The show must go on! Hilton Head Dance Theatre’s Nutcracker will be on the big screen

Simply stated, it is hard to imagine the Christmas season on Hilton Head Island without a close-up encounter with a holiday favorite: The Nutcracker.

You must know that our Hilton Head Dance Theatre has been presenting The Nutcracker since 1985! Everybody at the Dance Theater is excited to join the celebration of this 35th anniversary by staging this holiday classic ballet for the big screen.

This year’s production by the Hilton Head Dance Theatre will, by necessity, be different. In response to the COVID-19 guidelines, artistic directors Karena Brock Carlyle and her husband, John Carlyle, were determined to continue their annual Christmas tradition and decided to film the entire production in segments at the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina.

Can you imagine?

I’ve lived on Hilton Head and Bluffton since 1986, and I am certain I’ve seen most of their brilliant productions.

Over those years, thousands have shared The Nutcracker, not only as audience members, but as dancers or cast members. Each year I’m impressed with the generational involvement in the Nutcracker.

The filmed segments are now being edited to be presented on Dec. 12 and Dec. 13 at Park Plaza Cinemas.

If you go see the Nutcracker in movie theaters

The Hilton Head Dance Theatre’s production of The Nutcracker will be available for viewing at Park Plaza Cinema the following dates:

• Saturday, Dec. 12 at 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.
• Sunday, Dec. 13 at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.

The production will also be made available for viewing online Dec. 18 through Dec. 25.

Tickets are $25 for adults and $20 for seniors (55 and over) and $15 for children 18 and under.

CDC requirements for theaters will be in place. There will be physical distancing between groups who purchase seats at the cinemas, and the theaters will be cleaned between showings.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.mannsparkplazacinema.com or stop by the box office at 33 Office Park Road.

For more details visit www.hiltonheaddance.com

Nutcracker cast

You remember the well loved story about a young girl, Marie, who is given a magical nutcracker for Christmas.

She is surprised as she faces the kind-of-comical, kind-of-scary Mouse King as she sets out on a journey through the Snow Forest and then on to the Land of Sweets.

It is Tchaikovsky’s familiar music that supports the E.T.A. Hoffman storyline, and which for many defines the holiday season.

Isabella Kaup, Journy Wilkes-Davis, MacKenzie Starnes and Jamal Edwards will dance the Grande Pas de Deux.

Alexandra Wiegel and Avery Wallace will share the role of the Snow Queen dancing with Journy Wilkes-Davis as the Snow King.

Sharing the role of the Dew Drop fairy are Katelyn Vergakis and Sydney Cullen with Hunter Solomon as the Dew Drop Cavalier.

This story was originally published December 5, 2020 at 12:55 PM.