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The Royal Ballet's Nutcracker, filmed on December 28, 2008, will be screened at cinemas in the U.S. and Canada starting on Friday, December 4. Apparently this is the performance that was beamed live into U.K. cinemas at year ago.

Clara - Iohna Loots

Nutcracker - Ricardo Cervera

Sugarplum Fairy - Alexandra Ansanelli

Cavalier - Valeri Hristov

Drosselmeyer - Gary Avis

In the U.S. it will begin screening at Cobb Theaters in Jupiter and Tampa, FL, beginning on Saturday, December 5.

Most U.S. screenings will take place at Carmike Cinemas on Thursday, December 17, Sunday, December 20, and, on a smaller scale, Sunday, December 28. It will also screen at Emagine cinemas in Michigan on Thursday, December 17.

In Canada screenings will begin on Friday, December 4, at Landmark Cinemas and several other locations. Most of the country will get to see it at Cineplex theatres on December 12 & 23.

The link below will take you to the trailer on the distributor site. Select your country in the upper left-hand corner and the date just below the video screen to find relevant show times.

http://centralsystem.digiscreen.ca/ShowPag...resentation=257

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This press release applies to Canada only, but tickets for U.S. screenings are now on sale on the Carmike Cinemas site, though for the moment the showtimes aren't easy to find. I had to refer to the trailer to find them. http://centralsystem.digiscreen.ca/ShowPag...resentation=257

THE ROYAL BALLET’S THE NUTCRACKER IN CINEMAS THIS DECEMBER!

“Easily the most fabulous-looking Nutcracker!nutcracker-poster Exquisite! Magic!” - The Guardian

Starting Saturday December 4th, select cinemas will present the Christmas season family favourite from The Royal Ballet at Royal Opera House Covent Garden - THE NUTCRACKER in High Definition. Never before seen on screens outside of London, The Royal Ballet’s exquisite THE NUTCRACKER composed by Tchaikovsky and staging by Sir Peter Wright will be presented at select Cineplex and Landmark Cinemas locations as well as other select independent theatres in Canada this December. Distributed worldwide by DigiScreen, the highly acclaimed production appears on over 100 select Canadian screens as part of an ongoing cinema series from the world’s great stages presented by The Royal Opera House’s Opus Arte.

A magician with secrets, an enchanted gift, a battle with the Mouse King, a guiding angel and a visit through the Land of Snow to the Kingdom of Sweets: it must be the seasonal favourite, The Nutcracker. The ballet draws on all the imagination and fantasy of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s story of Christmas eve, when young Clara creeps downstairs for one of her presents, but finds herself instead at the start of a night of magical adventures. The designs for this now classic production create the real world of the 19th-century - even when the Christmas tree magically grows and the toy soldiers come to life to fight the Mouse King! The beautifully coloured imaginings of the fantasy Sugar Garden and its celebratory dances make a fabulous contrast - the Sugar Plum Fairy is just one of the delights you might discover here - and Peter Wright’s production tells the story clearly from its mysterious start to its happy conclusion. Tchaikovsky’s music is some of the most instantly memorable of all ballet, with a wealth of famous melodies. This is classical ballet at its most approachable and visually entrancing, with something for everyone to enjoy, from the youngest in the family to the oldest. It’s a present to unwrap yourself this Christmas for that bit of extra magic.

THE NUTCRACKER was captured before a live audience at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in Dec 2008.

Tickets will be available at family pricing: child $9.25, seniors $11.50 and general admission $12.50. For cinema locations and to purchase advance tickets throughout Canada visit www.digiscreen.ca. For participating Theater chains across Canada visit the following links: www.cineplex.com/events and www.landmarkcinemas.com.

For independent theatres in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Alberta and the NorthWest Teritories, please visit www.digiscreen.ca

http://www.digiscreen.ca/upcoming-show/the...-this-december/

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I arrived at a multiplex today to discover that the screening had been cancelled at the last minute. I don't know whether this was a systemic problem or an issue at this particular theatre. The employees there didn't have an explanation. Cineplex is still promising a second screening on December 23, so at least I've got another chance to see it (hopefully).

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There was no cast sheet at the screening I attended today. This much I knew going in.

Clara - Iohna Loots

Nutcracker - Ricardo Cervera

Sugarplum Fairy - Alexandra Ansanelli

Cavalier - Valeri Hristov

Drosselmeyer - Gary Avis

The end credits sped by, but I did catch Elizabeth McGorian and Christopher Saunders as the Stahlbaums, Alastair Marriot as the Grandfather, Genesia Rosato as the Dancing Mistress, David Pickering as the Captain and Mouse King (and possibly in the Arabian dance), Jonathan Howells as Drosselmeyer's Assistant, James Hay as Clara's dancing partner, Brian Maloney as the Harlequin, Jose Martin as the Soldier Doll and in the Spanish dance, and Lauren Cuthbertson as the Rose Fairy. I couldn't help but notice Sergei Polunin in the Waltz of the Flowers.

I'm assuming general familiarity with Wright's production since this is the third time it's been filmed. I must admit that I've never shared the enthusiasm of British critics for the production. For all its detail, I've always found it a little dull and pokey. I have to say that I HATE seeing the grandparents turned into an object of grotesque comedy. Balanchine's production treats them respectfully, and so does Tomasson's for the San Francisco Ballet, but choreographers like Wright (and Nureyev and many others) ought to be ashamed of themselves for depicting the elderly as completely decrepit, and then making them dance decrepitly on top of it. The children, it has to be said, danced very well indeed.

Those who thought San Francisco's Nutcracker had too many quick cuts would have been driven batty by the editing of the party scene. In general the camera focused in too closely on Drosselmeyer, so that, for example, you could see Avis blinking rapidly as the confetti he threw up fell into his eyes, which spoiled the effect; his descent on the stage's little elevator didn't register properly and neither did most of his magic tricks. Although the screening was billed as a high definition event, the lighting up to the snow scene was too dim, resulting in a fuzzy picture on more distant shots of the stage. Those who were bothered by the blurred picture of rapid movement in the POB's Jewels wouldn't like this film any better. The effect doesn't bother me, since I see it as an attempt to convey kinetic energy.

On the other hand, the big-screen presentation made the growth of the Christmas tree very effective, and the snow scene, which usually strikes me as a bit of a dud in Wright's version, benefited from the camera work. It may be my imagination, but the company seems to have sped up the tempi in this scene.

The RB corps seemed to be in better shape than in other recent transmissions. I liked Loots very much. She and Cervera didn't have the conspicuous lightness, elevation or star quality that Cojocaru and Putrov had displayed in the previous film, but they were plenty believable, though Cervera's second-act mime didn't register with ideal clarity. Avis was a charismatic, likable Drosselmeyer, not at all mysterious, but not creepy either. In the second act I especially liked the warmth and graciousness of Cuthbertson's dancing.

I liked Ansanelli's Sugarplum Fairy much more than I expected to, since I'd disliked her Aurora. Her claw hands didn't jive with the very English production, but I did my best to ignore them. My date, however, didn't like her at all, found her very mannered and would have preferred to see Cuthbertson in the role. Rhythmically she did some idiosyncratic things that made it impossible for Hristov to stay in sync. Him we both liked very much, his dancing both gallant and elegant.

On balance this performance made me enjoy the production more than I had in the past. The greater sense of excitement could be a result of watching it on a movie screen, which goes a long way to restoring the energy that's lost when dance is filmed. Whether the market can sustain a third DVD of the production will be Opus Arte's call, I suppose.

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