Production Language English
Country of Origin United States
Description The critically acclaimed The Harlem Nutcracker by Donald Byrd/The Group was performed at BAM in 1996 and 1998. Set to music from Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn’s Nutcracker Suite, and filled out to evening-length with additional music composed by David Berger, the piece answers the question, “What happens when The Nutcracker goes Uptown?” In Byrd’s conception, “Uptown” is a well-appointed Sugar-Hill-like home where, during the first act party scene, family and friends come together to celebrate Christmas Eve. The warm, close family depicted is intentional; Byrd wanted to counteract the image of troubled families often depicted in the media, and represent the tight-knit, supportive community he’d experienced himself. Byrd’s Clara is the family matriarch, a widowed grandmother instead of a young girl, departing from Nutcracker tradition. In the second act, traditionally a string of divertissements to entertain Clara and her prince, this Clara returns in memory with her husband to the Harlem of their youth, where they’re entertained by various floor show acts at a 1930s Club Sweets. The high-energy, eye-popping acts include a sultry showgirl named Sugar Rum Cherry, tuxedoed and zoot-suited chorus boys, and virtuoso jitterbug. Byrd also gives Clara and her husband a series of elegant ballroom duets that underscore their love and loss. Berger conducted the live jazz orchestra and gospel choir.
Identifier 1996f.00597
