document_title: The Nutcracker

question_text: where does act i of the nutcracker take place

root

text: The Nutcracker

text: Composition[edit]

text: After the success of The Sleeping Beauty in 1890, Ivan Vsevolozhsky, the director of the Imperial Theatres, commissioned Tchaikovsky to compose a double-bill program featuring both an opera and a ballet. The opera would be Iolanta. For the ballet, Tchaikovsky would again join forces with Marius Petipa, with whom he had collaborated on The Sleeping Beauty. The material Petipa chose was an adaptation of E. T. A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" by Alexandre Dumas père called "The Tale of the Nutcracker".[1] The plot of Hoffmann's story (and Dumas' adaptation) was greatly simplified for the two-act ballet. Hoffmann's tale contains a long flashback story within its main plot titled "The Tale of the Hard Nut", which explains how the Prince was turned into the Nutcracker. This had to be excised for the ballet.[6]

tag: p

text: Petipa gave Tchaikovsky extremely detailed instructions for the composition of each number, down to the tempo and number of bars.[1] The completion of the work was interrupted for a short time when Tchaikovsky visited the United States for twenty-five days to conduct concerts for the opening of Carnegie Hall.[7] Tchaikovsky composed parts of The Nutcracker in Rouen, France.[8]

text: History[edit]

text: St. Petersburg premiere[edit]

text: The first performance of the ballet was held as a double premiere together with Tchaikovsky's last opera, Iolanta, on 18 December [O.S. 6 December] 1892, at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. Although the libretto was by Marius Petipa, who exactly choreographed the first production has been debated. Petipa began work on the choreography in August 1892; however, illness removed him from its completion and his assistant of seven years, Lev Ivanov, was brought in. Although Ivanov is often credited as the choreographer, some contemporary accounts credit Petipa. The performance was conducted by Riccardo Drigo, with Antonietta Dell'Era as the Sugar Plum Fairy, Pavel Gerdt as Prince Coqueluche, Stanislava Belinskaya as Clara, Sergei Legat as the Nutcracker-Prince, and Timofey Stukolkin as Drosselmeyer. The children's roles, unlike many later productions, were performed by real children rather than adults (with Belinskaya as Clara, and Vassily Stukolkin as Fritz), students of Imperial Ballet School of St. Petersburg.

text: The first performance of The Nutcracker was not deemed a success.[9] The reaction to the dancers themselves was ambivalent. While some critics praised Dell'Era on her pointework as the Sugar Plum Fairy (she allegedly received five curtain-calls), one critic called her "corpulent" and "podgy".[10] Olga Preobrajenskaya as the Columbine doll was panned by one critic as "completely insipid" and praised as "charming" by another.[10]

text: Alexandre Benois described the choreography of the battle scene as confusing: "One can not understand anything. Disorderly pushing about from corner to corner and running backwards and forwards – quite amateurish."[10]

text: The libretto was criticized as "lopsided"[11] and for not being faithful to the Hoffmann tale. Much of the criticism focused on the featuring of children so prominently in the ballet,[12] and many bemoaned the fact that the ballerina did not dance until the Grand Pas de Deux near the end of the second act (which did not occur until nearly midnight during the program).[11] Some found the transition between the mundane world of the first scene and the fantasy world of the second act too abrupt.[1] Reception was better for Tchaikovsky's score. Some critics called it "astonishingly rich in detailed inspiration" and "from beginning to end, beautiful, melodious, original, and characteristic".[13] But even this was not unanimous as some critics found the party scene "ponderous" and the Grand Pas de Deux "insipid".[14]

text: Subsequent productions[edit]

text: In 1919, choreographer Alexander Gorsky staged a production which eliminated the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier and gave their dances to Clara and the Nutcracker Prince, who were played by adults instead of children. This was the first production to do so. An abridged version of the ballet was first performed outside Russia in Budapest (Royal Opera House) in 1927, with choreography by Ede Brada.[15] In 1934, choreographer Vasili Vainonen staged a version of the work that addressed many of the criticisms of the original 1892 production by casting adult dancers in the roles of Clara and the Prince, as Gorsky had. The Vainonen version influenced several later productions.[1]

text: The first complete performance outside Russia took place in England in 1934,[9] staged by Nicholas Sergeyev after Petipa's original choreography. Annual performances of the ballet have been staged there since 1952.[16] Another abridged version of the ballet, performed by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, was staged in New York City in 1940,[17] Alexandra Fedorova – again, after Petipa's version.[9] The ballet's first complete United States performance was on 24 December 1944, by the San Francisco Ballet, staged by its artistic director, Willam Christensen, and starring Gisella Caccialanza as the Sugar Plum Fairy.[9] After the enormous success of this production, San Francisco Ballet has presented Nutcracker every Christmas Eve and throughout the winter season, debuting new productions in 1944, 1954, 1967, and 2004. The New York City Ballet gave its first annual performance of George Balanchine's staging of The Nutcracker in 1954.[9] Beginning in the 1960s, the tradition of performing the complete ballet at Christmas eventually spread to the rest of the United States.

text: Since Gorsky, Vainonen and Balanchine's productions, many other choreographers have made their own versions. Some institute the changes made by Gorsky and Vainonen while others, like Balanchine, utilize the original libretto. Some notable productions include those by Rudolf Nureyev for the Royal Ballet, Yuri Grigorovich for the Bolshoi Ballet, Mikhail Baryshnikov for the American Ballet Theatre, Kent Stowell for Pacific Northwest Ballet starting in 1983, and Peter Wright for the Royal Ballet and the Birmingham Royal Ballet. In recent years, revisionist productions, including those by Mark Morris, Matthew Bourne, and Mikhail Chemiakin have appeared; these depart radically from both the original 1892 libretto and Vainonen's revival, while Maurice Bejart's version completely discards the original plot and characters. In addition to annual live stagings of the work, many productions have also been televised and/or released on home video.[2]

text: Roles[edit]

text: The following extrapolation of the characters (in order of appearance) is drawn from an examination of the stage directions in the score.[18]

text: Act I[edit]

text:
Herr Stahlbaum
His wife
His children, including:
Clara, his daughter, sometimes known as Marie or Masha
Fritz, son
Louise, his daughter
Children Guests
Parents dressed as incroyables
Herr Drosselmeyer
His nephew (in some versions) who resembles the Nutcracker Prince and is played by the same dancer
Dolls (spring-activated, sometimes all three dancers instead):
Harlequin and Columbine, appearing out of a cabbage (1st gift)
Vivandière and a Soldier (2nd gift)
Nutcracker (3rd gift, at first a normal-sized toy, then full-sized and "speaking", then a Prince)
Owl (on clock, changing into Drosselmeyer)
Mice
Sentinel (speaking role)
The Bunny
Soldiers (of the Nutcracker)
Mouse King
Snowflakes (sometimes Snow Crystals, sometimes accompanying a Snow Queen & King)

tag: ul

text: Act II[edit]

text:
Angels
Sugar Plum Fairy
Clara
Nutcracker Prince
12 Pages
Eminent members of the court
Spanish dancers (Chocolate)
Arabian dancers (Coffee)
Chinese dancers (Tea)
Russian dancers (Candy Canes)
Danish shepherdesses/French mirliton players (Marzipan)
Mother Ginger
Polichinelles (Mother Ginger's Children)
Dewdrop
Flowers
Sugar Plum Fairy's Cavalier

text: Plot  [edit]

text: Below is a synopsis based on the original 1892 libretto by Marius Petipa. The story varies from production to production, though most follow the basic outline. The names of the characters also vary. In the original E. T. A. Hoffmann story, the young heroine is called Marie Stahlbaum and Clara (Klärchen) is her doll's name. In the adaptation by Dumas on which Petipa based his libretto, her name is Marie Silberhaus.[6] In still other productions, such as Baryshnikov's, Clara is Clara Stahlbaum rather than Clara Silberhaus.

text: Act I

text: Scene 1: The Stahlbaum Home

text: It is Christmas Eve. Family and friends have gathered in the parlor to decorate the beautiful Christmas tree in preparation for the party. Once the tree is finished, the children are sent for. They stand in awe of the tree sparkling with candles and decorations.

text: The party begins.[19] A march is played.[20] Presents are given out to the children. Suddenly, as the owl-topped grandmother clock strikes eight, a mysterious figure enters the room. It is Drosselmeyer, a local councilman, magician, and Clara's godfather. He is also a talented toymaker who has brought with him gifts for the children, including four lifelike dolls who dance to the delight of all.[21] He then has them put away for safekeeping.

text: Clara and Fritz are sad to see the dolls being taken away, but Drosselmeyer has yet another toy for them: a wooden nutcracker carved in the shape of a little man, used for cracking nuts. The other children ignore it, but Clara immediately takes a liking to it. Fritz, however, breaks it, and Clara is heartbroken.

text: During the night, after everyone else has gone to bed, Clara returns to the parlor to check on her beloved nutcracker. As she reaches the little bed, the clock strikes midnight and she looks up to see Drosselmeyer perched atop it. Suddenly, mice begin to fill the room and the Christmas tree begins to grow to dizzying heights. The nutcracker also grows to life size. Clara finds herself in the midst of a battle between an army of gingerbread soldiers and the mice, led by their king. They begin to eat the soldiers.

text: The nutcracker appears to lead the soldiers, who are joined by tin ones and dolls who serve as doctors to carry away the wounded. As the Mouse King advances on the still-wounded nutcracker, Clara throws her slipper at him, distracting him long enough for the nutcracker to stab him.[22]

text: Scene 2: A Pine Forest

text: The mice retreat and the nutcracker is transformed into a handsome Prince.[23] He leads Clara through the moonlit night to a pine forest in which the snowflakes dance around them, beckoning them on to his kingdom as the first act ends.[24][25]

text: Act II

text: Scene 1: The Land of Sweets

text: Clara and the Prince travel to the beautiful Land of Sweets, ruled by the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Prince's place until his return. He recounts for her how he had been saved from the Mouse King by Clara and transformed back into himself.

text: In honor of the young heroine, a celebration of sweets from around the world is produced: chocolate from Spain, coffee from Arabia,[26][27] tea from China,[28]  and candy canes from Russia[29] all dance for their amusement; Danish shepherdesses perform on their flutes;[30] Mother Ginger has her children, the Polichinelles, emerge from under her enormous hoop skirt to dance; a string of beautiful flowers perform a waltz.[31][32] To conclude the night, the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier perform a dance.[33][34]

text: A final waltz is performed by all the sweets, after which the Sugar Plum Fairy ushers Clara and the Prince down from their throne. He bows to her, she kisses Clara goodbye, and leads them to a reindeer drawn sleigh. It takes off as they wave goodbye to all the subjects who wave back.

text: In the original libretto, the ballet's apotheosis "represents a large beehive with flying bees, closely guarding their riches".[35] Just like Swan Lake, there have been various alternative endings created in productions subsequent to the original.

text: The music[edit]

text: From the Imperial Ballet's 1892 program[edit]

text: Titles of all of the numbers listed here come from Marius Petipa's original scenario, as well as the original libretto and programs of the first production of 1892. All libretti and programs of works performed on the stages of the Imperial Theatres were titled in French, which was the official language of the Imperial Court, as well as the language from which balletic terminology is derived.

text: Casse-Noisette. Ballet-féerie in two acts and three tableaux with apotheosis.

text:
Act I

01. Petite ouverture
02. Scène: Une fête de Noël
03. Marche et petit galop des enfants
04. Danse des incroyables et merveilleuses
05. Entrée de Drosselmeyer
06. Danses des poupées mécaniques—
a. Le Soldat et la vivandière
b. Arlequin et Colombine (originally composed for a She-devil and a He-devil)
07. Le Casse-Noisette—Polka et la berceuse
[check quotation syntax]

08. Danse "Großvater"
09. Grand scène fantastique: la métamorphose du salon
10. La bataille de Casse-Noisette et du Roi des souris
11. Le voyage
12. Valse des flocons de neige

Act II

13a. Entr'acte
13b. Grand scène de Confiturembürg
Grand divertissement—
14. "Chocolat"—Danse espagnole
15. "Café"—Danse arabe
16. "Thé"—Danse chinoise
17. Danse des Bouffons
18. Danse des mirlitons
19. La mère Gigogne et les polichinelles
20. Grand ballabile (Waltz of the Flowers)
21. Pas de deux—
a. Adage
b. Variation du Prince Coqueluche (M. Pavel Gerdt)
c. Variation de la Fée-Dragée (Mlle Antoinetta Dell'Era)
d. Coda
22. Coda générale
23. Apothéose: Une ruche

 Ivan Vsevolozhsky's original costume designs for Mother Gigogne and her Polichinelle children, 1892

Variation of the Sugar Plum Fairy

Problems playing this file? See media help.

text: Structure[edit]

text: List of acts, scenes (tableaux) and musical numbers, along with tempo indications. Numbers are given according to the original Russian and French titles of the first edition score (1892), the piano reduction score by Sergei Taneyev (1892), both published by P. Jurgenson in Moscow, and the Soviet collected edition of the composer's works, as reprinted Melville, New York: Belwin Mills [n.d.][36]

text:
Scene

No.

English title

French title

Russian title

Tempo indication

Notes

Act I

Miniature Overture
Ouverture miniature
Увертюра
Allegro giusto

Tableau I
1
Scene (The Christmas Tree)
Scène (L'arbre de Noël)
Сцена (Сцена украшения и зажигания ёлки)
Allegro non troppo – Più moderato – Allegro vivace
scene of decorating and lighting the Christmas tree

2
March (also March of the Toy Soldiers)
Marche
Марш
Tempo di marcia viva

3
Children's Gallop and Dance of the Parents
Petit galop des enfants et Entrée des parents
Детский галоп и вход (танец) родителей
Presto – Andante – Allegro

4
Dance Scene (Arrival of Drosselmeyer)
Scène dansante
Сцена с танцами
Andantino – Allegro vivo – Andantino sostenuto – Più andante – Allegro molto vivace – Tempo di Valse – Presto
Drosselmeyer's arrival and distribution of presents

5
Scene and Grandfather Waltz
Scène et danse du Gross-Vater
Сцена и танец Гросфатер
Andante – Andantino – Moderato assai – Andante – L'istesso tempo – Tempo di Gross-Vater – Allegro vivacissimo

6
Scene (Clara and the Nutcracker)
Scène
Сцена
Allegro semplice – Moderato con moto – Allegro giusto – Più allegro – Moderato assai
departure of the guests

7
Scene (The Battle)
Scène
Сцена
Allegro vivo

Tableau II
8
Scene (A Pine Forest in Winter)
Scène
Сцена
Andante
a.k.a. "Journey through the Snow"

9
Waltz of the Snowflakes
Valse des flocons de neige
Вальс снежных хлопьев
Tempo di Valse, ma con moto – Presto

Act II

Tableau III
10
Scene (The Magic Castle in the Land of Sweets)
Scène
Сцена
Andante
introduction

11
Scene (Clara and Nutcracker Prince)
Scène
Сцена
Andante con moto – Moderato – Allegro agitato – Poco più allegro – Tempo precedente
arrival of Clara and the Prince

12
Divertissement
a. Chocolate (Spanish Dance)
b. Coffee (Arabian Dance)
c. Tea (Chinese Dance)
d. Candy Canes (Russian Dance)
e. Marzipan (Dance of the Reed Flutes)
f. Mother Ginger and the Polichinelles

Divertissement
a. Le chocolat (Danse espagnole)
b. Le café (Danse arabe)
c. Le thé (Danse chinoise)
d. Trépak (Danse russe)
e. Les Mirlitons (Danse des Mirlitons)
f. La mère Gigogne et les polichinelles

Дивертисмент
a. Шоколад (Испанский танец)
b. Кофе (Арабский танец)
c. Чай (Китайский танец)
d. Трепак (Русский танец)
e. Танец пастушков
f. Полишинели

 Allegro brillante  Commodo  Allegro moderato  Tempo di trepak, molto vivace  Andantino  Allegro giocoso – Andante – Allegro vivo

    e. a.k.a. "Dance of the Reed Pipes"  f. a.k.a. "Mother Ginger and Her Children", "Dance of the Clowns", or "Polichinelles"

13
Waltz of the Flowers
Valse des fleurs
Вальс цветов
Tempo di Valse

14
Pas de Deux
Intrada (Sugar Plum Fairy and Her Cavalier)
Variation I: Tarantella
Variation II: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
Coda

Pas de deux
La Fée-Dragée et le Prince Orgeat
Variation I: Tarantelle (Pour le danseur)
Variation II: Danse de la Fée-Dragée (Pour la danseuse)
Coda

Па-де-дё
Танец принца Оршада и Феи Драже
Вариация I: Тарантелла
Вариация II: Танец Феи Драже
Кода

 Andante maestoso  Tempo di Tarantella  Andante ma non troppo – Presto  Vivace assai
 a.k.a. "Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier"  for the male dancer  for the female dancer

15
Final Waltz and Apotheosis
Valse finale et Apothéose
Финальный вальс и Апофеоз
Tempo di Valse – Molto meno

text: Instrumentation[edit]

text: Tchaikovsky's sources and influences[edit]

text: This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: The Nutcracker is one of the composer's most popular compositions. The music belongs to the Romantic Period and contains some of his most memorable melodies, several of which are frequently used in television and film. (They are often heard in TV commercials shown during the Christmas season.[37]) The Trepak, or Russian dance, is one of the most recognizable pieces in the ballet, along with the famous Waltz of the Flowers and March, as well as the ubiquitous Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. The composer's reverence for Rococo and late 18th-century music can be detected in passages such as the Overture, the "Entrée des parents", and "Tempo di Grossvater" in act 1.

text: Tchaikovsky is said to have argued with a friend who wagered that the composer could not write a melody based on a one-octave scale in sequence. Tchaikovsky asked if it mattered whether the notes were in ascending or descending order, and was assured it did not. This resulted in the Adagio from the Grand pas de deux, which, in the ballet, nearly always immediately follows the Waltz of the Flowers. A story is also told that Tchaikovsky's sister had died shortly before he began composition of the ballet, and that his sister's death influenced him to compose a melancholy, descending scale melody for the adagio of the Grand Pas de Deux.[38]

text: One novelty in Tchaikovsky's original score was the use of the celesta, a new instrument Tchaikovsky had discovered in Paris. He wanted it genuinely for the character of the Sugar Plum Fairy to characterize her because of its "heavenly sweet sound". It appears not only in her "Dance", but also in other passages in act 2. (However, he first wrote for the celesta in his symphonic ballad The Voyevoda the previous year.) Tchaikovsky also uses toy instruments during the Christmas party scene. Tchaikovsky was proud of the celesta's effect, and wanted its music performed quickly for the public, before he could be "scooped."

text: Although the original ballet is only about 85 minutes long if performed without applause or an intermission, and therefore much shorter than either Swan Lake or The Sleeping Beauty, some modern staged performances have omitted or re-ordered some of the music, or inserted selections from elsewhere, thus adding to the confusion over the suites. In fact, most of the very famous versions of the ballet have had the order of the dances slightly re-arranged, if they have not actually altered the music. For instance, the 1954 George Balanchine New York City Ballet version adds to Tchaikovsky's score an entr'acte that the composer wrote for act 2 of The Sleeping Beauty, but which is now seldom played in productions of that ballet. It is used as a transition between the departure of the guests and the battle with the mice. Nearly all of the CD and LP recordings of the complete ballet present Tchaikovsky's score exactly as he originally conceived it.

text: Tchaikovsky was less satisfied with The Nutcracker than with The Sleeping Beauty. (In the film Fantasia, commentator Deems Taylor observes that he "really detested" the score.) Tchaikovsky accepted the commission from Vsevolozhsky but did not particularly want to write the ballet[39] (though he did write to a friend while composing it: "I am daily becoming more and more attuned to my task").[40]

text: Concert excerpts and arrangements[edit]

text: Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a[edit]

text: Tchaikovsky made a selection of eight of the numbers from the ballet before the ballet's December 1892 première, forming The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a, intended for concert performance. The suite was first performed, under the composer's direction, on 19 March 1892 at an assembly of the St. Petersburg branch of the Musical Society.[41] The suite became instantly popular, with almost every number encored at its premiere,[42] while the complete ballet did not begin to achieve its great popularity until after the George Balanchine staging became a hit in New York City.[43] The suite became very popular on the concert stage, and was excerpted in Disney's Fantasia, with everything omitted prior to Sugar Plum Fairies.   The Nutcracker Suite should not be mistaken for the complete ballet. The outline below represents the selection and sequence of the Nutcracker Suite culled by the composer.

text: Grainger: Paraphrase on Tchaikovsky’s Flower Waltz, for solo piano[edit]

text: The Paraphrase on Tchaikovsky’s Flower Waltz is a successful piano arrangement from one of the movements from The Nutcracker by the pianist and composer Percy Grainger.

text: Pletnev: Concert suite from The Nutcracker, for solo piano[edit]

text: The pianist and conductor Mikhail Pletnev adapted some of the music into a virtuosic concert suite for piano solo:

text: Selected discography[edit]

text: Many recordings have been made since 1909 of the Nutcracker Suite, which made its initial appearance on disc that year in what is now historically considered the first record album.[44] This recording was conducted by Herman Finck and featured the London Palace Orchestra.[45] But it was not until the LP album was developed that recordings of the complete ballet began to be made. Because of the ballet's approximate hour and a half length when performed without intermission, applause, or interpolated numbers, it fits very comfortably onto two LPs. Most CD recordings take up two discs, often with fillers. An exception is the 81-minute 1998 Philips recording by Valery Gergiev that fits onto one CD because of Gergiev's somewhat brisker speeds.

text:
1954, the year in which Balanchine first staged his production of it, was also the year that the first complete recording of the ballet appeared – a 2-LP album set in mono sound released by Mercury Records. The cover design was by George Maas and featured illustrations by Dorothy Maas.[46] The music was performed by the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Antal Doráti. Dorati later re-recorded the complete ballet in stereo, with the London Symphony Orchestra in 1962 for Mercury and with the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1975 for Philips Classics. According to Mercury Records, the 1962 recording was made on 35mm magnetic film rather than audio tape, and used album cover art identical to that of the 1954 recording.[47][48] Dorati is the only conductor so far to have made three different recordings of the complete ballet. Some have hailed the 1975 recording as the finest ever made of the complete ballet.[49] It is also faithful to the score in employing a boys' choir in the Waltz of the Snowflakes. Many other recordings use an adult or mixed choir.
In 1956, the conductor Artur Rodziński and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra made a complete recording of the ballet on stereo master tapes for Westminster Records, but because stereo was not possible on the LP format in 1956, the recording was issued in stereo on magnetic tape, and only a mono 2-LP set was issued. (Recently, the Rodziński performance was issued in stereo on CD.) Rodziński had previously made a 78-RPM mono recording of the Nutcracker Suite for Columbia Masterworks in 1946, a recording which was reissued in 1948 as part of Columbia's first collection of classical LP's.[50] According to some sources, Rodziński made two complete recordings of the ballet, one with the Royal Philharmonic and one with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.[51] However, the conductor died only two years after making his 1956 Nutcracker recording, so it is possible that there may have been a mislabeling.
In 1959, the first stereo LP album set of the complete ballet, with Ernest Ansermet conducting the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, appeared on Decca Records in the UK and London Records in the US.
The first complete stereo Nutcracker with a Russian conductor and a Russian orchestra appeared in 1960, when Gennady Rozhdestvensky's recording of it, with the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra, was issued first in the Soviet Union on Melodiya, then imported to the U.S. on Columbia Masterworks. It was also Columbia Masterworks' first complete Nutcracker.[52]

text: With the advent of the stereo LP coinciding with the growing popularity of the complete ballet, many other complete recordings of it have been made. Notable conductors who have done so include Maurice Abravanel, André Previn, Michael Tilson Thomas, Mariss Jansons, Seiji Ozawa, Richard Bonynge, Semyon Bychkov, Alexander Vedernikov,  Ondrej Lenard, Mikhail Pletnev, and most recently, Simon Rattle.[53] A CD of excerpts from the Tilson Thomas version had as its album cover art a painting of Mikhail Baryshnikov in his Nutcracker costume; perhaps this was due to the fact that the Tilson Thomas recording was released by CBS Masterworks, and CBS had first telecast the Baryshnikov "Nutcracker".[54]

text:
The soundtrack of the 1977 television production with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gelsey Kirkland, featuring the National Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Kenneth Schermerhorn, was issued in stereo on a CBS Masterworks 2 LP-set, but it has not appeared on CD. The LP soundtrack recording was, for a time, the only stereo version of the Baryshnikov Nutcracker available, since the show was originally telecast only in mono, and it was not until recently that it began to be telecast with stereo sound. The sound portion of the DVD is also in stereo.
The first complete recording of the ballet in digital stereo was issued in 1985, on a two-CD RCA set featuring Leonard Slatkin conducting the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. This album originally had no "filler", but it has recently been re-issued on a multi-CD set containing complete recordings of Tchaikovsky's two other ballets, Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty. This three-ballet album has now gone out of print.

text: There have been two major theatrical film versions of the ballet, made within seven years of each other, and both were given soundtrack albums.

text:
The first theatrical film adaptation, made in 1985, is of the Pacific Northwest Ballet version, and was conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras. The music is played in this production by the London Symphony Orchestra. The film was directed by Carroll Ballard, who had never before directed a ballet film (and hasn't since). Patricia Barker played Clara in the fantasy sequences, and Vanessa Sharp played her in the Christmas party scene. Wade Walthall was the Nutcracker Prince.
The second film adaptation was a 1993 film of the New York City Ballet version, titled George Balanchine's The Nutcracker, with David Zinman conducting the New York City Ballet Orchestra. The director was Emile Ardolino, who had won the Emmy, Obie, and Academy Awards for filming dance, and was to die of AIDS later that year. Principal dancers included the Balanchine muse Darci Kistler, who played the Sugar Plum Fairy, Heather Watts, Damian Woetzel, and Kyra Nichols. Two well-known actors also took part: Macaulay Culkin appeared as the Nutcracker/Prince, and Kevin Kline served as the offscreen narrator. The soundtrack features the interpolated number from The Sleeping Beauty that Balanchine used in the production, and the music is heard on the album in the order that it appears in the film, not in the order that it appears in the original ballet.[55]
Notable albums of excerpts from the ballet, rather than just the usual Nutcracker Suite, were recorded by Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra for Columbia Masterworks, and Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for RCA Victor. Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra (for RCA), as well as Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra (for Telarc) have also recorded albums of extended excerpts. The original edition of Michael Tilson Thomas's version with the Philharmonia Orchestra on CBS Masterworks was complete, but is out of print;[56] the currently available edition is abridged.[57]

text: Neither Ormandy, Reiner, nor Fiedler ever recorded a complete version of the ballet; however, Kunzel's album of excerpts runs 73 minutes, containing more than two-thirds of the music. Conductor Neeme Järvi has recorded act 2 of the ballet complete, along with excerpts from Swan Lake. The music is played by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.[58]

text:
Very many famous conductors of the twentieth century made recordings of the suite, but not of the complete ballet. These include such luminaries as Arturo Toscanini, Sir Thomas Beecham, Claudio Abbado, Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan, James Levine, Sir Neville Marriner, Robert Shaw, Mstislav Rostropovich, Sir Georg Solti, Leopold Stokowski, Zubin Mehta, and John Williams, among many others.
In 2007, Josh Perschbacher recorded an organ transcription of the Nutcracker Suite.

text: Contemporary arrangements[edit]

text:
In 1942, Freddy Martin and his orchestra recorded The Nutcracker Suite for Dance Orchestra on a set of 4 10-inch 78-RPM records. An arrangement of the suite that lay between dance music and jazz, it was released by RCA Victor.[59]
In 1947, Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians recorded "The Nutcracker Suite" on a two-part Decca Records 12-inch 78 RPM record with one part on each side as Decca DU 90022,[60] packaged in a picture sleeve.  This version had custom lyrics written for Waring's chorus by among others, Waring himself.  The arrangements were by Harry Simeone.
In 1960, Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn composed jazz interpretations of pieces from Tchaikovsky's score, recorded and released on LP as The Nutcracker Suite.[61] In 1999, this suite was supplemented with additional arrangements from the score by David Berger for The Harlem Nutcracker, a production of the ballet by Donald Byrd set during the Harlem Renaissance.[62]
In 1960, Shorty Rogers released The Swingin' Nutcracker, featuring jazz interpretations of pieces from Tchaikovsky's score.
In 1962, American poet and humorist Ogden Nash wrote verses inspired by the ballet,[63] and these verses have sometimes been performed in concert versions of the Nutcracker Suite. It has been recorded with Peter Ustinov reciting the verses, and the music is unchanged from the original.[64]
In 1962 a novelty boogie piano arrangement of the "Marche", titled "Nut Rocker", was a No.1 single in the UK, and No.21 in the USA. Credited to B. Bumble and the Stingers, it was produced by Kim Fowley and featured studio musicians Al Hazan (piano), Earl Palmer (drums), Tommy Tedesco (guitar) and Red Callender (bass). "Nut Rocker" has subsequently been covered by many others including The Shadows, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, The Ventures, Dropkick Murphys, The Brian Setzer Orchestra, and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. The Ventures' own instrumental rock cover of "Nut Rocker", known as "Nutty", is commonly connected to the NHL team, the Boston Bruins, from being used as the theme for the Bruins' telecast games for over two decades, from the late 1960s. In 2004, The Invincible Czars arranged, recorded, and now annually perform the entire suite for rock band.
The Trans-Siberian Orchestra's first album, Christmas Eve and Other Stories, includes an instrumental piece titled "A Mad Russian's Christmas", which is a rock version of music from The Nutcracker.
On the other end of the scale is the humorous Spike Jones version released in December 1945 and again in 1971 as part of the long play record Spike Jones is Murdering the Classics, one of the rare comedic pop records to be issued on the prestigious RCA Red Seal label.
The Disco Biscuits, a trance-fusion jam band from Philadelphia, have performed "Waltz of the Flowers" and "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" on multiple occasions.
The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet (LAGQ) recorded the Suite arranged for four acoustic guitars on their CD recording Dances from Renaissance to Nutcracker (1992, Delos).
In 1993, guitarist Tim Sparks recorded his arrangements for acoustic guitar on The Nutcracker Suite.
The Shirim Klezmer Orchestra released a klezmer version, titled "Klezmer Nutcracker," in 1998 on the Newport label. The album became the basis for a December 2008 production by Ellen Kushner, titled "The Klezmer Nutcracker" and staged off Broadway in New York City.[65]
In 2002, The Constructus Corporation used the melody of Sugar Plum Fairy for their track Choose Your Own Adventure.
In 2008 a progressive metal / instrumental rock version of The Nutcracker Suite was released by Christmas at the Devil's House. It includes Overture Miniature, March, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Russian Dance, Chinese Dance, Arabian Dance, Dance of the Reed Flutes, and Waltz of the Flowers.
In 2009, Pet Shop Boys used a melody from "March" for their track "All Over the World", taken from their album Yes.
In 2010, Belgian rapper Lunaman had a hit single "Nutcracka", whose chorus quoted portions of the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy".
In 2012, jazz pianist Eyran Katsenelenbogen released his renditions of Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Dance of the Reed Flutes, Russian Dance and Waltz of the Flowers from the Nutcracker Suite.
In 2012, Duo Symphonious recorded an extended version of the Suite arranged for two classical guitars on their debut album "The Portable Nutcracker". Their version includes "A Pine Forest in Winter" as well as the entire "Pas de Deux".
In 2014, Canadian electronic music producer Brado Popcorn released three versions of the song, titled "The Distorted Dance of The Sugarplum Fairy" on his "A Tribute to the Music of Tetris" album.[66]
In 2014, Pentatonix released an a cappella arrangement of "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" on the holiday album That's Christmas to Me and received a Grammy Award on 16 February 2016 for best arrangement.
In 2015 GlassDuo released an album Glassified with Sugar Plum Fairy recorded on musical glasses (Glass harp).
In 2016, Jennifer Thomas included an instrumental version of "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" on her album Winter Symphony.
In 2017, Lindsey Stirling released her version of "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" on her holiday album Warmer in the Winter.[67]

text: In popular culture[edit]

text: For a comprehensive list of stage, film and television adaptations of The Nutcracker, see: List of productions of The Nutcracker

text: Film[edit]

text: Several films having little or nothing to do with the ballet or the original Hoffmann tale have used its music:

text:
The 1940 Disney animated film Fantasia features a segment using The Nutcracker Suite. This version was also included both as part of the 3-LP soundtrack album of Fantasia (since released as a 2-CD set), and as a single LP, with Dance of the Hours, another Fantasia segment, on the reverse side.[68][69]
The Spirit of Christmas, a 1950 marionette made-for-TV featurette in color narrated by Alexander Scourby, utilizes the poem A Visit from St. Nicholas, and this sequence also includes music from The Nutcracker.
A 1951 thirty-minute short, Santa and the Fairy Snow Queen, issued on DVD by Something Weird Video, features several dances from The Nutcracker.[70]
A 1954 16mm short subject version of The Little Match Girl features a dream sequence in which music from The Nutcracker is played.
The Nutcracker (1973) features a nameless girl (slightly similar to Clara) who works as a maid.  She befriends and falls in love with a nutcracker ornament, who was a young prince cursed by the three headed Mouse King.
Sanrio released a stop-motion adaptation of The Nutcracker entitled Nutcracker Fantasy in 1979.
A 1990 animated film titled The Nutcracker Prince was released and distributed by Warner Brothers Pictures and uses cuts of the music throughout and its story is based heavily on that of the ballet.
In 2001, Barbie appeared in her first film, Barbie in the Nutcracker. It used excerpts by Tchaikovsky, which were performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. Though it heavily altered the story, it still made use of ballet sequences which had been rotoscoped using real ballet dancers.[71]
In the 2006 remake of Black Christmas, 'Dance of the sugar plum fairy' appears numerous times throughout the movie including being the ringtone of the protagonist's cellphone, a music box and playing during the end credits.
In 2007, Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale also used 'The Nutcracker' excerpts, which were performed by The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia.
In 2010, The Nutcracker in 3D (Elle Fanning) abandoned the ballet and most of the story, retaining much of Tchaikovsky's music with lyrics by Tim Rice.  The $90 million film became the year's biggest box office bomb.
In 2013, Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Movie the ending scene is a reference to the Nutcracker Witch.
Disney is developing a live-action adaptation titled The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, Lasse Hallström would direct from a script by Ashleigh Powell.[72]

text: Television[edit]

text:
A 1954 Christmas episode of General Electric Theater featured Fred Waring and his choral group, the Pennsylvanians, singing excerpts from The Nutcracker with specially written lyrics. While the music was being sung, the audience saw ballet dancers performing.[73] The episode was hosted by Ronald Reagan.
A 1996 episode of The Magic School Bus ("Holiday Special", season 3, episode 39), Wanda is planning to see a performance of The Nutcracker. Some of the music for this episode was based on the score of the ballet.[74]
Princess Tutu, a 2002 anime series that uses elements from many ballets as both music and as part of the storyline, uses the music from The Nutcracker in many places throughout its run, including using an arranged version of the overture as the theme for the main character. Both the first and last episodes feature The Nutcracker as their 'theme', and one of the main characters is named Drosselmeyer.
A 2002 episode of Courage the Cowardly Dog titled "The Nutcracker", set in a junkyard, portrayed the title character using a broken nutcracker to defend his masters against two enormous rats intent on devouring them.
A House of Mouse special, Snowed in at the House of Mouse, included an animated short, starring Mickey Mouse as the Nutcracker, Minnie Mouse as Maria, Ludwig von Drake as a character based on Herr Drosselmeyer, Goofy as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Donald Duck as the "Duck-stroke-Mouse-stroke-King-type-person" (or the Mouse King), and portrayed a brief overview of the story, sarcastically narrated by John Cleese. The story ran with modern rock-style adaptations of Tchaikovsky's music.
The "Toon TV" episode of Tiny Toon Adventures and The Plucky Duck Show features a song called "Video Game Blues", set to the melodies of "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" and the "Russian Dance".
A 2005 episode of The Simpsons called "Simpsons Christmas Stories" (Season 17, episode 9), features a montage in which are seen residents of Springfield on Christmas, singing to the tune of pieces from The Nutcracker Suite.[75]
The Wonder Pets on Nick Jr. includes a Christmas themed episode called "Save the Nutcracker", featuring the Nutcracker and Mouse King from the original ballet, as well as much of the music.
An episode of the PBS Kids series Super Why features the Mouse King as a central character.
In an episode of Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps, Angelina sees a performance of The Nutcracker.
The Animaniacs cartoon Nutcracker Slappy featured Slappy and Skippy trying to crack open a walnut in various ways only to find it was empty, all to the music of The Nutcracker.
A two part episode of the Care Bears cartoon series in the 1980s features the Care Bears as the main characters, with Beastley as the Rat King.
During the Christmas music special of Beavis and Butt-head, one of the incidental bits of music they hear is the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, at which Beavis is impressed (saying it's like Ozzy) and he even chants along to the tune before humming Iron Man. The song also appears in the episode The Mystery Of Morning Wood while they sleep and the Morning Wood Fairy comes out of the TV.
In the 2009 MythBusters Demolition Derby Special, Adam and Jamie are testing the "Need for Speed" myth. As Adam and Jamie are preparing the bus for testing, Adam is aggressively preparing the bus to the sound of heavy metal, while Jamie is gently preparing the roll cage to the tune of "Dance of the Reed Flutes."
Monty Python's Flying Circus, episode 25 (series 2, episode 12) titled, "Spam." Within this episode is the "Hospital for Over-Actors" sketch, which includes several patients acting as the Mouse King.
In the early 1980s, a commercial for the breakfast cereal Smurfberry Crunch used a portion of The Nutcracker Suite as music for an advertising jingle sung by Smurfs.[76]
The season 1 episode of SpongeBob SquarePants, "Suds", "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" is heard in its background music soundtrack a number of times.
In episode 9 of Time Bokan 24, "Dance of the Reed Flutes" plays when the Akudama Trio holds signs in Space to get Gagarin to say "The Earth is Blue".
The 2015 Canadian television film The Curse of Clara: A Holiday Tale, based on an autobiographical short story by onetime Canadian ballet student Vickie Fagan, centres on a young ballet student preparing to dance the role of Clara in a production of The Nutcracker.

text: Video games[edit]

text:
In the Game Boy version of Tetris, "Russian Dance".
In the NES version of Tetris, the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" is available as background music (referred to in the settings as "Music 1").
In the NES game, Winter Games, "Waltz of the Flowers" is used as the music for the figure skating event.
In the game BioShock, the main character Jack meets an insane musician named Sander Cohen who tasks Jack with killing and photographing four of Sander's ex-disciples. When the third photograph is given to Sander, in a fit of pique he unleashes waves of splicer enemies to attack Jack while playing "Waltz of the Flowers" from speakers in the area.
In the original Lemmings "Dance of the Reed Flutes" and "Miniature Overture" is used in several levels.
In Weird Dreams, there is also a fat ballerina dancing to the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" in the Hall of Tubes.
In the Baby Bowser levels of Yoshi's Story, a variation of the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" is used as the background music.
In Mega Man Legends, the "Waltz of the Flowers" can be heard in the Balloon Fantasy minigame.
In the Wii Winter Olympics game, a piece from "The Nutcracker" is used as background music for a figure skating event.[77]
In Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance the "Waltz of Flowers", "The Arabian Dance", "The Russian Dance", "The Dance of the Reed Flutes" and "The Chinese Dance" are the background themes that play when Riku is in the world based on Disney's Fantasia.
In Hatoful Boyfriend, the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" is used as the character theme for Iwamine Shuu.
In a TV advertisement for Army Men: Sarge's Heroes 2, the plastic army men work together using a train playset to move a firecracker under the Christmas tree and place it between the Nutcracker doll's legs, while "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" plays.
In Fantasia: Music Evolved, a medley of "The Nutcracker" is listed and consists of the "Marche", "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy", and "Trepak"; besides the original mix, there is also the "D00 BAH D00" mix and the "DC Breaks" mix.
In Dynamite Headdy, the "March" is used in the Mad Dog boss battle.
In Grand Theft Auto V one of the classical horns, that can be bought for cars, plays the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy".[78]
The "Waltz of the Flowers" appears during a baby's death scene in What Remains of Edith Finch.
In Rainbow Six: Siege, the piece: The Nutcracker, Miniature Overture, composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky can be overheard playing in the Cigar Lounge on the second floor of Kafe Dostoyevsky.

text: Children's recordings[edit]

text: There have been several recorded children's adaptations of the E.T.A. Hoffmann story (the basis for the ballet) using Tchaikovsky's music, some quite faithful, some not. One that was not was a version titled The Nutcracker Suite for Children, narrated by Metropolitan Opera announcer Milton Cross, which used a two-piano arrangement of the music. It was released as a 78-RPM album set in the 1940s.[79] For the children's label Peter Pan Records, actor Victor Jory narrated a condensed adaptation of the story with excerpts from the score. It was released on one side of a 45-RPM disc.[80] A later version, titled The Nutcracker Suite, starred Denise Bryer and a full cast, was released in the 1960s on LP and made use of Tchaikovsky's music in the original orchestral arrangements. It was quite faithful to Hoffmann's story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, on which the ballet is based, even to the point of including the section in which Clara cuts her arm on the glass toy cabinet, and also mentioning that she married the Prince at the end. It also included a less gruesome version of "The Tale of the Hard Nut", the tale-within-a-tale in Hoffmann's story. It was released as part of the Tale Spinners for Children series.[81]

text: Another children's LP, The Nutcracker Suite with Words, featured Captain Kangaroo's Bob Keeshan narrating the story, and sung versions of the different movements, with special lyrics.[82]

text: Journalism[edit]

text: In 2009, Pulitzer Prize–winning dance critic Sarah Kaufman wrote a series of articles for The Washington Post criticizing the primacy of The Nutcracker in the American repertory for stunting the creative evolution of ballet in the United States:[83][84][85]

text: That warm and welcoming veneer of domestic bliss in The Nutcracker gives the appearance that all is just plummy in the ballet world. But ballet is beset by serious ailments that threaten its future in this country... companies are so cautious in their programming that they have effectively reduced an art form to a rotation of over-roasted chestnuts that no one can justifiably croon about... The tyranny of The Nutcracker is emblematic of how dull and risk-averse American ballet has become. There were moments throughout the 20th century when ballet was brave. When it threw bold punches at its own conventions. First among these was the Ballets Russes period, when ballet—ballet—lassoed the avant-garde art movement and, with works such as Michel Fokine's fashionably sexy Scheherazade (1910) and Léonide Massine's Cubist-inspired Parade (1917), made world capitals sit up and take notice. Afraid of scandal? Not these free-thinkers; Vaslav Nijinsky's rough-hewn, aggressive Rite of Spring famously put Paris in an uproar in 1913... Where are this century's provocations? Has ballet become so entwined with its "Nutcracker" image, so fearfully wedded to unthreatening offerings, that it has forgotten how eye-opening and ultimately nourishing creative destruction can be?[84]

text: In 2010, Alastair Macaulay, dance critic for The New York Times (who had previously taken Kaufman to task for her criticism of The Nutcracker[86]) began The Nutcracker Chronicles, a series of blog articles documenting his travels across the United States to see different productions of the ballet.[87]

text: Act I of The Nutcracker ends with snow falling and snowflakes dancing. Yet The Nutcracker is now seasonal entertainment even in parts of America where snow seldom falls: Hawaii, the California coast, Florida. Over the last 70 years this ballet—conceived in the Old World—has become an American institution. Its amalgam of children, parents, toys, a Christmas tree, snow, sweets and Tchaikovsky’s astounding score is integral to the season of good will that runs from Thanksgiving to New Year... I am a European who lives in America, and I never saw any Nutcracker until I was 21. Since then I’ve seen it many times. The importance of this ballet to America has become a phenomenon that surely says as much about this country as it does about this work of art. So this year I'm running a Nutcracker marathon: taking in as many different American productions as I can reasonably manage in November and December, from coast to coast (more than 20, if all goes well). America is a country I’m still discovering; let The Nutcracker be part of my research.[88]


document_title: 2018 NFL season

question_text: when does 2018 nfl season schedule come out

text: 2018 NFL season

text: Player movements[edit]

text: The 2018 NFL League year began on March 14. On March 12, clubs were allowed to contact and enter into contract negotiations with the agents of players who were to become unrestricted free agents upon the expiration of their contracts two days later. On March 9, clubs were allowed to exercise options for 2018 on players who have option clauses in their contracts, submit qualifying offers to their pending restricted free agents, and submit a Minimum Salary Tender to retain exclusive negotiating rights to their players with expiring 2017 contracts and who have fewer than three accrued seasons of free agent credit. Teams were required to be under the salary cap using the "Top-51" definition (in which the 51 highest paid-players on the team's payroll must have a collected salary cap hit below the actual cap). The 2018 trading period also began March 14.

text: Free agency[edit]

text: Over 550 players were eligible for some form of free agency during the free agency period.[1] Notable players to change teams include:

text:
Quarterbacks Sam Bradford (Minnesota to Arizona), Teddy Bridgewater (Minnesota to New York Jets) Kirk Cousins (Washington to Minnesota), Case Keenum (Minnesota to Denver), and A.J. McCarron (Cincinnati to Buffalo).
Running backs Isaiah Crowell (Cleveland to New York Jets), Carlos Hyde (San Francisco to Cleveland), Dion Lewis (New England to Tennessee), and Jerick McKinnon (Minnesota to San Francisco)
Wide receivers Danny Amendola (New England to Miami), Allen Hurns (Jacksonville to Dallas), Jordy Nelson (Green Bay to Oakland), Allen Robinson (Jacksonville to Chicago), and Sammy Watkins (Los Angeles Rams to Kansas City)
Tight ends Trey Burton (Philadelphia to Chicago), Jimmy Graham (Seattle to Green Bay), and Austin Seferian-Jenkins (New York Jets to Jacksonville)
Offensive linemen Cameron Fleming (New England to Dallas), Andrew Norwell (Carolina to Jacksonville), Mike Pouncey (Miami to Los Angeles Chargers), Justin Pugh (New York Giants to Arizona), Weston Richburg (New York Giants to San Francisco), Nate Solder (New England to New York Giants), Josh Sitton (Chicago to Miami), and Travis Swanson (Detroit to New York Jets)
Defensive linemen Adrian Clayborn (Atlanta to New England), Vinny Curry (Philadelphia to Tampa Bay), Sheldon Richardson (Seattle to Minnesota), Ndamukong Suh (Miami to Los Angeles Rams), and Muhammad Wilkerson (New York Jets to Green Bay)
Linebackers Demario Davis (New York Jets to New Orleans), Trent Murphy (Washington to Buffalo), Tahir Whitehead (Detroit to Oakland) and Avery Williamson (Tennessee to New York Jets)
Defensive backs Malcolm Butler (New England to Tennessee), Morgan Burnett (Green Bay to Pittsburgh), T. J. Carrie (Oakland to Cleveland), Ross Cockrell (New York Giants to Carolina), E. J. Gaines (Buffalo to Cleveland), Marcus Gilchrist (Houston to Oakland), Trumaine Johnson (cornerback) (Los Angeles Rams to New York Jets), Tyrann Mathieu (Arizona to Houston), Rashaan Melvin (Indianapolis to Oakland), Patrick Robinson (Philadelphia Eagles to New Orleans), and Richard Sherman (Seattle to San Francisco)
Punter Marquette King (Oakland to Denver)

text: Trades[edit]

text:
March 14: Miami traded WR Jarvis Landry to Cleveland for a 2018 4th round selection (123rd overall) and a 2019 7th round selection.[2]
March 14: Buffalo traded QB Tyrod Taylor to Cleveland for a 2018 3rd round selection (65th overall).[3]
March 14: Buffalo traded T Cordy Glenn, a 2018 1st round selection (21st overall), and a 2018 5th round selection (158th overall) to Cincinnati for a 2018 1st round selection (12th overall) and a 2018 6th round selection (187th overall).[3]
March 14: Green Bay traded CB Damarious Randall, a 2018 4th round selection (114th overall), and a 2018 5th round selection (150th overall) to Cleveland for QB DeShone Kizer, a 2018 4th round selection (101st overall), and a 2018 5th round selection (138th overall)[2]
March 14: Cleveland traded DT Danny Shelton and a 2018 5th round selection (159th overall) to New England for a 2019 3rd round selection.[4]
March 14: Kansas City traded QB Alex Smith to Washington in exchange for CB Kendall Fuller and a 2018 3rd round selection (78th overall).[5]
March 14: Kansas City traded CB Marcus Peters and a 2018 6th round draft selection (196th overall) to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for a 2018 4th round selection (124th overall) and a 2019 2nd round selection.[6]
March 14: Denver traded CB Aqib Talib to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for a 2018 5th round selection (160th overall).[7]
March 14: Denver traded QB Trevor Siemian and a 2018 7th round selection (225th overall) to Minnesota for a 2019 5th round selection.[8]
March 14: The Los Angeles Rams traded LB Alec Ogletree and a 2019 7th round draft selection to the New York Giants in exchange for a 2018 4th round selection (135th overall) and a 2018 6th round selection (176th overall).[9]
March 14: The Los Angeles Rams traded DE Robert Quinn and a 2018 6th round selection to Miami in exchange for a 2018 4th round selection and a 2018 6th round selection.[10]
March 14: Seattle traded DE Michael Bennett and a 2018 7th round selection to Philadelphia for WR Marcus Johnson and a 2018 5th round selection.[11]
March 14: Philadelphia traded WR Torrey Smith to Carolina for CB Daryl Worley.[12]
March 15: San Francisco traded C Daniel Kilgore and a 2018 7th round selection (227th overall) to Miami in exchange for a 2018 7th round selection (223rd overall).[13]
March 15: Cleveland traded CB Jason McCourty and a 2018 7th round selection (219th overall) to New England for a 2018 sixth round selection (205th overall).[14]
March 18: Oakland traded WR Cordarrelle Patterson and a 2018 6th round selection (210th overall) to New England for a 2018 5th round selection (159th overall) .[15][16]
March 20: Oakland traded FB Jamize Olawale and a 2018 sixth round selection (192nd overall) to Dallas for a 2018 fifth round selection (173rd overall).[17]
March 22: The New York Giants traded DE Jason Pierre-Paul and their 2018 4th round selection (102nd overall) to Tampa Bay in exchange for a 2018 3rd round selection (69th overall) and a 2018 4th round selection (108th overall).[18]
March 23: Arizona traded T Jared Veldheer to Denver for a 2018 sixth round selection (182nd overall).[19]
March 28: Cleveland traded QB Cody Kessler to Jacksonville for a conditional 2019 7th round selection.[20]
March 29: Washington traded S Su'a Cravens, a 2018 4th round selection (113th overall), and a 2018 5th round selection (149th overall) to Denver in exchange for a 2018 4th round selection (109th overall), two 2018 5th round selections (142nd and 163rd overall), and a conditional 2020 selection.[21]
April 3: New England traded WR Brandin Cooks and a 2018 fourth round selection (136th overall) to the Los Angeles Rams for a 2018 first round selection (23rd overall) and a 2018 sixth round selection (198th overall).[22]
April 6: Cleveland traded QB Kevin Hogan and a 2018 6th round selection (205th overall) to Washington in exchange for a 2018 6th round selection (188th overall).[23]
April 26: Pittsburgh traded WR Martavis Bryant to Oakland for a 2018 3rd round selection (79th overall).[24][25]

text: Retirements[edit]

text:
Antonio Cromartie: The four-time Pro Bowler and one-time All-Pro cornerback, who shares the league record for most yards gained on a play (109 on a missed field goal return) and led the league in interceptions 2008, announced his retirement after an 11-year career. Cromartie played for the then-San Diego Chargers, New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals, and Indianapolis Colts over the course of his career, before spending the entire 2017 season as an unsigned free agent.[26]
Matt Forte: The 32 year old running back retired after 10 years, 8 with the Chicago Bears and 2 with the New York Jets. He was elected to 2 pro bowls.[27]
Dwight Freeney: The 16-year veteran defensive end, who spent most of his career with the Indianapolis Colts, retired April 19. He appeared in seven Pro Bowls, was a four-time All-Pro and led the NFL in sacks during the 2004 season.[28]
James Harrison: The 15-year NFL veteran linebacker, four-time All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowler who spent the peak of his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers announced his retirement, at the age of 39, on April 16.[29]
Devin Hester: The four-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro return specialist holds the NFL record for most all-time return touchdowns (punt and kickoff combined) and most all-time punt return touchdowns.[30] He is widely regarded as one of the best return specialists in NFL history, and was the first person ever to return the opening kick of the Super Bowl back for a touchdown. Hester, who had spent 2017 out of football, played 11 seasons in the NFL, the majority of them with the Chicago Bears.[31][32][33]
Richie Incognito announced his retirement April 10. The retirement was part of a string of erratic behavior and inconsistent statements on Incognito's part, the only consistent thread being an ongoing contract dispute with his current team, the Buffalo Bills, who have listed him as retired on their roster. Incognito has appeared in four Pro Bowls over the course of a 12-season career with the Bills, Miami Dolphins and then-St. Louis Rams, with most of his success coming in Buffalo. He was released from his contract on May 21 and is free to sign with any team.
Nick Mangold: The seven-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro retired after 11 seasons, all with the New York Jets. He had spent the 2017 season out of football after the Jets released him in a salary cap maneuver.[34]
Carson Palmer: The 38 year old quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, who had previously played on the Cincinnati Bengals (who drafted Palmer first overall in 2003) and Oakland Raiders, retired after the 2017 season. The 2002 Heisman Trophy winner appeared in three Pro Bowls, was a second team All-Pro in 2015, and led the NFL in passing yards in 2005.[35][36]
Joe Thomas: The ten-time Pro Bowler and seven-time All-Pro offensive tackle retired after an 11-year career with the Cleveland Browns, a career in which he spent much of that time as the Browns' franchise player in an era where the team otherwise performed poorly on the field.[37] A deteriorating left knee contributed to Thomas's retirement.[38]
Jason Witten: The eleven time Pro Bowler and two time First-team All-Pro Tight end played 15 seasons, all with the Dallas Cowboys. He ranks second all time among tight ends in career receptions and receiving yards. He will be working for ESPN as their Monday Night Football color commentator.[39]

text: Other players

text:
Rodney Adams
Martellus Bennett[40]
Joe Berger[41]*
Emmett Cleary
C.J. Fiedorowicz
James Hanna
David Harris[42]
Gabe Ikard[43]
Fred Jackson[44]
Vincent Jackson[45]
Donnie Jones
Thad Lewis[46]
Luke McCown[47]
Kellen Moore[48]
Paul Posluszny[49]
Connor Shaw[50]
Zach Strief
Aaron Williams[51]
Eric Wood[52]
Danny Woodhead[53]

text: Draft[edit]

text: The 2018 NFL Draft was held from April 26 to 28. It was held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. This was the first draft to take place in an NFL stadium, and the first to be held in Texas.[54] The Cleveland Browns selected Baker Mayfield with the first overall pick.

text: Officiating changes[edit]

text:
Ed Hochuli: At the time of his retirement, Hochuli was the league's longest-tenured referee, having served with the league for 28 seasons, 26 as a head referee. He will be succeeded by his son, Shawn Hochuli.[55]
Jeff Triplette: Triplette had spent 22 years as an official with the NFL, 19 as a head referee, and was pushed into retirement after experiencing confusion in several games late in the 2017 season. Alex Kemp will replace Triplette.[55]

text: Rule changes[edit]

text: The following playing rule changes have been approved by the Competition Committee for the 2018 season:[56]

text:
Make permanent the current rule that changes the spot of the ball after a touchback on a kickoff to the 25 yard line. Prior to 2017, the ball was placed at the 20 yard line.
Update the standards for a "catch" to have:

Two feet down or any body part other than the hands
Control of the ball
Make a "football move" such as making a 3rd step, reaching/extending to the line to gain, tucking the ball away, warding off defensive players, or have the ability to perform such an act.

The rule for receivers who were going to the ground during the catch process has been deleted. This is in response to several issues regarding the "going to the ground" rule, especially catches by Dallas Cowboys WR Dez Bryant in the 2014 NFL playoffs and one by Pittsburgh Steelers TE Jesse James in 2017 that were overturned due to this rule.

Allow a designated member of the officiating department (For 2018, NFL Senior VP of Officiating Al Riveron) to instruct game officials to eject any player who commits a flagrant non-football act on the field for a foul called on the field. This is in response to a situation where New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski intentionally inflicted a late hit on Buffalo Bills defensive back Tre'Davious White causing a concussion to White. Gronkowski was not ejected for the foul on the field, but did receive a one-game suspension after the NFL's review of the play.
Illegally batting a ball on a scrimmage down will incur a loss of down in addition to the previous 10 yard penalty.
In overtime, when a team is ahead by 3 points, a down will run to its conclusion and all applicable points will score, even if there is a loss of possession. Previously, the offense of the trailing team could not legally score if they lost and regained possession and reached the opponent's end zone all on the same play. The rule remains that if there is a double change of possession on a play with one team in the lead, it is the last play of the game.
If a team scores a touchdown on the final play of regulation which gives them the victory, no extra-point conversion try will be needed.[57]

text: The following bylaws and resolutions were passed:[58]

text:
Make permanent the liberalization of workout rules for draft prospects.
For a one-year trial period, liberalize the rules for re-signing a player on waivers.
Players on injured reserve can be traded.
Players with injuries deemed major can be placed directly on injured reserve without clearing waivers.
The 10-day postseason waiver claiming period has been reduced to 1 day.
Players can be activated from injured reserve after eight games instead of eight weeks.
Teams have seven business days to complete an injury settlement instead of five.
Players in certain reserve list categories cannot be reinstated after a team's week 13 game. This restriction was previously applied to the last 30 days of the regular season.
Clarify roster procedures for players with military obligations.
For a one-year trial period, teams may contact a player who has been publicly announced to be released before the NFL lists the transaction on a Player Personnel Notice.

text: The following changes to the kickoff rules were approved at the NFL Spring Owners' Meeting on May 23, 2018:[59]

text:
Players are required to line up for the kickoff as follows:

Five players on the kicking team must be on either side of the kicker
Two players on each side must be lined up outside of the numbers and two additional players on each side must be lined up between the numbers and the hashmarks
Players on the kicking team (excluding the kicker) may only line up within one yard of the kickoff spot (currently this is limited to five yards)
The receiving team must have eight players in a fifteen-yard "set-up zone" (from the restraining line ten yards from the kickoff spot, fifteen yards back)

Wedge blocks are outlawed. Players would only be able to do a double-team block within the "set-up zone".
No blocking is permitted inside the restraining zone (10 yards from the kickoff spot) until the ball touches the ground or is touched in the field of play.
Once a kickoff lands in the end zone, it would become an automatic touchback. Players will no longer have to "kneel" in the end zone to stop the play.
All ejections of players are now subject to replay review.
It is now a foul (15 yards) for players to lower their helmet to initiate and make contact with an opposing player. The fouling player is subject to ejection if:

Player lowers his helmet to establish a linear body posture prior to initiating or making contact with the helmet
Player delivering the blow had an unobstructed path to his opponent
Contact was clearly avoidable (player delivering the blow had other options)

In response to the recent National Anthem protests in the league the past two seasons, any player or staff member who is on the field during the performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" must stand for the duration of the performance. Such players and staff members are not required to be on the field at that time and may wait in the locker room as an alternative. The NFL will not directly fine offending players or staff members for defying the rule, instead fining the teams, who will in turn have power to fine the players or staff members at their own discretion.

text: 2018 deaths[edit]

text: The following people associated with the NFL (or AFL) have passed away in 2018.

text:
Grady Alderman
Tom Benson
Billy Cannon
Bennie Cunningham
Jim Garrett
Chris Gedney
Wayne Huizenga
David Humm
Edwin Jackson
Chuck Knox
Jeremy Nunley
Kona Schwenke
Clyde Scott
Frank Varrichione

text: Preseason[edit]

text: This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

tag: table

text: Training Camps for the 2018 season will be held in late July through August. Teams start training camp no earlier than 15 days before the team's first scheduled preseason game.

text: The Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, which will feature the Baltimore Ravens and the Chicago Bears, will be played on Thursday, August 2;[60] it will be televised nationally by NBC. The Ravens, who will be making their first ever Hall of Fame Game appearance, are represented in the 2018 Hall of Fame class by former linebacker Ray Lewis, while the Bears are represented by former linebacker Brian Urlacher.

text: Regular season[edit]

text: The 2018 regular season's 256 games will be played over a 17-week schedule which will begin on September 6. Each of the league's 32 teams plays a 16-game schedule, with one bye week for each team. The slate also features games on Monday Nights. There are games played on Thursdays, including the National Football League Kickoff game in prime time on September 6 and games on Thanksgiving Day. The regular season will conclude with a full slate games of 16 games on December 30, all of which will be intra-division matchups, as it has been since 2010.

text: Under the NFL's current scheduling formula, each team plays the other three teams in its own division twice. In addition a team plays against all four teams in one other division from each conference. The final two games on a team's schedule are against the two team's in the team's own conference in the divisions the team was not set to play which finished the previous season in the same rank in their division (e.g. the team which finished first in its division the previous season would play each other team in its conference that also finished first in its respective division). The preset division pairings for 2018 will be as follows.

text:
Intra-conference
AFC East vs AFC South
AFC West vs AFC North
NFC East vs NFC South
NFC West vs NFC North

   Inter-conference
AFC East vs NFC North
AFC North vs NFC South
AFC South vs NFC East
AFC West vs NFC West

text: The entire season schedule was released on April 19, 2018. Highlights of the 2018 season include:

text:
NFL Kickoff Game: The 2018 season will begin with the Kickoff Game on September 6 at 8:20 p.m. EDT. The game will feature the Super Bowl LII champion Philadelphia Eagles hosting the Atlanta Falcons and will be televised on NBC.[61]
NFL International Series:

NFL London Games: Three games will be played in London in 2018. This will be the first season of a 10-year agreement to play at least one game per season at the new Tottenham Stadium, where the Oakland Raiders will host the Seattle Seahawks on October 14 at 1:00 p.m. EDT (6:00 p.m. BST) on Fox. Two more games will be played at Wembley Stadium, with the Los Angeles Chargers hosting the Tennessee Titans on October 21 at 9:30 a.m. EDT (2:30 p.m. BST) on CBS and the Jacksonville Jaguars hosting the Philadelphia Eagles on October 28 at 9:30 a.m. EDT (1:30 p.m. GMT) on NFLN. This will be the first time the London games will be played on three consecutive weeks, a move the league has taken to try to streamline their London operations.[62][63][64]
NFL Mexico Game: The NFL will play one game at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City in 2018, in accordance with an agreement the league announced in November 2017 to play one game at that venue each year through 2021. The game will feature the Los Angeles Rams hosting the Kansas City Chiefs. The game will be held on Monday, November 19, and will be televised on ESPN.[64]

Thanksgiving Day: As has been the case since 2006, three games will be played on November 22. The 12:30 pm EST game will feature Detroit Lions hosting the Chicago Bears on CBS. The 4:30 pm EST game will feature the Dallas Cowboys hosting the Washington Redskins on Fox. A third game, Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints starting at 8:30 pm EST, will be aired on NBC.
Christmas games: Christmas Day, December 25, falls on a Tuesday in 2018. Instead of moving the Monday Night from Christmas Eve, the game will be played at its normal time, marking only the second Monday Night game ever played on Christmas Eve. As is usually the case when a night game is played on Christmas Eve, the host team (the Oakland Raiders) is in the western United States, and thus the game will take place in the late afternoon local time.

text: Saturday flexible scheduling[edit]

text: When the entire season schedule was released on April 19, 2018, the league announced flexible scheduling for Saturday games in weeks 15 and 16. The final kickoff times for these games will be announced no later than week 8:[65]

text:
In week 15, either the Houston-New York Jets or the Cleveland-Denver game will kickoff at 4:30 pm EST, and the other will start at 8:20 pm EST.
In week 16, two of the following four games will be moved to Saturday, December 22 on the NFL Network, with start times of 4:30 pm and 8:20 pm EST. The other two will remain on Sunday: Baltimore-Los Angeles Chargers, Jacksonville-Miami, New York Giants-Indianapolis, and Washington-Tennessee. This is the first time that games will be rescheduled to a different day (excluding games rescheduled due to weather).

text: Postseason[edit]

text: The 2018 playoffs will begin on the weekend of January 5–6, 2019 with the Wild Card Playoff round the four winners of these playoff games will visit the top two seeds in each conference of the Divisional round games the weekend of January 12-13, 2019. The winners of those games will advance to the Conference championship games on January 20, 2019. The 2019 Pro Bowl will be held at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida on January 27, 2019. Super Bowl LIII will be held on February 3, 2019 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, on CBS.

text: Notable Events[edit]

text: Anthem protests[edit]

text: On 23 May 2018 the NFL owners agreed a new policy in relation to U.S. national anthem protests.[66] Under the new policy teams (but not players) would be fined for failing to stand and respect the national anthem. Players who do not wish to stand for the national anthem may remain in the locker room.

text: Head coaching and front office personnel changes[edit]

text: Head coaches[edit]

text: Offseason[edit]

text:
Team
2017 head coach
2018 replacement
Reason for leaving
Story/accomplishments

Arizona Cardinals
Bruce Arians
Steve Wilks
Retired
Arians retired from coaching following the 2017 season, finishing the season with a record of 8–8 (.500) and a cumulative record of 49–30–1 (.619) with two playoff appearances.[67] Wilks was hired on January 22, after serving as a defensive coach for the Chicago Bears, San Diego Chargers, and Carolina Panthers since 2006. Wilks' only previous head coaching experience was at Savannah State in 1999.[68]

Chicago Bears
John Fox
Matt Nagy
Fired
Fox was fired after the final game of the 2017 season, finishing the season with a record of 5–11 (.313) and a cumulative record of 14–34 (.292) with no playoff appearances.[69] Nagy spent the past five seasons as an offensive assistant with the Kansas City Chiefs, the last two as offensive coordinator; the Bears hired Nagy on January 8 and this will be his first NFL head coaching job.[70]

Detroit Lions
Jim Caldwell
Matt Patricia
Caldwell was fired after the final game of the 2017 season, finishing the season with a record of 9–7 (.563) and a cumulative record of 36–28 (.563) with two playoff appearances, but having never won a playoff game as head coach of the Lions.[71] Patricia was hired on February 5, the day after losing Super Bowl LII as the New England Patriots defensive coordinator. He had spent his entire NFL career with the Patriots, starting in 2004 as an offensive assistant before working his way up to defensive coordinator in 2012, winning 3 Super Bowls. This will be his first head coaching job.[72]

Indianapolis Colts
Chuck Pagano
Frank Reich
Pagano was fired after the final game of the 2017 season, finishing the season with a record of 4–12 (.250), his first losing season as Colts' head coach, and a cumulative record of 53–43 (.552) with three playoff appearances.[73] The Colts signed Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich, who was previously a Colts' assistant from 2008–2011. This will be Reich's first head coaching job.[74]

New York Giants
Ben McAdoo
Pat Shurmur
McAdoo became the Giants' head coach in 2016, leading the Giants to a 13–15 (.464) record over parts of two seasons with one playoff appearance. After accruing a 2–10 (.167) record and benching starter Eli Manning during the season, he was fired on December 4, 2017, and replaced in the interim by defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who was previously the St. Louis Rams' head coach from 2009 to 2011.[75] Shurmur was announced as the Giants' new head coach on January 22. He had previously served as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns from 2011 to 2012, compiling a record of 9–23 (.281), and an offensive coach for the Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings since 2013.[76]

Oakland Raiders
Jack Del Rio
Jon Gruden
Del Rio was fired after the final game of the 2017 season, finishing the season with a record of 6–10 (.375) and a cumulative record of 25–23 (.521) with one playoff appearance.[77] Gruden, who previously coached the Raiders from 1998 to 2001, confirmed on-air on January 6, that he would be returning to the team as coach. He had spent the previous nine seasons as an on-air analyst for Monday Night Football.[78]

Tennessee Titans
Mike Mularkey
Mike Vrabel
Mutual decision
Mularkey and the Titans agreed to part ways after they "couldn't come to an agreement over the future," two days after the Titans' playoff loss to the Patriots. Mularkey had a cumulative record of 20–21 (.488) with one playoff appearance in parts of three seasons with the Titans and guided Tennessee to back-to-back 9–7 records in his two years as the team's full-time head coach.[79] Vrabel spent the past three seasons as a defensive assistant with the Houston Texans, the last as defensive coordinator; the Titans hired Vrabel on January 20 and this will be his first NFL head coaching job.[80]

text: Front office personnel[edit]

text: Offseason[edit]

text:
Team
Position
2017 office holder
2017 interim
2018 replacement
Reason for leaving
Notes

Cleveland Browns
VP/GM
Sashi Brown
John Dorsey
Fired
Brown was fired on December 7, 2017. He had been the team's attorney since 2013 and de facto general manager since 2016.[81] Dorsey was named the new general manager hours later.[82]

Green Bay Packers
GM
Ted Thompson
Brian Gutekunst
Reassigned
Thompson, who had been the team's general manager since 2005, became the team's senior advisor to football operations.[83] Brian Gutekunst, who had been the team's director of player personnel since 2016, was promoted to become the team's new general manager on January 7.[84]

Houston Texans
GM
Rick Smith
Brian Gaine
Medical leave
Smith announced that he would take a leave of absence to care for his wife, who is battling breast cancer. He will remain Executive Vice President of Football Operations.[85] Former Buffalo Bills' vice president of player personnel, Brian Gaine, was named the new general manager on January 13, 2018. Previously, Gaine was Texans' director of pro personnel and then director of player personnel from 2014 to 2016.[86]

New York Giants
GM
Jerry Reese
Kevin Abrams
Dave Gettleman
Fired
Having been in the organization since 1994, Reese was the Giants' general manager since 2007, leading them to two Super Bowl championships and several years of success. He was fired on December 4 along with head coach Ben McAdoo. He was replaced in the interim by former Detroit Lions cornerback Kevin Abrams, who has no previous front office experience.[87] Dave Gettleman, previously general manager of the Carolina Panthers and a 14-year veteran of the Giants' front office (from 1999 to 2012), was hired on December 28, 2017.[88]

Buffalo Bills
President
Russ Brandon
Kim Pegula
Resigned
Brandon resigned his position on May 1, 2018. A newspaper report claimed that Brandon was the subject of an internal investigation regarding his personal conduct and workplace behavior, which neither the Bills nor Brandon mentioned in separate statements regarding his departure; Brandon stated he is seeking other opportunities after spending 20 years with the Bills franchise. He was immediately succeeded by co-owner Kim Pegula.[89]

text: Stadiums[edit]

text: Two teams, the Carolina Panthers and Oakland Raiders, are entering the final year of their lease agreements with their current stadium.

text: Carolina Panthers[edit]

text: On December 17, 2017, Jerry Richardson, the Panthers' founding owner, announced he was putting the team up for sale.[90][91] Richardson had previously indicated the team would be put up for sale after his death,[92] but Richardson was accused of paying hush money to cover up questionable conduct, including racial slurs and sexually suggestive requests of employees, hastening Richardson's decision.[93] The Panthers' lease on Bank of America Stadium expires after the 2018 season,[94] which would allow any incoming owner to relocate the team out of Charlotte, North Carolina, to another market if they so desired, only being liable for the remaining debt from stadium renovation. At an estimated $35 million, the debt payment would be a small expense compared to the relocation fee the NFL charged for the two teams that relocated in 2016 and 2017.[95] The two most likely candidates to buy the team as of May 2018 were David Tepper, a hedge fund manager with a higher net worth and a minority stake in the Pittsburgh Steelers but fewer ties to Charlotte; and Ben Navarro, a financial services CEO based in Charlotte who had the backing of Richardson's only living son.[96] Tepper was announced as the new owner on May 16, with the announcement coming in time for the league to vote on his bid at the owners meeting on May 19.[97]

text: Oakland Raiders[edit]

text: The Raiders, prior to the 2017 season, committed to relocating to Las Vegas, Nevada, once a new stadium is constructed for them in 2020. In 2016, the Raiders signed a three-year extension with the Oakland Coliseum.[98] The Raiders could choose to stay in the Oakland Coliseum for 2019 with another year-to-year extension or move to Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, which is undersized but (because of the Los Angeles Chargers' use of the even smaller StubHub Center) would not be the smallest stadium in the NFL. Management at the Oakland Coliseum has indicated they are unwilling to extend their agreement with the Raiders after 2018, which could force the team to move to Sam Boyd Stadium in 2019.[99] In order to secure another season in Oakland, California, Coliseum management indicated in September 2017 that the Raiders would need to offer major concessions to compensate for the financial losses the Coliseum incurs by hosting Raiders games.[100]

text: Naming rights agreements[edit]

text: Denver Broncos[edit]

text: The Broncos hope to resolve the two-season long naming rights situation for the field at Mile High Stadium II by the start of the 2018 pre-season; in the meantime, all exterior and interior signage for the defunct sporting goods chain Sports Authority has been or is in the process of being removed from the stadium, though ticketed events will continue to print the name "Sports Authority Field at Mile High."[101][102]

text: Jacksonville Jaguars[edit]

text: On February 16, EverBank Field, the home field of the Jacksonville Jaguars, was renamed TIAA Bank Field, after TIAA's 2017 acquisition of EverBank. The naming rights agreement was for 10 years and $43 million.[103]

text: Uniforms[edit]

text: The Color Rush program has been discontinued, and teams will no longer be required to wear the special uniforms for Thursday Night Football. Initial plans, which will be finalized at the league's owners meeting in May, are for teams to be able to continue using the existing designs that were designed by Nike for the program as standard third jerseys. [104] [105]

text: The Tennessee Titans introduced new uniforms on April 4. Most prominent among the changes is the helmet, which is changing from the white color the team had used since the 1970s (as the Houston Oilers) to navy blue. The color patterns are also simplified, with a new number typeface inspired both by Greek lettering and the shape of the state of Tennessee.[106]

text: On April 9, the Green Bay Packers unveiled a patch to commemorate their 100th season[107]

text: On April 19, the Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars both unveiled new uniforms. The Dolphins altered their jerseys to more take after their classic aqua-and-orange look, while Jacksonville simplified their uniforms to resemble their original teal blue jerseys used in their early years.[108][109]

text: Media[edit]

text: Broadcast rights[edit]

text: Television[edit]

text: This will be the fifth year under the current broadcast contracts with ESPN, CBS, Fox, and NBC. This includes "cross-flexing" (switching) Sunday afternoon games between CBS and Fox before or during the season (regardless of the conference of the visiting team). NBC will continue to air Sunday Night Football, the annual Kickoff game, and the primetime Thanksgiving game. ESPN will continue to air Monday Night Football and the Pro Bowl. CBS will broadcast Super Bowl LIII.

text: On January 31, the NFL announced that Fox had acquired the broadcast television rights to the Thursday Night Football package under a five-year deal (aligned with the remainder of the NFL's current broadcast contracts). Fox will air 11 games, along with the 2018 NFL Draft (the first time the event has ever aired on over-the-air television),[110] in simulcast with NFL Network,[111][112] with the remaining games in the package airing exclusively on NFL Network to satisfy its carriage contracts.[113] CBS and NBC had made bids to renew their previous contracts (CBS had held the rights since 2014, joined by NBC since 2016), but were reluctant to pay a higher rights fee due to the league's ratings downturn.[114]

text: Digital[edit]

text: After several years in which Verizon held exclusive rights to carry NFL Internet broadcasts on mobile devices 7 inches (18 cm) or less in size (opting to only make them available to its own wireless subscribers), the 2018 season will be the first in which any device will be allowed to access those broadcasts. Verizon will still hold rights to stream all nationally televised games, as well as in-market Sunday afternoon games; instead of only distributing them to its own subscribers, its numerous Internet brands (such as Yahoo!, which exclusively carried two International Series games in 2015 and 2017, along with AOL, go90, complex.com) will carry the games to all devices.[115]

text: On April 26, 2018, the league announced an extension with Amazon Video that will simulcast the eleven Thursday Night Football games that are simulcast on Fox to its Amazon Prime subscribers. The agreement, which increases Amazon's rights fee by 15%, is for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. To fulfill a request that the Internet broadcast be made available freely, the games will also be made available on twitch.tv, an Amazon subsidiary.[116]

text: Radio[edit]

text: Both of the NFL's national radio contracts, Westwood One for English language[117] and Entravision for Spanish language,[118] expired after the 2017 season. Westwood One's parent company Cumulus Media filed for bankruptcy in November 2017[119] and began terminating national broadcast contracts in January 2018,[120][121] decreasing the likelihood that they will renew their contract.

text: With the release of the 2018 schedule, NFL.com listed ESPN Deportes Radio (which had shared NFL rights with Entravision in 2017 and had carried Super Bowl LII[122]) as the league's national Spanish-language broadcaster. The national English-language broadcaster was still identified as Westwood One, although no press release has been issued in regard to a contract extension with that network.

text: Personnel changes[edit]

text: ESPN will introduce a fully new broadcast team for the series. Joe Tessitore will replace Sean McDonough as lead play-by-play man; McDonough will remain with ESPN as a college football announcer.[123][124] With previous color analyst Jon Gruden returning to coaching, Monday Night Football will return to its traditional three-person booth, with Jason Witten and Booger McFarland joining the broadcast team as analysts, while Lisa Salters, the sideline reporter, carries over from the previous broadcast team.[125]

text: Fox initially had planned to hire a new broadcast team for its Thursday Night Football, making an overture to Peyton Manning to serve as color commentator. Since Manning declined the offer, the network announced that it will be placing its existing lead broadcast team of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman on the package, while reducing the number of games the duo will call on Sundays.[126] A version of Fox NFL Sunday will serve as the lead-in to Thursday Night Football, albeit without Curt Menefee or Jimmy Johnson; the show will instead be hosted by panelist Michael Strahan from New York City, displacing Rich Eisen, the studio host for Thursday night pregame since the package's inception in 2006.[127] Strahan will be joined by fellow Fox colleagues Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long.

text: Start time changes[edit]

text: The start times for Thursday, Sunday, and Monday Night Football broadcasts will be moved up 5-15 minutes. Thursday and Sunday Night games will now kickoff at 8:20 p.m. ET, while Monday Night games will now kickoff at 8:15 p.m. ET.[65]


document_title: Adobe Acrobat

question_text: what does dc stand for in adobe acrobat reader dc

text: Adobe Acrobat

text: History[edit]

text: Since the early 1990s the Acrobat product has had several competitors, some of which used their own document formats, such as:

text:
AnyView from Binar Graphics company
Common Ground from No Hands Software company
Envoy from WordPerfect Corporation
Folio from NextPage company
Replica from Netopia (formerly Farallon Computing)
WorldView from Interleaf company
DjVu from AT&T Laboratories

text: Adobe also allows third parties to develop Acrobat plug-ins, which can add extra functions to the Acrobat program.

text: Product names[edit]

text: Adobe has changed the names of the products of the Acrobat set several times, also dividing, merging, or discontinuing products. Initially, the name "Acrobat" was used as the parent name of a set of products which included Acrobat Reader, Acrobat Exchange and Acrobat Distiller. Over time, Acrobat Reader became Reader; and the name Acrobat Exchange was simplified to Acrobat. Between versions 3 and 5, Standard and Professional versions were one product known simply as Acrobat.

text: In April 2015, Adobe introduced the Adobe "Document Cloud," along with the first of several applications with "DC" at the end of the name. One of the main goals was to have all of a user's PDFs available on any of the user's devices, such as editing a PDF on an iPad and then later retrieving it on a PC.[18] As of October, 2015, the "Document Cloud" also includes integration with Dropbox and includes electronic signature improvements, although at least some features require a subscription.[19]

text: As of April 2015[update], the main members of the Acrobat family include:[20]

text:
Acrobat XI

Reader XI

Distiller XI

text: Desktop applications:

text:
Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (for Mac OS X v10.6.4 and above, and Windows 7 and above. Reader X is the last supported version for Windows Vista).[21]
Adobe Acrobat Standard DC
Adobe Acrobat Pro DC

text: Mobile applications with the Document Cloud (DC) launch:

text:
Adobe Acrobat DC (mobile app on iOS and Android)
Fill n Sign app
e-Sign manager

text:
Storage

CreatePDF

ExportPDF

EchoSign

FormsCentral

SendNow

text: Acrobat.com (Online services):

text:
CreatePDF
ExportPDF
EchoSign
FormsCentral
Personal Storage
Send
Workspaces

text: Unlike most other Adobe products, such as members of Adobe Creative Suite family, the Acrobat products do not have icons that display two letters on a colored rectangle.

text: Version history[edit]

text: The UI had major changes with the introduction of Acrobat DC in 2015, which supports Windows 7 and later, and OS X 10.9 and later. Version numbers are now identified by the last two digits of the year of major release, and the month and year is specified; the previous version was 12, but examples of the DC (Document Cloud) Acrobat product family versions are DC June 2016, version 15.016.20045, released 2 June 2016 and DC Classic January 2016, version 15.006.30119, released 12 January 2016.[22] From DC 2015 the Acrobat family is available in two tracks, the original track, now named Classic, and the Continuous track.[23] Updates for the Classic track are released quarterly, and do not include new features, whereas updates for the Continuous track are issued more frequently, and implemented silently and automatically.[24]

text: The last pre-DC version, Acrobat XI, was last updated on August 22, 2017[25], support for which ended on October 15, 2017.[26]

text: Internationalization and localization[edit]

text: Language availability[edit]

text: Adobe Acrobat is available in the following languages: Arabic, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish and Ukrainian. Arabic and Hebrew versions are available from WinSoft International,[27] Adobe Systems' internationalization and localization partner.

text: Specific features for Arabic and Hebrew languages[edit]

text: The Arabic and Hebrew versions are developed specifically for these languages, which are normally written right-to-left. These versions include special TouchUp properties to manage digits, ligatures option and paragraph direction in right-to-left Middle Eastern scripts such as Arabic, Hebrew, and Persian, as well as standard left-to-right Indian scripts such as Devanagari and Gujarati. The Web Capture feature can convert single web pages or entire web sites into PDF files, while preserving the content's original text encoding. Acrobat can also copy Arabic and Hebrew text to the system clipboard in its original encoding; if the target application is also compatible with the text encoding, then the text will appear in the correct script.

text: Security[edit]

text: A comprehensive list of security bulletins for most Adobe products and related versions is published on their Security bulletins and advisories page and in other related venues.[28][29] In particular, the detailed history of security updates for all versions of Adobe Acrobat has been made public.[30]

text: From Version 3.02 onwards, Acrobat Reader has included support for JavaScript. This functionality allows a PDF document creator to include code which executes when the document is read. Malicious PDF files that attempt to attack security vulnerabilities can be attached to links on web pages or distributed as email attachments. While JavaScript is designed without direct access to the file system to make it "safe", vulnerabilities have been reported for abuses such as distributing malicious code by Acrobat programs.[31] Adobe applications had already become the most popular client-software targets for attackers during the last quarter of 2009.[32] Locklizard predicted that password protected PDF documents would become obsolete by 2020 as industry looks towards more secure solutions such as PDF digital rights management for document sharing.[33] McAfee predicted that Adobe software, especially Reader and Flash, would be the primary target for software attacks in the year 2010.[34]

text: September 2006 warning[edit]

text: On September 13, 2006, David Kierznowski provided sample PDF files illustrating JavaScript vulnerabilities. Since at least version 6, JavaScript can be disabled using the preferences menu[35] and embedded URLs that are launched are intercepted by a security warning dialog box to either allow or block the website from activating.[36]

text: February 2009 warning[edit]

text: On February 19, 2009, Adobe released a Security Bulletin announcing JavaScript vulnerabilities in Adobe Reader and Acrobat versions 9 and earlier.[37] As a workaround for this issue, US-CERT recommended disabling JavaScript in the affected Adobe products, canceling integration with Windows shell and web browsers (while carrying out an extended version of de-integration for Internet Explorer), deactivating Adobe indexing service and avoiding all PDF files from external sources.[38]

text: February 2013 warning[edit]

text: Adobe has identified critical vulnerabilities in Adobe Reader and Acrobat XI (11.0.01 and earlier) for Windows and Macintosh, 9.5.3 and earlier 9.x versions. These vulnerabilities could cause the application to crash and potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system. There have been reports of these vulnerabilities being exploited to trick Windows users into clicking on a malicious PDF file delivered in an email message. Adobe recommended users update their product installations.[39]

text: January 2016 warning[edit]

text: Adobe has released security updates for Adobe Acrobat and Reader for Windows and Macintosh. These updates address critical vulnerabilities that could potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system.[40][41]