Chicago Loves “Sugar Hill: The Ellington/Strayhorn Nutcracker”, Premiering A New Musical Experience of Jazz and Ballet

The perfect blend of jazz, ballet and contemporary dance, The Ellington/Strayhorn Nutcracker, a holiday dream told in dance, from Tony Award®- winning producers David Garfinkle and Dr. Ron Simons, made its world-premiere in Chicago at the Auditorium Theater this Christmas holiday.

Performing to a lively audience of all ages, The Ellington/Strayhorn Nutcracker made a spectacular theatrical run from Dec. 20th through Dec. 30th. The audience and local media praised the live performance for its unique collaboration of classic jazz to the century old Nutcracker classic. The Chicago Sun-Times writes, “like jazz itself, this show is just so darn American, infusing ‘The Nutcracker’ with a boundless joy and optimism, all embodied in its extraordinary rhythm.” And Rolling Out says, “an unforgettable and enchanting experience from the moment the curtain rises.”

An exhilarating story told in dance and live performance by a seventeen-piece jazz orchestra, 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 of Harlem. A jazz-steeped re-imagining 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.”

SUGAR HILL is an original production that features a libretto and concept by Jessica Swan, and directed and choreographed by Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Award nominee and Emmy Award winner Joshua Bergasse, with co-choreography by Jade Hale-Christofi. The show features a world renowned creative team of dance superstars including Jinhao Zhang and Josué Gomez as the Nutcracker Musician, Alicia Mae Holloway as Lena, Shavey Brown as Sweet Pea, Jennifer Jade Ledesna as The Angel, Kenneth Darryl Ard as Uncle Dross, and Brenda Braxton as Mother Sugar/Mama Stall. Additional cast includes Nikolas Danilovich-Eugene Gaifullin, Larissa Gerszke, Nayara Lopes, Natascha Mair, Tatiana Nuñez and Scott Weber.

The audience response was overwhelming in the debut of SUGAR HILL, which may lead this musical- theatrical experience to become an annual mainstay here in Chicago and abroad. With interviews on WGN-TV and Chicago Tribune’s review expressing an “Intoxicating world of music and dance” and Chicago Reader writing “glamorous and compelling-magnificent in concept and execution”, its bound to return year after year with bigger crowds and more fanfare for many Christmas holiday seasons to come.