{"id":430375,"date":"2025-12-07T06:01:27","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T06:01:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/430375\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T06:01:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T06:01:27","slug":"houston-ballets-nutcracker-preview-party-sets-new-donation-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/430375\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston Ballet\u2019s Nutcracker preview party sets new donation record"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Houston holiday season doesn\u2019t officially begin until the Nutcracker Market<\/a> throws open its doors, and this year\u2019s Wells Fargo Preview Party<\/a> felt like stepping into a snow globe set on extra. Like more is more.<\/p>\n

Somewhere between the cheeky stocking stuffers and the Dior-kissed repurposed couture, guests needed an actual map to conquer the sprawling shopping fantasia.<\/p>\n

Held November 12 at NRG Center, the 45th anniversary celebration of the Houston Ballet<\/a> shopping f\u00eate welcomed more than 5,000 eager shoppers, all ready to sprint through aisles lined with more than 280 merchants. Helmed by chairs Susan Binney<\/strong> and Jennifer Kushner<\/strong>, along with preview party chairs Leslie Alston<\/strong>, Kaylon Phillips<\/strong>, and Casey Rowe<\/strong>, the evening shimmered with nostalgia. Guests showed up in themed attire ranging from glittery holiday chic to coordinated squads that looked like flash mobs armed with credit cards and a mission.<\/p>\n

Houston Ballet\u2019s new executive director Sonja Kostich<\/strong> arrived for her very first Nutcracker Market, greeting supporters and soaking in the community\u2019s devotion to a beloved tradition that fuels the Ballet\u2019s mission and scholarship programs. Houston Ballet Academy students glided through the party in costumes from Stanton Welch\u2019s The Nutcracker<\/a>, creating photo ops. Principal dancer Harper Watters<\/strong> and Houston Ballet icon Lauren Anderson<\/strong> also made appearances.<\/p>\n

Festive cocktails, champagne flutes, and a parade of hors d\u2019oeuvre and desserts satisfied while the David Caceres Band<\/a> kept the energy high. By the end of the night, the Preview Party had raised nearly $1.5 million in ticket sales and commissions \u2014 a record for the Market.<\/p>\n

Moreover, more than 104,000 shoppers showed up during the November 13-16 festivities. All in, ticket sales surpassed $24 million and raised more than $6 million to directly support Houston Ballet, its Academy and scholarship program.<\/p>\n

Showing their holiday spirit were Kristy Bradshaw<\/strong>, Ann Bean<\/strong>, Wendy Burks<\/strong>, Anne Chao<\/strong>, Gay Currie<\/strong>, Tom DeBesse<\/strong>, Arcy Mu\u00f1oz Marshall<\/strong>, Sharon Erskine<\/strong>, Ann Graham<\/strong>, Twana Griffith Faykus<\/strong>, Michelle Iversen Jeffery<\/strong>, Jay Jones<\/strong>, Julie Kent<\/strong>, Deborah <\/strong>and Edward Koehler<\/strong>, Chad Libertus<\/strong>, Desrye Morgan<\/strong>, Beth Muecke<\/strong>, Patti Murphy<\/strong>, Jennifer Sommers<\/strong>, S. Shawn Stephens<\/strong>, Allison Thacker<\/strong>, Cynthia Wolff<\/strong>, Deborah Duncan<\/strong>, Ghada Ali<\/strong>, Carolina Oliveira<\/strong>, Catarina R. Gonzales<\/strong>, and Miya Shay<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Houston holiday season doesn\u2019t officially begin until the Nutcracker Market throws open its doors, and this year\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":430376,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5130],"tags":[15045,4345,7258,140834,2107,358,3187],"class_list":{"0":"post-430375","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-fundraisers","9":"tag-houston","10":"tag-houston-ballet","11":"tag-nutcracker-market","12":"tag-shopping","13":"tag-texas","14":"tag-tx"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115676766852394743","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/430376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}