--- title: "Sugar Hill: The Ellington / Strayhorn Nutcracker Ballet Picks Halcyon" description: "Sugar Hill: The Ellington / Strayhorn Nutcracker Ballet lit with Halcyon Titanium and ETC Lustr LED lighting fixtures at The Chicago Auditorium" image: https://blog.etcconnect.com/hubfs/Nutcracker%20Sugar%20Hill_Halcyon_2_featured_2.jpg --- - [ETCCONNECT](https://etcconnect.com/) - [ABOUT](https://blog.etcconnect.com/about) - [AUTHORS](https://blog.etcconnect.com/blog-authors) - [CONTACT](https://blog.etcconnect.com/contact) [Follow us on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/ElectronicTheatreControls) [Follow us on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/ElectronicTheatreControls) [Follow us on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/electronic-theatre-controls) [Follow us on LinkedIn](https://www.youtube.com/user/ETCVideoLibrary) [![EtCetera_319x104](https://blog.etcconnect.com/hs-fs/hubfs/EtCetera_319x104.png?width=319&height=104&name=EtCetera_319x104.png "EtCetera_319x104")](https://blog.etcconnect.com) [![ETC Blog](https://blog.etcconnect.com/hs-fs/hubfs/EtCetera_319x104.png?width=319&height=104&name=EtCetera_319x104.png "ETC Blog")](https://blog.etcconnect.com) - [SPOTLIGHT](https://blog.etcconnect.com/tag/spotlight) - [ETC CULTURE](https://blog.etcconnect.com/tag/etc-culture) - [GEAR](https://blog.etcconnect.com/tag/gear) - [LEARN](https://blog.etcconnect.com/tag/learn) - [ODDS & ENDS](https://blog.etcconnect.com/tag/odds-ends) - [BRIGHT IDEAS](https://blog.etcconnect.com/tag/bright-ideas) Search ## [![blog-header](https://blog.etcconnect.com/hs-fs/hubfs/blog-header.png?width=476&height=155&name=blog-header.png "blog-header")](https://www.etcconnect.com) [Follow us on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/ElectronicTheatreControls) [Follow us on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/ElectronicTheatreControls) [Follow us on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/electronic-theatre-controls) [Follow us on LinkedIn](https://www.youtube.com/user/ETCVideoLibrary) [✕](https://blog.etcconnect.com/sugar-hill-nutcracker#gwen-offcanvas-primary) - [SPOTLIGHT](https://blog.etcconnect.com/tag/spotlight) - [ETC CULTURE](https://blog.etcconnect.com/tag/etc-culture) - [GEAR](https://blog.etcconnect.com/tag/gear) - [LEARN](https://blog.etcconnect.com/tag/learn) - [ODDS & ENDS](https://blog.etcconnect.com/tag/odds-ends) - [BRIGHT IDEAS](https://blog.etcconnect.com/tag/bright-ideas) # Sugar Hill: The Ellington / Strayhorn Nutcracker Ballet Picks Halcyon ![Bruce Jordahl](https://blog.etcconnect.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog%20Images/bruce.png?width=34&height=34&name=bruce.png)By [Bruce Jordahl](https://blog.etcconnect.com/author/bruce-jordahl) 7 Mar 2024 ![](https://blog.etcconnect.com/hubfs/Nutcracker%20Sugar%20Hill_Halcyon_2_featured_2.jpg)   *Sugar Hill* is an electric reimagining of Tchaikovsky’s classic Nutcracker, composed by jazz icons Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn in 1960 and seen for the first time as a fully realized ballet at the Chicago Auditorium in December of 2023. To bring the piece to life, Lighting Designer Christopher Annas-Lee deployed 48 High End Systems Halcyon Titanium High Fidelity fixtures. Annas-Lee explained his design was inspired by “a towering sense of whimsy.” He said, “It is a wild, fun show, full of spectacle. But it is also an essential representation of Black culture and identity, of empowerment and acceptance. I take very seriously the job of making a diverse cast look stunning and of supporting them as they tell a story everyone really needs to hear.” About the historic venue where the piece premiered, he described the Chicago Auditorium as “the largest interior space, outside of armories, I have ever worked in, or even stood in. Towering over a steep audience rake and three balconies, the gilded arches adorned with rows of incandescent lamps make the 60’ stage look miniscule. To walk in there makes you feel inconsequential, which was I imagine the goal of the architect. The only way to do intimacy in a space that grand is with scale contrast. Fill this massive volume above the house with razzle-dazzle photonic architecture, so that you can then pull it back to emphasize the humans onstage.” In terms of gear, Christopher says, “we only used what we brought, no time for any house fixtures. This production came together very quickly; we had four hours to focus and dry tech (and Sound Designer Josh Reid was a real gentleman about sharing that time with us), followed by 14 hours with cast onstage. To get ready as quickly as possible, I asked our Associate Zachary Heffner to speed-focus the bare minimum of Lustrs while my programmer Brad Gray got the movers ship shape, and I touched up a cue sheet I had written on the flight. Then we were off to the races!” - ![Nutcracker Sugar Hill_Halcyon_3_web](https://blog.etcconnect.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Nutcracker%20Sugar%20Hill_Halcyon_3_web.jpg?width=648&height=432&name=Nutcracker%20Sugar%20Hill_Halcyon_3_web.jpg) Hover message - ![Nutcracker Sugar Hill_Halcyon_1_web](https://blog.etcconnect.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Nutcracker%20Sugar%20Hill_Halcyon_1_web.jpg?width=648&height=432&name=Nutcracker%20Sugar%20Hill_Halcyon_1_web.jpg) Hover message - ![Nutcracker Sugar Hill_Halcyon_6_web](https://blog.etcconnect.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Nutcracker%20Sugar%20Hill_Halcyon_6_web.jpg?width=648&height=432&name=Nutcracker%20Sugar%20Hill_Halcyon_6_web.jpg) Hover message In addition to 48 Halcyon Titanium High-Fidelity fixtures, Annas-Lee employed eight Esprites, 15 Tetra 4s, “a mess o’ Lustrs, and apparently all the available CF72s on the east coast.” The Esprites were placed on either side of the band trusses for big diagonal back washes, while the precision work was left to the Halcyons. He continued: “The Halcyon fixtures were mostly in a grid overstage, with three rows of nine plus six above the band. There was also one per dance boom, acting as a shin. This was the first time I’d done that for a full system of side light, and I don’t know how I could go back. My associate and I take bets at the beginning of a process on which fixtures will get us out of trouble the most, and it for sure turned out to be the DL/R floor Halcyons, right on either side of the foots; they proved invaluable for filling in faces while pulling dancers out from the background.” When asked why he selected Halcyon Titanium, Annas-Lee exclaimed, “We had so many places to get to, we needed the flexibility!” Act One of *Sugar Hill* moves from a staid ballroom with soft candelabra washes to bustling Harlem streets, defined by boxes slicing in and out around the dancers, to an underground Jazz club (what Annas-Lee describes as ‘wild tight sexy beams’) to a pas de deux through streetlamps in the moonlight (“those tight beams … tamed by self-respect!”). “With the Titaniums, we could do it all. A 6° to 60° zoom is just ridiculous; so fun to play with. And three levels of frost helped make that transition seamless.” He went on: “Act Two brings the full-on magic, and what better way to show that, and keep a constant barrage of new performers feeling fresh, than with big color gestures. This is why I wanted to hold the cyc back until Uncle Dross transports us, and with that swirling chaos lift up the FS Black and plunge the audience into a psychedelic cyclorama. A dramatic psychlorama… a psychloramadrama…” Dross’ glistening white suit, courtesy of designer David Kaley, stood out nicely from that blast of rainbow. Then Annas-Lee followed David’s lead into a hue family per solo, based on popping the costumes and supporting each performer’s skin tone. Magenta for Sugar Rum Cherry, Green and Cyan for the Floreadores, and a “Simone Leigh-inspired stately gold” for Mother Sugar. - ![Nutcracker Sugar Hill_Halcyon_5_web](https://blog.etcconnect.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Nutcracker%20Sugar%20Hill_Halcyon_5_web.jpg?width=648&height=432&name=Nutcracker%20Sugar%20Hill_Halcyon_5_web.jpg) Hover message - ![Nutcracker Sugar Hill_Halcyon_7_web](https://blog.etcconnect.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Nutcracker%20Sugar%20Hill_Halcyon_7_web.jpg?width=648&height=432&name=Nutcracker%20Sugar%20Hill_Halcyon_7_web.jpg) Hover message - ![Nutcracker Sugar Hill_Halcyon_4_web](https://blog.etcconnect.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Nutcracker%20Sugar%20Hill_Halcyon_4_web.jpg?width=648&height=432&name=Nutcracker%20Sugar%20Hill_Halcyon_4_web.jpg) Hover message The LD said that for Act Two, “Again, the Halcyon and Lustr fixtures were key: there is no manufacturer I trust more with color than ETC. The deep red in Lustr 3s makes darker skin tones look electric onstage, and the CMY Titanium fixtures were consistently able to keep a good spectrum inside more saturate hues. You can’t hide that sort of thing when mixing deep blues with CTB or CTO … that deep-shadowed pale rose we all love will only come out of high CRI fixtures and dang, ETC never disappoints.” About the rental shop, Annas-Lee said “*Sugar Hill* was my first experience with Main Light, and I was very impressed. The shop is organized, the inventory is plentiful and new, and the service is great. It’s my sincere hope that Main Light keeps to this high standard as they continue to get the customers they clearly deserve.” In closing, Annas-Lee noted that Zachary Heffner, Joel Balthuis, Brad Gray, and the whole electrics team were essential to the success of the tight process. “It’s hard to overstate how important it is to be surrounded by people you trust, especially on a show this big going up this fast. Thanks to them, and to the designers, our director Josh Bergasse, and to the indomitable cast. This one was a blast!”   - - - 0 [#SPOTLIGHT](https://blog.etcconnect.com/tag/spotlight) [#FEATURED](https://blog.etcconnect.com/tag/featured) ### Stage Lighting Design, Part 9: Getting Technical [Previous article](https://blog.etcconnect.com/stage-lighting-design-part-9) ### The Art of Lighting Churches [Next article](https://blog.etcconnect.com/the-art-of-lighting-churches) [Bruce Jordahl](https://blog.etcconnect.com/author/bruce-jordahl) ![Bruce Jordahl](https://blog.etcconnect.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog%20Images/bruce.png?width=180&height=180&name=bruce.png) Bruce joined the ETC family in 2017. A former magazine editor and journalist, Bruce also worked in marketing at High End Systems throughout the 1990’s, returning as a consultant in 2012. At ETC he covers marketing for the High End Systems product range, and pinch hits on projects for other company departments. Based in Austin, Bruce is a musician and budding record producer, and was nicknamed ‘the ETC musical director’ at Workshop 2018, a moniker he is now comfortable with. He has enjoyed a long side career performing at lighting industry events, loves to talk about his amazing grandchildren, and gets occasional points for sending banana nut bread to his co-workers. #### You may also like [![](https://blog.etcconnect.com/hubfs/big%20hog.jpg)](https://blog.etcconnect.com/when-pigs-fly-birth-of-the-wholehog-0) [SPOTLIGHT](https://blog.etcconnect.com/tag/spotlight) ### [When Pigs Fly: Birth of the Wholehog](https://blog.etcconnect.com/when-pigs-fly-birth-of-the-wholehog-0) By [Bruce Jordahl](https://blog.etcconnect.com/author/bruce-jordahl) 29-May-2025 As ETC prepares to build and ship a new generation of Hog hardware, here’s a nostalgic look back at how the story of Flying Pig Systems unfolded over 30 years ago, with three young men ultimately... 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