"The Nutcracker" to be presented at the Tanger Center in December 2023

The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) has announced that it will present its annual performances of “The Nutcracker” at the Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts in Greensboro in December 2023 after the historic Stevens Center closes for the first phase of its long-anticipated renovation. Tickets will go on sale on July 21, 2023, at uncsa.edu/nutcracker. 

In its first collaboration with the Tanger Center, UNCSA will present a run of six performances, Dec. 7-10, reaching new audiences across the Piedmont Triad while allowing the university to continue one of its most important production experiences for students. The UNCSA schools of Dance, Design & Production and Music collaborate annually to produce “The Nutcracker,” a Winston-Salem tradition since 1966. The temporary move will also provide students the unique experience of touring, performing and mounting a show in a 3,000-seat, state-of-the-art venue only 30 minutes from UNCSA. 

UNCSA will continue working with Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools to offer access to a performance at the Tanger Center, as well as expand the offering to Guilford County Schools, allowing more elementary school students the opportunity to see this beloved annual event.

“I am so happy that we will be able to continue our holiday production of ‘The Nutcracker’ for our students and patrons,” said Chancellor Brian Cole. “‘The Nutcracker’ is an incredible learning experience for our students, and to be able to perform it in a venue like the Tanger Center is an invaluable opportunity. At the same time, I am glad we were able to find a solution to continue the beloved tradition for our patrons and Triad audiences. We look forward to bringing the production back into a transformed Stevens Center once the renovation is complete.”

Performed for the first time on Dec. 10, 1966, in Reynolds Auditorium, the UNCSA “Nutcracker” production has since been reimagined, recreated and refreshed numerous times, and it has expanded to fit the larger backstage spaces afforded by the Stevens Center. During the COVID-19 pandemic, UNCSA created a filmed version of the production in an interdisciplinary collaboration between the schools of Filmmaking, Design & Production, Music, and Dance.

About the Stevens Center renovation

The historic Stevens Center serves as the largest learning laboratory at UNCSA, an economic driver for downtown Winston-Salem, and a cultural destination for residents and visitors. Almost 40 years since the last significant renovation of the Stevens Center, a comprehensive renovation is underway that will address necessary repairs and modern upgrades.

Nationally recognized firms Little Diversified Architectural Consulting, based in Charlotte, and Steinberg Hart, based in Los Angeles, are the design team for Phase 1 of the renovation, and Winston-Salem-based Frank L. Blum Construction Company-W.C. Construction Company (Blum-W.C. Construction) is the construction manager.

UNCSA, in partnership with the design team of Little and Steinberg Hart, is now in the design development process for Phase 1, which will include critical roof and building envelope repairs as well as interior improvements. Detailed design plans for Phase 1 are expected to be announced in spring 2023, with construction expected to begin in mid-November 2023. Details about alternate venues for the UNCSA performance season following the building closure will be announced at a later date.

UNCSA will continue to seek input from the Winston-Salem community for the project, as well as partner organizations such as the Winston-Salem Symphony, Piedmont Opera and the National Black Theatre Festival, among others, who call the Stevens Center home.

About The Tanger Center

A $94-million, state-of-the-art facility that has transformed downtown Greensboro, the Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts is home to touring Broadway productions, concerts, Guilford College’s Bryan Series, Greensboro Symphony Orchestra performances, comedy shows and all types of family entertainment.

In its first year, the Tanger Center hosted 431,092 patrons, 221 events and performances, and 89 sold-out shows. Presented with partners Nederlander and Professional Facilities Management (PFM), the Tanger Center’s inaugural Broadway season was a success with 17,414 season ticket holders, an industry record for a new venue. The 3,000-seat venue is managed by the staff of the Greensboro Coliseum Complex. Visit TangerCenter.com for more information.

The University of North Carolina School of the Arts is America’s first state-supported arts school, a unique stand-alone public university of arts conservatories. With a high school component, UNCSA is a degree-granting institution that trains young people of talent in dance, design and production, drama, filmmaking, and music. Established by the N.C. General Assembly in 1963, the School of the Arts opened in Winston-Salem (“The City of Arts and Innovation”) in 1965 and became part of the University of North Carolina system when it was formed in 1972. For more information, visit www.uncsa.edu.