Paine closes out another magical holiday season with ‘Nutcracker in the Castle’
The luxurious halls transformed into a magnificent world of sugarplums, attracting plentiful crowds to attend the Paine Art Center’s 17th season of the Nutcracker, which only ran November 17-January 8. The Paine has had many special events associated with this exhibit, including the musical tour, mouse hunt tour, and a gift shop which allowed guests to take a small piece of the castle’s charm home. Visitors also enjoyed the sweet Sugar Plum Café with hot chocolate and cupcakes to tempt holiday taste buds.
Guests are captivated by the magical feel the mansion holds, yet many may not consider the countless hours necessary to bring it all to life. It takes many weeks to prepare and decorate before the Nutcracker is open to the public.
“It takes about five weeks to set up, and almost three weeks to take down,” employee Linda Glander said.
This time frame makes sense, considering they have to put up 70 Christmas trees, and many more intricate details. A small staff is charged with setting up the winter wonderland throughout the Paine. When possible, they strive for maximum efficiency.
“We have a large attic,” Glander said. “Some of our Christmas trees go up whole, and if the lights are fairly new, so we don’t have to take them off the trees.”
While the Paine doesn’t have many areas to store things, they recently added a new area to hold decorations which is located by the new parking lot. However, hauling immense quantities of decorations is a challenging feat.
“Most of our buckets of ornaments go into storage by the new parking lot. Two Men and a Truck help us haul out things,” Glander said.
The vast exhibit includes three different tours including a self guided tour, a guided tour, and a candlelit tour, and the guided tour is the only one that includes the classic dance performance. The prices are 17 dollars for adults, 13 dollars for ages 5 through 17.
“The self guided tour is where you can look at all the decorations, and follow the story books in each room,” assistant curator Tristan Huss said. “In the candlelight tour, we turn off all the house lights and then you're just lit by all the tree lights.”
Another tasteful addition to the exhibit is the Sugar Plum Fairy’s Café, sponsored by Tamera’s Cupcakes. The café ran Friday through Sunday from 5 to 7:30 pm, and served stunning and decadent Nutcracker-themed cupcakes made by Tamera’s.
Whether visitors are enchanted by the snowy forest, sugar plum realm, or the land of sweets, there were over 20 areas for them to explore. They also could search for the 21 mice hidden throughout the rooms for even more engagement.
The workers behind creating the world of The Nutcracker in the Castle have a unique point of view with the rooms’ set up, such as Glander who has experience watching the Paine be transformed.
“My favorite room to set up is the gift shop; I can kinda set up the way I think it should be set up,” she said.
Sometimes workers don’t get the chance to be a part of the set up, but still enjoy all the rooms around the Paine and how immersive the rooms can be.
“I normally don’t set up, but otherwise my favorite rooms to see setup are the great hall or the gothic gallery,” Huss said.
Once the experience comes to an end, guests can commemorate it in the giftshop.
“I absolutely love coming into the giftshop and seeing the nutcrackers and the upside down tree,” an anonymous visitor said.
The Paine’s Nutcracker in the Castle brings holiday joy to the community year after year, leaving guests with festive memories to enjoy until next year. Often guests will leave with a room or experience that sticks with them.
“My favorite place to go and look at is the Sugar Plum forest because I find the area absolutely beautiful, and I just love the spinning ornaments this year,” the anonymous visitor said.
by Kayden Brandt
Published January 29 2024
Oshkosh West Index Volume 120 Issue IV