Birmingham Royal Ballet has taken the “difficult” decision to move its Christmas production of The Nutcracker online because the city has gone into the government’s tier three coronavirus restrictions.
Instead, The Nutcracker will be streamed live from Birmingham REP on Friday 18 December at 7:30PM, giving audiences an experience as close to watching it live in the theatre as possible. It will then be available to view as a video-on-demand recording from Saturday 19 until Thursday 24 December.
Carlos Acosta, director of Birmingham Royal Ballet, said, “I can't deny it's disappointing not to see everyone's happy faces in the theatre, but we will plan to end the year on a Christmas high; finding ways of celebrating is important right now.”
Sean Foley, the REP’s artistic director, added, “teams at the REP and Birmingham Royal Ballet have been working tirelessly since new safety measures were announced to make this very special, one-off adaptation of the classic festive tale. We’re tremendously excited to share it with thousands of people across the world—the first time a performance has been streamed live from the REP.”
The full-length production will be condensed into an 80-minute show. It will feature Tchaikovsky’s score performed live by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia conducted by Paul Murphy.