WINSTON-SALEM – Those who missed this year’s record-breaking production of The Nutcracker by the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA), and those who want to relive the experience of seeing it live, can tune in to UNC-TV on Christmas Eve or Christmas day. The production will be broadcast at 8 p.m. on Dec. 24, and again on Dec. 25 at 1 a.m. and at noon.

“We are proud to share with viewers throughout North Carolina this brilliant accomplishment by our Schools of Dance, Music, and Design and Production,” said UNCSA Chancellor John Mauceri. “Through our partnership with UNC-TV, we continue to give back to the people of this great state.” 

A two-time Emmy Award winner, Mauceri hosts the broadcast of the 45^th anniversary Nutcracker production in 2010, taped by UNC-TV.  Mauceri won his Emmys as an on-camera host and writer for Hollywood Bowl Orchestra broadcasts in 1994 and 1998.

UNCSA’s Nutcracker is “a holiday treasure,” said Shannon Vickery, director of production for UNC-TV. “We are honored to be able to share this terrific program with viewers across the state on Christmas Eve."  

The Nutcracker was the first collaboration between UNCSA and UNC-TV in more than a decade. Thanks to funding from the A.J. Fletcher Foundation of Raleigh, additional UNCSA performances have been broadcast, and more have been taped for broadcast.

This year’s stage production of The Nutcracker, presented Dec. 8-16 at UNCSA’s Stevens Center, broke attendance and revenue records set in 2011, said Executive Producer Katharine Laidlaw. “Last year was a landmark year for The Nutcracker in which we surpassed all previous box office sales by more than 18 percent, with an average attendance of 92 percent per performance.  This year, we increased our gross ticket sales by $24,000 and more than 15,000 people saw the stage production.

“Attendance and revenue are significant because proceeds go toward student scholarships,” Laidlaw said. “We’re still working on final totals for 2012, but it appears that we will again net more than $200,000 toward scholarships at UNCSA for the 2012-13 academic year.

“The community deeply values The Nutcracker,” she continued, “and the production serves as a vital link between UNCSA and its home of Winston-Salem and the state of North Carolina. It beautifully showcases the unique strengths of our institution.”

UNCSA has presented The Nutcracker annually since 1966. Students are involved in all aspects of the production, from the dancers on stage to the musicians in the orchestra pit, to the production crew behind the scenes.

A new production of The Nutcracker premiered in 2009, with staging by Ethan Stiefel, former dean of the UNCSA School of Dance, with additional choreography by faculty members Warren Conover and Susan McCullough and former faculty member Nigel Burley. UNCSA alumnus and American Ballet Theatre (ABT) Resident Lighting Designer Brad Fields designed the lighting, and UNCSA Design and Production faculty member Howard Jones designed new set pieces.

Charles Barker, principal conductor for American Ballet Theatre, conducts the UNCSA Nutcracker Orchestra performing Tchaikovsky’s popular ballet music.

UNC-TV is North Carolina’s member-supported, 12-station statewide network committed to bringing life-changing television to all North Carolinians. For more information, visit www.unctv.org.

The University of North Carolina School of the Arts is the first state-supported, residential school of its kind in the nation. Established as the North Carolina School of the Arts by the N.C. General Assembly in 1963, UNCSA opened in Winston-Salem (“The City of Arts and Innovation”) in 1965 and became part of the University of North Carolina system in 1972. More than 1,100 students from high school through graduate school train for careers in the arts in five professional schools: Dance, Design and Production (including a Visual Arts Program), Drama, Filmmaking, and Music. UNCSA is the state’s only public arts conservatory, dedicated entirely to the professional training of talented students in the performing, visual and moving image arts. For more information, visit www.uncsa.edu.

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