The Deal

• One ticket to see Ballet Memphis presents Nutcracker
• When: Friday, December 13, at 7:30 p.m., or Saturday, December 14, at 2 p.m., or 7:30 p.m.
• Where: The Orpheum Theatre
• Door time: one hour before showtime
• Ticket values include all fees.<p>

Seating Options

• $23 for A-level seating, which is in the left and right sections of the orchestra (up to a $45.50 value)
• $37 for premiere-level seating, which is in the center sections of the orchestra (up to a $74.50 value).
• Click here to view the seating chart.<p>

Nutcracker

Based on a novel by 19th-century romantic fabulist E.T.A. Hoffman, Nutcracker weaves a magical tale of holiday adventure around one of the most recognizable scores in the ballet repertoire. It begins when young Clara receives a nutcracker from her godfather, a wizardly toymaker named Drosselmeyer. Sneaking downstairs to see the toy after everyone else has gone to bed, she suddenly finds herself caught in the middle of a pitched battle between the toys and an army of mice. After saving the nutcracker with a well-thrown shoe to the Mouse King’s head, Clara and her now-living prince venture into the Land of Snow and the Land of Sweets to celebrate. Throughout their adventures, Tchaikovsky’s inventiveness propels the dances of nimble flowers, regal fairy queens, and seasonally confused vampires. The “Waltz of the Snowflakes” floats weightlessly above the angelic voices of a live choir, whereas the “Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy” tiptoes to the haunting, music-box chimes of a celesta. A medley of exotic national dances—including a Spanish bolero and Russian Trepak—add to the phantasmagoric celebration before the whole dream ends, as all dreams must.

Their largest production of their season, Ballet Memphis’s rendition of Nutcracker dazzles audiences with more than 100 dancers. Following original choreography, the performers leap and pirouette in front of sets imported from the English National Ballet, which aid in transforming the stage into a winter wonderland.<p>