Tony Bravo December 23, 2020Updated: December 24, 2020, 6:34 pm
Sarah Van Patten and Pierre-Francois Vilanoba rehearse for the San Francisco Ballet’s 2009 production of the “Nutcracker.” Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle 2009
Growing up in Antioch during the 1940s and ’50s, Jeanne Rose heard about San Francisco Ballet’s production of “Nutcracker,” but her family never made the trip into the city to see it. In 1968, she purchased a pair of balcony tickets to take her 4-year-old daughter, Amber, to a performance of the beloved story ballet. Rose still recalls her first time seeing the production’s Christmas tree expand until it filled the opera house stage.
38 Christmas movies and specials to watch on TV this week [Los Angeles Times]
Because you’re a socially responsible person, you’re not going anywhere this Christmas, and you’re not seeing anyone other than the people you saw yesterday and the day before that, so you’re probably going to be watching even more television this holiday week than in years past. There’s a lot to cover, so let’s get to it.
It seems only right to begin with Dolly Parton, who donated $1 million to vaccine research, has gifted more than 150 million book to children and with similar if marginally less significant largess brings the world a double dose of cheer this year. “A Holly Dolly Christmas” (CBS All Access), which is also a big, long ad for her new album of the same name, is mostly just Parton sitting on a pew in a church-themed set, talking and singing and being her awesome casual self. “It’s not a big Hollywood production show, as I’m sure you noticed,” says the singer, adding,
What Christmas movies are on TV? - Chicago Tribune chicagotribune.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from chicagotribune.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
36 Christmas movies and specials to watch on TV this week [Los Angeles Times :: BC-TV-HDY:LA]
Because you’re a socially responsible person, you’re not going anywhere this Christmas, and you’re not seeing anyone other than the people you saw yesterday and the day before that, so you’re probably going to be watching even more television this holiday week than in years past. There’s a lot to cover, so let’s get to it.
It seems only right to begin with Dolly Parton, who donated $1 million to vaccine research, has gifted more than 150 million book to children and with similar if marginally less significant largess brings the world a double dose of cheer this year. “A Holly Dolly Christmas” (CBS All Access), which is also a big, long ad for her new album of the same name, is mostly just Parton sitting on a pew in a church-themed set, talking and singing and being her awesome casual self. “It’s not a big Hollywood production show, as I’m sure you noticed,” says the
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One of the lesser-known holiday traditions at KUVO JAZZ is the yearly airing of “The Nutcracker Suite” on Christmas Day. It’s not just any Nutcracker. It’s the Ellington & Strayhorn version.
To call it an arrangement doesn’t do the piece justice. There is composition involved in this jazziest of reimaginings. The Ellington Nutcracker was written and arranged in 1960 with the lion’s share of the arranging by Billy Strayhorn. On the original recording the album cover features three names as co-creators Tchaikovsky, Ellington and Strayhorn.
It was the first time Strayhorn’s name and picture appeared on an Ellington album cover. At that time an openly gay black man born in 1915 would have been shunned if he rose to fame and prominence so he worked in the background. Ellington paid for Strayhorn’s expenses and supervised his work, but The Duke did not dictate Billy’s projects. Duke was famous and accepted as a “Black Genius” and showman and leader