Hancher Auditorium audiences will see the Joffrey’s new Chicago World’s Fair-themed re-imagining of “The Nutcracker” ballet before anyone else in the world. The lavish, $4 million production, helmed by Tony-winning choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, will have five “preview” performances in Iowa City from Dec. 1 to 4 before moving to Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre from Dec. 10 to 30.
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KCRG - Tuesday, April 12, 2016
The University announced a new choreographed version of the Nutcracker will be performed at Hancher Auditorium this December. Five performances of the new Nutcracker will take place from Dec. 1 through 4. After, the Nutcracker will be performed in downtown Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University for its "World Premiere."
KGAN - Tuesday, April 12, 2016
On Tuesday, Hancher announced one of the biggest collaborations for their first season to take the stage. The Joffrey Ballet and Hancher have a long history of working together. This year, Joffrey Ballet and Hancher announced a collaboration for the new production of The Nutcracker. Hancher and the UI were first to commit to this project.
Daily Iowan - Tuesday, April 12, 2016
The year’s first event on Hancher Auditorium’s new stage lacked showy lights, glitzy costumes, and staggering production value, but it made up for that in significance. The Joffrey Ballet will debut a new production of The Nutcracker this December, choreographed by Tony Award-winner Christopher Wheeldon. Hancher will serve as a producing sponsor and host five preview productions of the ballet December 1-4 before its world premiere in Chicago on December 10.
Iowa Theatre Blog - Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Hancher Auditorium commissioned Robert Joffrey’s The Nutcracker in 1987, fulfilling Joffrey’s dream of creating a distinctly American Nutcracker. Twenty nine years later, Hancher and the Joffrey Ballet will partner to create an all new Nutcracker, previewing it in the newly built Hancher Auditorium in December, which replaces the building destroyed in the 2008 flood.
ChicagoNow (Show Me Chicago) - Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Preview performances of Wheeldon’s The Nutcracker will take place at The University of Iowa’s brand new Hancher Auditorium, December 1–4, 2016.
Chicago Sun-Times - Monday, April 11, 2016
Wheeldon, who learned the value of previews when working on Broadway, said he is thrilled that “Nutcracker” will have a modest equivalent when it plays at the University of Iowa’s new Hancher Auditorium, Dec. 1–4.
Chicago Tribune - Monday, April 11, 2016
The production, the Joffrey said Monday, will first be seen at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, where it will play Dec. 1-4 at the Hancher Auditorium, a longtime Joffrey presenter, a sponsor of this new production, and the same venue that commissioned Robert Joffrey’s “The Nutcracker” in 1987, as well as the Joffrey’s “Billboards” in 1993.
Chicago Tonight WTTW - Monday, April 11, 2016
Preview performances of Wheeldon’s The Nutcracker will take place at The University of Iowa’s brand new Hancher Auditorium, December 1–4, 2016.
KCRG - Friday, February 12, 2016
Friday night (2/12/16) marks the end of an eight year, post-flood era for Hancher Auditorium. In 2008, a flood destroyed the auditorium's original structure. For the following eight years, Hancher has relied on venues and stages across the state to host performances as construction workers build a new $176 million, 192,000-square foot facility.