Concept, Choreography & Direction: Troy Schumacher
Director of Photography: Leighann Kowalsky
Music: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Berliner Philahrmonic
When the world shut down, an inspired choreographer took on an insurmountable challenge.
The Nutcracker at Wethersfield follows choreographer Troy Schumacher in the dark winter of 2020 as he dreams of an idea to save Christmas and put his fellow New York City Ballet dancers back to work. Set on the grounds of a magical Hudson Valley estate, Troy and his team of fellow artists face almost insurmountable challenges to create an unforgettable and immersive live experience between dancers and audience, who arrive as guests at the ballet’s most famous party scene to witness the Nutcracker like never before. We follow the dancers and their process, exploring their hopes and dreams as they push themselves to bring this vision to reality. This is a film that celebrates the joy and value of art in our communities, and the magic of the holidays through the classic experience of the Nutcracker.
1hr 14mins
A Q&A with Annie Sundberg & Tara Shafer will follow the film.
Annie Sundberg is an award-winning filmmaker based in New York City. Her films and television projects have been twice shortlisted for the Oscars, and earned 2 Peabody and 17 Emmy nominations among other honors. Her production company Break Thru Films is home to a variety of projects including multipart series for Netflix, CNN and Sundance/AMC; Films include: Khartoum (EP, Sundance Festival 2025); Here To Climb (HBO 2024); My So-Called High School Rank (HBO 2022); Reversing Roe (Netflix); Marathon: The Patriot's Day Bombing (HBO); In My Father's House (IFC); Burma Soldier (HBO); The Bengali Detective (HBO); Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work(IFC/Showtime); KNUCKLEBALL! (Showtime); THE DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK (NatGeo); THE TRIALS OF DARRYL HUNT (HBO); One Survivor Remembers (HBO) and the narrative feature Tully (Sundance). She is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, the DGA and the Television Academy.
Tara Shafer is a writer and activist living in New York’s Hudson Valley. Her work has appeared in the New York Times and on National Public Radio, as well as Psychology Today, Huffington Post, and BabyCenter. She served as the Deputy Representative of Amnesty International to the United Nations during the wars in the former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda and continued as the Asylum Program Officer at Human Rights First, coordinating direct pro bono services for indigent asylum seekers. She then worked as Editor-in-Chief of Give InKind, an online connectivity service for those in the aftermath of trauma or transition. She served Wethersfield in a variety of roles until 2023. She has an MA in Human Rights from Columbia University and was the inaugural recipient of the Meidav Award for Creative Nonfiction.