World Premiere of SUGAR HILL THE ELLINGTON/STRAYHORN NUTCRACKER to Debut in Pittsburgh and New York City

 

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 Pittsburgh's Benedum Center for the Performing Arts from October 19-30, 2022. The production will follow with a run at New York City Center (131 W 55th St.) from November 15-27, 2022. SUGAR HILL is set to the timeless music of Ellington and Strayhorn and features a libretto & Concept by Jessica Swan.

This original production is directed with choreography by Emmy Award winner and Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics nominee Joshua Bergasse, with choreography by Jade Hale-Christofi. The show features a world-renowned creative team of dance superstars, with additional choreography by Caleb Teicher and Jon Boogz, and dance consultation from ten-time Tony Award nominee Graciela Daniele and Kennedy Center Honoree Carmen de Lavallade. Orchestrations and Arrangements are by GRAMMY® Award-winner John Clayton and three-time Tony Award nominee Larry Blank. Dance arrangement by Mark Hummel and casting by Mungioli Theatricals, Inc.

A jazz-steeped retelling of the classic holiday story, SUGAR HILL The Ellington/Strayhorn Nutcracker celebrates the music and magic of the jazz heartbeat of Harlem in Sugar Hill. A tribute to the joy of collaboration, the beauty of diversity, and the power of individuality.

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 Julian Crouch (Scenic Designer), Linda Cho (Costume Design), David Finn (Lighting Design), Austin Switser and Switser + Knight (Projection Design) and John Shivers (Sound Design).

Produced by HELLO Entertainment, Willette Klausner, Dale Mott, Rob Quadrino, Brass Bull Productions, Billy Strayhorn Songs, Inc. and Schirmer Theatrical. Executive Producers Randall A. Buck, A. Alyce Claerbaut, and Robert Thompson. Brierpatch Productions serve as General Management.

 

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