Joshua Bergasse-Directed World Premiere of SUGAR HILL to Play New York City Center

The World Premiere of SUGAR HILL: The Ellington/Strayhorn Nutcracker, the jazz-steeped reimagining of The Nutcracker based on the genre-defying collaboration of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, will debut at New York City Center November 14 through November 26, and in Chicago at Auditorium Theatre from December 19 through December 30. SUGAR HILL is set to the timeless music of Ellington and Strayhorn and features a libretto and concept by Jessica Swan.
 
Tickets are on sale now, and available for purchase at nycitycenter.org and auditoriumtheatre.org.
 
This original production is directed by Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Award nominee and Emmy Award Winner Joshua Bergasse, who is also choreographing, with co-choreography by Jade Hale-Christofi. The show features a world-renowned creative team of dance superstars, with additional choreography by Caleb Teicher and Emmy Award nominee Jon Boogz, and dance consultation from Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement recipient, Graciela Daniele, Orchestrations and Arrangements are by Grammy Award®-winner John Clayton and three-time Tony Award® nominee Larry Blank. Casting by Mungioli Theatricals, Inc.
 
An exhilarating story told in dance, Sugar Hill is set to the music of the genre-defying collaboration between jazz icons bandleader/composer Duke Ellington and composer, Billy Strayhorn, in a captivating way that has never been done before.
 
In its world premiere, Sugar Hill reveals the glamour of the 1930s as seen through the lens of the nonconformist daughter of a high-society Black family in Manhattan and her own fantastic dreamworld in the Sugar Hill neighborhood. A jazz-steeped reimagining of the classic tale, this Nutcracker dance-story sends a stirring message that champions individuality and the journey to find the power of your unique self: “Go find what makes you different to find your magic”.
 
In a shared statement, A. Alyce Claerbaut, Sugar Hill  Executive Producer and niece of Billy Strayhorn, along with Mercedes Ellington, director, choreographer, producer, and familial historian, as well as granddaughter of Duke Ellington, said, “Consummate master of self-expression Duke Ellington and classically-trained, jazz genius Billy Strayhorn, took something wholly European, Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, and transformed it into a story that symbolizes the American ideal — the freedom of individualism — by marrying it to jazz. There is no finer visual representation of this than through dance.”
 
The SUGAR HILL creative team includes Joshua Zangen (Scenic Designer), Linda Cho (Costume Design), David Finn (Lighting Design), Austin Switser and Switser + Knight (Projection Design) , John Shivers (Sound Design) and Tripp Phillips (Production Stage Manager).
 
Produced by HELLO Entertainment, Ron Simons, Rob Quadrino, Valencia Yearwood, Willette Klausner, Dr. Yemin (Yuan) McDougal, Nicole Eisenberg, Chinese Performing Arts Production International, Carol Hefren Tillotson, Harris Ferris, Kathleen and Chip Rosenbloom/Mary Cossette, Brass Bull Productions, Billy Strayhorn Songs, Inc. and Schirmer Theatrical.
 
Casting news will be announced in the coming weeks.
 
Executive Producers A. Alyce Claerbaut and Robert Thompson.
 
Associate Producers Christian McBride, Mickalene Thomas and B'in Live.
 
For more information, please visit www.sugarhillnutcracker.com

ABOUT NEW YORK CITY CENTER
 

NEW YORK CITY CENTER (Michael S. Rosenberg, President & CEO) has played a defining role in the cultural life of the city since 1943. The distinctive Neo-Moorish building was founded by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia as Manhattan’s first performing arts center with the mission of making the best in theater, dance, and music accessible to all audiences. This commitment continues today through celebrated dance and musical theater series like the Fall for Dance Festival and the Tony-honored Encores! series; the annual season by Principal Dance Company Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; and new dance series Artists at the Center. City Center welcomes audiences to experience internationally acclaimed artists including Kyle Abraham, Matthew Bourne, Ayodele Casel, Manhattan Theatre Club, Nederlands Dans Theater, and Twyla Tharp, on the same stage where legends made their mark. Dedicated to a culture built on the values of curiosity, collaboration, accessibility, and inclusivity, City Center’s dynamic programming, art exhibitions, and studio events are complemented by education and community engagement programs that bring the performing arts to thousands of New York City students, teachers, and families every year, in all five boroughs. NYCityCenter.org

ABOUT THE AUDITORIUM THEATRE
 

THE AUDITORIUM THEATRE, located at 50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive at Roosevelt University in Chicago, is an Illinois not-for-profit organization committed to presenting the finest in international, cultural, community, and educational programming to all of Chicago and beyond as The Theatre for the People. The organization also is committed to the continued restoration and preservation of this National Historic Landmark that originally opened in 1889. For more information, visit www.auditoriumtheatre.org