On Christmas Night, December 25, 2020, WRAL will broadcast an exclusive TV event: The Nutcracker, presented by PNC Bank and performed by the Carolina Ballet, the area’s only professional ballet company.
WRAL-TV and Capitol Broadcasting Company are proud to announce a special holiday partnership with Carolina Ballet. On Christmas Night, December 25th, WRAL will broadcast an exclusive TV event: The Nutcracker, presented by PNC Bank and performed by Carolina Ballet, the area’s only professional ballet company.
For the first time ever, the two partners will work together on producing and broadcasting a one-of-a-kind version of this iconic ballet to homes across the region. By taking the wonder of The Nutcracker out of the theatre and into living rooms, new and more diverse audiences can travel with Clara to the Land of Sweets and get introduced to the Sugar Plum Fairy and Tchaikovsky’s world-renowned score.
“Due to the ongoing pandemic and to ensure the safety of our dancers, musicians, staff and patrons, we have made the difficult decision not to perform The Nutcracker in front of live audiences in 2020. When we presented the idea of a televised special to our long-time sponsor, WRAL, they worked their own holiday magic to continue this extraordinary holiday tradition,” said Carolina Ballet Artistic Director/CEO, Zalman Raffael.
The long-time relationship between WRAL/Capitol Broadcasting Company and Carolina Ballet made this unique event a natural collaboration.
“WRAL and Capitol Broadcasting are proud to support Carolina Ballet and ensure this special holiday tradition can continue this year. Our company has long valued and supported traditions that make our community special and this year is no exception. We could not think of a better time and place–Christmas night on WRAL–to make The Nutcracker available to our viewers and our community. It’s an honor to share this highly anticipated performance with our viewers,” said Joel Davis, Vice President and General Manager of WRAL/FOX 50.
The premiere broadcast will be December 25 at 7pm on WRAL-TV with encore performances scheduled throughout the holiday season.
On Christmas Night, December 25, 2020, WRAL will broadcast an exclusive TV event: The Nutcracker, presented by PNC Bank and performed by the Carolina Ballet, the area’s only professional ballet company.
For the sixth year, PNC Bank returns as presenting sponsor.
“Performances of The Nutcracker are synonymous with the holiday season, and bringing Carolina Ballet’s production to Triangle families has become a PNC tradition,” said Jim Hansen, PNC regional president for Eastern Carolinas. “We look forward to helping deliver The Nutcracker to homes this December ― and reaching even more families ― as our gift to the community.”
About Carolina Ballet:
Carolina Ballet is one of America’s premier arts organizations, programming traditional ballets by legendary masters and new works by contemporary choreographers. The Ballet was launched as a professional company in 1998 under the direction of Founding Artistic Director/CEO Robert Weiss. In 2019, Zalman Raffael became the Artistic Director/CEO joined by Michele Weathers as Executive Director. For more than 20 years, Carolina Ballet has garnered critical praise from the national and international media, staged over 100 world premiere ballets. Since its inaugural season, the Company has grown from a budget of $1.2 million featuring 16 dancers and five apprentices in three programs to a $6.0 million budget featuring more than 38 dancers in eight programs. For more information, visit Carolinaballet.com and join the conversation @CarolinaBallet on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
About PNC Bank:
PNC Bank, National Association, is a member of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC). PNC is one of the largest diversified financial services institutions in the United States, organized around its customers and communities for strong relationships and local delivery of retail and business banking including a full range of lending products; specialized services for corporations and government entities, including corporate banking, real estate finance and asset-based lending; wealth management and asset management. For information about PNC, visit www.pnc.com.
Thanks to WRAL-TV for this capcom story & graphic.
