The Nutcracker and I comes to Leeds for Christmas
The Nutcracker and I
Wednesday 22 & Thursday 23 December
Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre, Leeds
The perfect Christmas treat for the whole family, ground-breaking multi-media show The Nutcracker and I is coming to the Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre in Leeds for four festive performances on 22 and 23 December.
Critically-acclaimed concert pianist Alexandra Dariescu has created the production to challenge the traditional concert format and reach out to new audiences who might not consider coming to a classical concert. The Nutcracker and I is a 50-minute live performance piece featuring a unique interaction between one pianist, one ballerina, and a spectacle of exquisite hand-drawn digital animations.
Dariescu has created her own personal take on the much-loved Christmas story which sees herself re-imagined as Clara: from little girl dreaming to concert pianist. On stage will be a grand piano, played by Dariescu herself, and a ballerina behind a see-through gauze screen. Projected onto the gauze and bringing the story to life are exquisite digital animations, all hand-drawn and created in advance by Yeast Culture. They follow the music and engage live with the pianist and ballerina as they ‘dance’ across the screen. The audience will feel like they are actually in the Nutcracker story.
Tchaikovsky’s beloved music features throughout and includes favourites such as Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Arabian Dance, Chinese Dance, Pas de Deux, and the Flower Waltz in 15 virtuosic arrangements by Mikhail Pletnev, Stepan Esipoff, Percy Grainger and three brand new variations by Gavin Sutherland.
Alexandra Dariescu says: ‘I believe my responsibility as a young artist is to reach out to as many people as possible and to build bridges for those new to classical music. I absolutely love what I do and realised early on that music is my calling, but I am also quite aware that we have to be ever more creative to engage, connect and communicate the beauty of our art to our audiences’.
Tickets for The Nutcracker and I at the Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre, Leeds are on sale now and can be booked online at theatreleeds.com or by calling the Box Office on 0113 220 8008. Tickets are priced at £20 for adults and £10 for children.