballet has become one of the most codified and frequently performed works in the repertory. Nut/Cracked plays directly against those expectations, bending recognizable characters and musical cues with a light but knowing touch. Still, the work stands entirely on its own without knowledge of the original ballet.
After seeing the show, I spoke with choreographer David Parker and lighting designer Kathy Kaufmann on a Zoom call. She was down-to-earth, practical, and did not over-intellectualize her work. Her focus was on clarity—what the audience needs to see, and when. She described her approach simply: the goal is to sculpt the dancers with light. Not decorate them or overwhelm them. Facial visibility, she explained, is critical, especially given the comedic core of the piece. “You need to see expressions,” she told me. “That’s where the jokes live.”
A New York City native, Kaufmann is a two-time Bessie Award recipient and was nominated in 2015 for her work on Rebecca Davis’s Bloowst Windku. She emphasized how adaptable Nut/Cracked is as a piece. “You can do this show in a parking lot,” she said. “We’ve done it with seven lights at the Edinburgh Fringe, and we’ve done it with 350 at the Fisher Center.”
At the 92nd Street Y, Kaufmann calls the show live from the balcony on a wired headset, working from her magic sheet – a custom quick-reference lighting cheat sheet that simplifies channels, colors, and lighting functions for fast recall. There is no timecode, lighting or audio automation. She manually times cues with a stopwatch and deep familiarity with the work.
That flexibility matters. Transitions are adjusted in real time. Cues may be advanced or delayed depending on audience laughter or performance energy. Communication runs through a Clear-Com wired system chosen for its reliability and low latency. Kathy is in the balcony communicating verbally with the lighting technician. She communicates with David through “telepathy”, she says with a laugh.
The 92nd Street Y operates a hybrid lighting rig combining conventional incandescent fixtures with moving lights, including Martin MAC Aura LED wash units, Martin MAC Profile fixtures for gobo and texture work, and house Vera fixtures, alongside traditional ellipsoidals and fresnels.
To supplement the house system, Kaufmann rented eight ETC Source Four LED Series 2 Lustr fixtures, floor-mounted in shin positions and angled upward to sculpt dancers’ bodies and subtly illuminate faces from below, creating dramatic definition and shadow while maintaining precise beam control, rich color mixing, and smooth theatrical dimming. D The Lustr Series 2—a seven-color LED system (RGBA plus lime, cyan, and indigo) designed for accurate skin-tone rendering—provides high CRI output and precise color control at relatively low power consumption (approximately 150W per unit). Typical rental costs for fixtures in this class run in the range of $75–$125 per week, making them a cost-effective way to extend a house rig without major infrastructure changes.
The ETC Lustr Series 2 fixtures are central to Kaufmann’s approach to sculpting dancers with light, providing precise side illumination that defines form, musculature, and movement. "In a perfect world." says Kauffmann, "side booms in the wings would provide this sculpting angle, but the Y’s relatively compact stage makes shins the practical solution." Positioned at ankle height, they produce crisp highlights that outline bodies in motion— especially when dancers raise their arms, carving clean, graphic lines through space.
She also made use of the venue’s LED ground row and ceiling lighting to support smooth transitions and a rich palette of colors. Because humor is central to Nut/Cracked, faces must always read clearly. Kaufmann also relies on the Y’s box boom positions—front diagonal angles from where balcony boxes would be—which illuminate faces without flattening features, even during fast movement. She works within the Y’s repertory framework, shaping the overall look while respecting the existing infrastructure. It was amazing how crystal clear the dancers’ faces were despite the short time she had to focus the lights—they only had one dress rehearsal the day before.
The audio design follows a similar philosophy. Tap dancing and percussive movement must remain audible against music playback. Microphones placed along the downstage edge capture footfalls and physical articulation which are central to the narrative.
Playback runs in QLab, with music files prepared by The Bang Group. The system combines live “go” cues called by Kaufmann with pre-programmed auto-stops refined over multiple seasons, allowing the show to remain consistent while still responding to the room. All playback consists solely of music. Selections curated by Parker draw from publicdomain Tchaikovsky recordings, providing flexibility without licensing constraints. Parker’s directive, Kaufmann told me, is simple: the audience should be able to “listen to the bodies.” What Nut/Cracked ultimately demonstrates is how contemporary lighting and sound can elevate performance without drawing attention to themselves. Through live cueing, shadow-based sculpting, and a deep respect for the performers onstage, the production proves that sometimes the most effective design is the kind that stays just out of sight.
I left the show tapping my feet, humming Tchaikovsky, and with big plans to relight my living room.