Live Orchestra Featured at FPAC’s Nutcracker 12/10-11

The Franklin Performing Arts Company (FPAC) will present The Nutcracker on December 10th at 7:30 p.m. and December 11th at 2:00 p.m. at the Thomas D. Mercer Auditorium, 224 Oak Street in Franklin. Erica Cornejo and Paulo Arrais, stars of the Boston Ballet, will dance the principal roles of Sugar Plum Fairy and The Cavalier in the production. This annual holiday classic will also feature a live, professional orchestra conducted by Boston’s Peter Cokkinias.

Maestro Cokkinias, who has conducted for FPAC for the past seven years, is currently Music Director/Conductor of the Metrowest Symphony Orchestra and Director of the Musical Theater Orchestra at Berklee College of Music. He holds degrees from the Manhattan School of Music, the Hartt School of Music and the Cincinnati Conservatory. He has conducted the Boston Pops and the Boston Ballet and as a freelance clarinetist Mr. Cokkinias has performed with the BSO, Boston Pops and its Esplanade Orchestra, Boston Ballet and Boston Lyric Opera.

The FPAC Nutcracker orchestra features musicians from the Boston area and New York City. Concert Mistress is violinist and international performing artist Olivia De Prato.
Dancing the principal roles of the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Cavalier are Erica Cornejo and Paul Arrais of Boston Ballet. FPAC Director Raye Lynn Mercer notes “Our company is thrilled to welcome stars of the Boston Ballet to our suburban production of The Nutcracker. We are proud to present this holiday classic with live orchestra and guest artists, conveniently close to home with free parking and reasonable ticket prices.”

The Nutcracker is staged and choreographed by Cheryl Madeux-Abbott. Madeux-Abbott is a former soloist and principal ballerina with American Ballet Theater as well as Joffrey and Hartford Ballet Companies. She is currently Ballet Mistress at the Franklin School for the Performing Arts. Madeux-Abbott has danced the role of Sugar Plum Fairy in FPAC’s production of The Nutcracker and began restaging and directing the production in 2003.

A distinctive suburban non-profit arts organization founded in 1991, FPAC presents quality performances while offering opportunities for professional artists, amateurs, families and students of the arts to work together in a collaborative and creative environment.

FPAC 2011-2012 programming is generously supported by Pediatric Dental Group of Milford, Marlboro and Franklin, an FPAC 2011-2012 Season Sponsor and Middlesex Savings Bank, a Holiday and Summer Theater Festival sponsor.

Tickets for The Nutcracker are currently on sale at the FPAC Box Office located in The Spotlight Shop at 34 Main Street, or by phone at (508) 528-2887. Tickets for each show are $24.00/$26.00/$28.00, and are reserved seating only. The performances are expected to sell out. Group sales are available for civic groups and organizations. For more information, visit www.FPAConline.com.