Sugar Hill: The Ellington/Strayhorn Nutcracker at Auditorium Theatre

Chicago Tribune - Recommended

"...The Auditorium Theatre lost its holiday staple when the Joffrey Ballet moved to the Lyric Opera House in 2021. But that beautiful, gold-trimmed venue in the Loop may have a new winner with “Sugar Hill,” a brand-new “Nutcracker” ballet with a glitzy twist."

Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended

"...An excellent 17-member onstage orchestra, under the music supervision of Larry Blank and John Clayton and conducted by pianist Harold O’Neal, does justice to Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s 1960 jazz take on Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite,” which helps you hear the familiar anew. Filled with some of their standards as well, such as the Strayhorn-written “Take the A-Train” that became an Ellington signature, this evening would be worthwhile based on the music alone."

Buzznews.net - Highly Recommended

"...“Sugar Hill: The Ellington/Strayhorn Nutcracker,” is a revelation, an absolutely delightful spectacle that may open for you a world of riches in music, choreography, and costumes—it did for me."

Third Coast Review - Recommended

"...Harlem. The name evokes a sense of place, time, and for some, the halcyon days of the Harlem Renaissance. Sugar Hill is a section of Harlem where the strivers lived, aka the Black upper class of New York. Sugar Hill is the springboard for a ballet composed by revered jazz collaborators Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. The Sugar Hill concept and the libretto are by Jessica Swan, who is known for writing about dreams and psychology. Swan taps into the storyline of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker with dreams and a heroine’s journey to free herself from the restrictions of upper-class expectations. Joshua Bergasse is the director and also the supervising choreographer."