Behind the scenes: Diana Childs
Senior Stage Manager Diana Childs has been with Birmingham Royal ballet since it was based in London under the name Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet. She has stage managed every single performance of The Nutcracker since its creation in 1990. We asked her about her role, and some of the work that goes in to the ballet.

While she evidently takes her responsibilities very, very seriously, Diana is constantly careful to point to the work of all the other backstage crew; the stage staff, wardrobe department, those on the fly floor, the electricians and lighting technicians.
'I very much believe that it's always a shared thing between me and Nick [Ware, lighting] and Doug [Nicholson, Head of Scenic Presentation] and all their teams. My role is very much from when the curtain goes up.'
'I'm responsible for making all the lighting and scenery change at the right moments,' she explains carefully, conceding that it's 'a bit like a conductor for the visuals. I Stage Manage The Nutcracker from the prompt desk. For plays and other theatre this spot is used to prompt the actors but for us it's a control desk with monitors. I have a score, and all the cues are written on it to indicate when everything has to happen.