There’s a new Nutcracker in town – Drew McOnie’s vision will open at the Tuff Nutt Jazz Club

The world premiere production of The McOnie Company's Nutcracker will open at London's new venue the Tuff Nutt Jazz Club at the Southbank Centre on Saturday 4 November 2023 and will run until 6 January 2024 (previews from 28 October). The production will be directed and choreographed by Olivier Award winner Drew McOnie with Tchaikovsky's score reorchestrated for an on-stage jazz band.

McOnie, Artistic Director of The McOnie Company, said, “It's my desire to fill this Nutcracker with heaps of childlike wonder but with the added free-spirited mischief we all crave at Christmas time.”

The new storyline has young Clive on a quest for self-acceptance. Packed with hope, heart and humour “this Nutcracker is for anyone who wants to live life in full technicolour”. It promises to be playful, mischievous and a lot of fun.

McOnie told The Guardian, “For me as a gay man, I can look at The Nutcracker and think that its family unit has not been representative of me. There are a lot of people it doesn't represent. That's not just its complicated racial identity but the cultural and class system and other nuanced things.”

The show will be co-composed by Cassie Kinoshi and Rio Kai, with venue and set design by Soutra Gilmour, costume design by Ryan Dawson Laight, and lighting design by Joshie Hariette. The cast includes Amonik Melaco (Action Man), Sam Salter (Clive) and Patricia Zhou (Sugarplum) with Chanelle Anthony, Christie Crosson, Tim Hodges, Lukas Hunt, and Rachel Muldoon.

Drew McOnie is an Associate Artist of London's Old Vic Theatre and patron of The National Youth Ballet Company and won the Olivier Award for Best Theatre Choreography in 2016 for In the Heights and was nominated again in 2017 for Jesus Christ Superstar.

Mark Ball, Artistic Director of Southbank Centre, said, “I am thrilled that we're creating a brand new venue at the Southbank Centre – the Tuff Nutt Jazz Club… It signals our own commitment to investing in collaboratively created new performance work that gives audiences unique experiences of theatre and dance. We can't wait to open the doors and welcome everyone into the world of the Tuff Nutt Jazz Club.”

Gramilano( Editor )

Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.

His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.