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Playlist Making a New American Nutcracker

Making a New American Nutcracker

'The Nutcracker' in Chicago

Daniel Hautzinger

Although it's now a cherished holiday tradition, The Nutcracker didn't arrive in Chicago until almost 50 years after its premiere. Numerous favorite productions have visited or made their home in the city, all with their own staunch partisans.

Dreaming of a World's Fair

Daniel Hautzinger

The Joffrey Ballet's new Nutcracker is set at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. How was the Joffrey's creative team inspired by the epochal World's Fair, and what aspects of the real-life Fair made it into their new production?

How 'The Nutcracker' Became a Holiday Tradition

Daniel Hautzinger

Despite difficulties involving its creation and lukewarm reviews at its premiere, The Nutcracker has become perhaps the most popular ballet in North America. Its path to success on this continent runs through Disney, San Francisco, and CBS.

A New American 'Nutcracker'

Daniel Hautzinger

In the Joffrey Ballet's new Nutcracker,  the main characters aren't wealthy but instead are working class immigrants living on the grounds of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair before it opens. How did the Joffrey reinvent a holiday classic?
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