A holiday mash-up for the entire family, The Hip Hop Nutcracker, a contemporary re-imagination of Tchaikovsky’s timeless music, returns to the Tennessee Performing Arts Center’s James K. Polk Theater for one performance on Nov. 25.

Tickets for The Hip Hop Nutcracker go on sale Friday, July 28, at 10 a.m. at TPAC.org, by phone at 615-782-4040, and at the TPAC Box Office, 505 Deaderick St., in downtown Nashville.

The production is performed by a supercharged cast of a dozen all-star dancers, DJ and violinist. Through the spells cast by the mysterious Drosselmeyer, Maria-Clara and her Nutcracker prince travel back in time to the moment when her parents first meet in a nightclub. Digital scenery transforms E.T.A. Hoffmann’s story of sugarplums into 1980s Brooklyn. The Hip Hop Nutcracker celebrates love, community and the magic of New Year’s Eve.

The Hip Hop Nutcracker is directed and choreographed by Jennifer Weber, artistic director of the Brooklyn-based theatrical hip-hop dance company Decadancetheatre. It was adapted to contemporary New York City by Mike Fitelson, executive director of United Palace of Cultural Arts (UPCA) and includes hip-hop interludes remixed and reimagined by DJ Boo as well as an on-stage electric violinist. The Hip Hop Nutcracker is produced by the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), and executive produced by Eva Price.

The Hip Hop Nutcracker

Special guest MC Kurtis Blow, one of hip hop’s founding fathers, once again will open the show with a short set before rapping the introduction to The Hip Hop Nutcracker.

For more information, visit HipHopNutcracker.com, or follow The Hip Hop Nutcracker online at Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

If You Go:

The Hip Hop Nutcracker

Nov. 25, 2017

7:30 p.m.

Andrew Jackson Hall

505 Deaderick St.

Tickets:

TPAC.org

615-782-4040

About The Hip Hop Nutcracker Creative Team

Jennifer Weber:  Jennifer Weber is an award-winning director-choreographer whose career has spanned concert dance, commercial events, theatre and TV. A physical storyteller at heart, Weber brings projects to life with her unique sense of visual narrative. Weber is the founder and director of Brooklyn-based hip hop theatre company, Decadancetheatre (for which she was nominated for the “Outstanding Emerging Choreographer” New York Dance and Performance (Bessie) Award). Her concert dance work has toured across the U.S., U.K., Russia and France performing at venues including Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, The Apollo Theater, The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, London’s Southbank Center, The Everyman in Liverpool, New York City Center, Bumbershoot in Seattle, The Music Center, Los Angeles and The Stanislavsky Music Theatre in Moscow.

Weber has choreographed immersive and staged events for brands including American Express, Uber, Ulta, L’Oreal Matrix, Reebok, Philosophy, Marc Jacobs, Hormel and CK2. She is currently the director for the tour of Lifetime’s Bring It Live! With Coach D and the Dancing Dolls.

As a choreographer, her theater credits include the U.S. Premier of Bryony Lavery’s Stockholm at Stageworks/Hudson, PBS’s Odd Squad Live Tour, James Brown: Get On the Good Foot for The Apollo Theater/U.S. Tour (contributing choreographer with director Otis Sallid), Cruel Intentions The Musical, and Ars Nova’s upcoming immersive theater experience, KPOP (Fall 2017).

Eva Price: Eva Price is a Tony Award-winning producer whose credits include over 15 Broadway plays, musicals, and concerts. She is a member of the Broadway League’s Board of Governors and was named one of Crain’s NY 40 Under Forty Rising Business Stars. Current and notable productions include: Dear Evan Hansen (6 Tony Awards); On Your Feet! (The Story of Gloria and Emilio Estefan); Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons on Broadway!; Peter and the Starcatcher (5 Tony Awards); Colin Quinn Long Story Short (directed by Jerry Seinfeld); Annie (Tony-Nominated Musical Revival); The Merchant of Venice starring Al Pacino (Tony-Nominated Play Revival); Carrie Fisher’s Wishful Drinking; The Addams Family (starring Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth); as well as several solo shows and critically acclaimed concerts starring The Temptations & The Four Tops, Kathy Griffin, Lewis Black, and Hershey Felder. Recent off-Broadway projects include the Drama Desk-nominated Found (Atlantic Theater Company & Philadelphia Theater Company); Benjamin Scheuer’s award-winning The Lion (Drama Desk winner, Off-West End winner for Best Musical); and Bess Wohl’s critically acclaimed Small Mouth Sounds.  International and Touring Credits include: The Hip Hop Nutcracker, featuring Rap Icon Kurtis Blow, Carefree: Dancin’ with Fred and Ginger (Directed/Choreographed by Tony Winner Warren Carlyle), as well as The Magic School Bus, Live! The Climate Challenge; Ella, a bio musical about the life and music of Ella Fitzgerald; ‘S Wonderful: The New Gershwin Musical; Tomie dePaola’s Strega Nona The Musical, Irving Berlin’s I Love A Piano (National Tour and Japan), The Great American Trailer Park Musical, Private Jokes, Public Places (London). For five years Eva worked as an assignment editor and coordinating producer for special projects at ABC News, spending her last year producing and reporting on stories relating to Broadway for ABCNEWS.COM. Upcoming: Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill.

Kurtis Blow: A hip-hop legend, Kurtis Blow was 20 in 1979 when he became the first rapper to be signed by a major label. Mercury released Christmas Rappin, and it sold more than 400,000 copies, becoming an annual classic. Its gold follow-up, The Breaks, helped ignite an international Rap Attack. He released 10 albums in over 11 years: his full-length debut, Kurtis Blow; his second, Deuce, a Top 50 Pop album and a big hit across Europe; Party Time featuring a pioneering fusion of rap and gogo; and Ego Trip, including the hits “8 Million Stories,” “AJ” and “Basketball.” In 1985, he released America, featuring “If I Ruled the World,” a Top 5 hit on the Billboard R&B chart; Columbia/Sony recording artist Nas debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Pop Album chart with a cover of the song in 1997. For more information, visit KurtisBlow.com.

New Jersey Performing Arts Center: New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), located in downtown Newark, New Jersey, is among the largest performing arts centers in the U.S. and is the artistic, cultural, educational and civic center of New Jersey – where great performances and events enhance and transform lives every day. NJPAC brings diverse communities together, providing access to all and showcasing the state’s and the world’s best artists while acting as a leading catalyst in the revitalization of its home city. Through its extensive Arts Education programs, NJPAC is shaping the next generation of artists and arts enthusiasts. NJPAC has attracted more than 10 million visitors (including over 1.5 million children) since opening its doors in 1997, and it nurtures meaningful and lasting relationships with each of its constituents. NJPAC is a proud partner of Newark Celebration 350.

Performance schedule, prices, and cast are subject to change without notice. Institutional sponsors for TPAC include Nissan North America and Coca-Cola. TPAC is a nonprofit arts organization funded in part by support from the Tennessee Arts Commission and the Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission. TPAC reminds ticket buyers that the only official place to buy tickets online is TPAC.org.

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Over three decades, the nonprofit Tennessee Performing Arts Center has welcomed more than 14 million audience members and served more than 1.8 million students, educators and adults with performances at TPAC, teacher resources, classroom residencies, and enrichment programs. Founded in 1980, TPAC serves several hundred thousand audience members each year with the HCA/TriStar Health Broadway at TPAC series, a variety of special engagements, and the productions of the three resident artistic companies – Nashville Ballet, Nashville Opera, and Nashville Repertory Theatre. For more information, visit TPAC.org.