Each year, tens of thousands of people celebrate the holiday season with live performances at the National Arts Centre. With a host of different holiday productions and family traditions to take part in, there truly is something for everyone to enjoy! All our stages will be busy and inviting with theatre, dance and music of all kinds to choose from.

The joyous sounds, dramatic flair, sumptuous costumes and festive spirit are alive inside once again for December 2011. Bring your friends and family—the NAC is the go-to destination for holiday spirit and the incomparable magic of live performance. The holiday season is not complete without a visit to Canada’s National Arts Centre. We also offer holiday gift cards that are sure to make you the most popular Santa on the block!

Here is a summary of NAC performances during the 2011 holiday season:

December 1, 2011 – NAC Presents, in partnership with BMO Financial Group
Dala Christmas Show
Studio, 8 p.m.
Meet us under the mistletoe for this exquisitely talented duo: Amanda Walther and Sheila Carabine of Dala. Darlings of the Canadian music scene, these JUNO nominees have released five albums and toured extensively across North America. Don’t miss this soulful folk-pop duo—a real holiday treat!

December 1-4, 2011 – NAC Dance
Pennsylvania Ballet
George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker^TM
Southam Hall, 7 p.m.
Matinees Dec. 3–4 at 1:30 p.m.
Sponsored by Tim Hortons

This spectacular interpretation of the holiday classic showcases artistry and technical virtuosity, sumptuous costumes and set design, dozens of local children, and Tchaikovsky’s beloved score.

December 4, 2011 – NAC Orchestra
Special Kinderconcert: A Christmas Carol
English performance: Panorama Room, 9:30 a.m.
French performance: Panorama Room, 11 a.m.
Pierre?Alexandre Saint?Yves, voice, flute, rauschpfeife, hurdy gurdy/Andrew Wells?Oberegger, voice, bouzouki, bagpipes, guitar, percussion/Chloé Dominguez, cello/Isabeau Proulx Lemire, actor

Children join in the fun as Christmas ghosts, spirit-rappers and other colourful characters haunt mean old Ebenezer Scrooge and try to convince him to change his ways.

December 6-24, 2011 – NAC English Theatre
Oliver!
Theatre, 7:30 p.m.
Matinees Dec. 14 at 12 p.m. & Dec. 10, 17, 24 at 2 p.m.
Music, Lyrics and Book by Lionel Bart
Directed by Dayna Tekatch
Musical Direction by Allen Cole
Featuring the NAC English Theatre Company
Licensed by arrangement with Oliver Productions Ltd. and Oliver Promotions Ltd.
Major Sponsor Trinity Development Group, Associate Sponsor MBNA Canada Bank

Consider yourself part of the family as Dickens’s timeless story is told in this Tony Award-winning musical. (For ages 8+)

December 7-10, 2011 – NAC French Theatre
Beauté, chaleur et mort
Studio, 8 p.m.
Written, directed and performed by Nini Bélanger and Pascal Brullemans
Produced by Projet MÛ
Nini and Pascal are a couple. She’s a director, he’s a playwright. They’re in love. Ten years ago, their infant daughter Fée died in their arms. Now they have created Beauté, chaleur et mort. Here they stand, talking to you; you watch and listen as their lives unfold; they welcome your gaze, and you share their experience as they look back at you. Rarely has art so compellingly imitated life.

December 8-10, 2011 – NAC Orchestra – CTV Pops Series
A Ray Charles Tribute
Southam Hall, 8 p.m.

Conductor Jeff Tyzik, the NAC Orchestra, and vocal/piano phenomenon (and Ray Charles protégé) Ellis Hall recreate the greatest hits of Ray Charles, including Hit the Road Jack, Georgia On My Mind and Unchain My Heart.

December 11, 2011 – NAC Orchestra
Christmas FanFair Concert
NAC Main Foyer, noon
Musicians of the NAC Orchestra present a popular free annual Christmas FanFair Concert and Carol Sing-Along in support of local charities. This year, the orchestra musicians are delighted to welcome mezzo-soprano and CBC radio host Julie Nesrallah and a special guest conductor.

December 13-14, 2011 – NAC Orchestra 
Handel’s Messiah
Southam Hall, 7 p.m.
NAC Orchestra/Trevor Pinnock, conductor/Lydia Teuscher, soprano/Jill Grove, mezzo-soprano/Michael Colvin, tenor/Phillip Addis, baritone/Ottawa Festival Chorus/The Ewashko Singers/Laurence Ewashko, director

Trevor Pinnock brings his signature sparkle back to Southam Hall with hand-picked vocalists, a magnificent chorus and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in performances of Handel’s adored oratorio.

December 16, 2011 –NAC Orchestra
Andrew Craig’s Gospel Christmas with the NAC Orchestra
Southam Hall, 7 p.m.
Andrew Craig, host and musical director/Jackie Richardson, vocalist/Kellylee Evans, vocalist/
Alana Bridgewater, vocalist/Christopher Lowe, vocalist/Sharon Riley and The Faith Chorale

CBC radio and television host Andrew Craig leads an outstanding cast of vocalists in soulful holiday carols and songs certain to put you in the holiday spirit!

December 17-18, 2011 – NAC French Theatre
Le chant de la mer (For ages 5 to 9)
Studio
Dec 17, 1:30 p.m., Dec 18, 1:30 p.m. & 3:30 p.m.
Written and directed by Jean?Philippe Joubert and the creative team
Produced by Nuages en Pantalon – Compagnie de Création

Playful and highly visual, performed almost entirely without words, Le Chant de la mer is both funny and sad, light-hearted and moving. It tells of water and its mysteries: water, the mirror of our fears, our dreams, our memories, our joy, our pain—in a word, our innermost selves. The play explores our intimate and intuitive relationship with water, and shows how water really does frame our Being and our language.

December 18, 2011 –NAC Orchestra
Music for a Sunday Afternoon
Auditorium of the National Gallery of Canada, 2 p.m.
Trevor Pinnock, harpsichord/Sarah Barnes, soprano/Yosuke Kawasaki, violin/Charles Hamann, oboe/
Karen Donnelly, trumpet/Members of the NAC Orchestra

The program includes Overture – Suite for trumpet, oboe and strings D Major, “Tafelmusik” by Telemann; Chaconne & Variations in G for harpsichord and Trio Sonata in B-flat Major, Op. 2, No. 3 by Handel; Cantata Pastorale per la Natività by Scarlatti 

Share the Spirit
With the support of community partners, the National Arts Centre Foundation’s Share the Spirit program brings the magic of live performance to deserving children and families in the Ottawa area. Now in its third season, Share the Spirit has helped families who, for economic or health reasons, may not otherwise have the opportunity to enjoy live performances at the National Arts Centre (NAC) during the holiday season and throughout the year. Once again this holiday season, hundreds of people will benefit from the program. Families participate through Share the Spirit Community Partners, including Big Brothers Big Sisters Ottawa, Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa, Candlelighters, Children’s Aid Foundation of Ottawa, Community Living Renfrew County South, the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Foundation, NAC Orchestra Players’ Association, the Ottawa Food Bank, Royal Ottawa Place, the Sens Foundation, the Snowsuit Fund and the United Way.

The performances supported by Share the Spirit this season include: George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker^TM; Special Kinderconcert: A Christmas Carol; Oliver!; Handel’s Messiah; Andrew Craig’s Gospel Christmas with the NAC Orchestra; Le chant de la mer.

Gift Giving
The 2011-2012 season is full of blockbuster productions that make exceptional holiday gifts. Visit nac-cna.ca to review the complete listing of productions. Gift cards are available at the NAC Box Office.

Tickets for NAC Holiday performances are available for purchase:

• In person at the NAC Box Office
• At all Ticketmaster outlets
• By telephone from Ticketmaster, 1-888-991-2787 (ARTS)
• Online through the Ticketmaster link on the NAC’s website (www.nac-cna.ca)
• A service charge applies on all purchases made through Ticketmaster

 

Groups of 10 or more save 15% to 20% off regular ticket prices; to reserve your seats, call 613-947-7000, ext. 634 or e-mail grp@nac-cna.ca.

Thank you to our media partner the Ottawa Citizen for support of the holiday programming.

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Note: Detailed press releases for each individual performance will follow.

For more information, please contact:
Eleri Evans
Marketing and Communications Officer, Dance
National Arts Centre
613-947-7000, ext. 379; e-mail: eleri.evans@nac-cna.ca
or visit the NAC website at www.nac-cna.ca