The Deal

• $17 for one ticket for general admission seating (up to $32 value)

Dates and Times:

Saturday, December 12

• 1:30 p.m. 1-hour, family-friendly production
• 7:30 p.m. full production

Sunday, December 13

• 1:30 p.m. full production
• 5:30 p.m. 1-hour family-friendly production

The Nutcracker

Based on a novel by 19th-century romantic fabulist E.T.A. Hoffman, The 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” with beautiful dancing snowflakes and then the “Waltz of the Flowers.”

Throughout their adventures, Tchaikovsky’s dazzling inventiveness propels the dances of nimble flowers and regal fairy queens. The “Waltz of the Snowflakes” floats weightlessly above the angelic voices of a choir, whereas the “Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy” tiptoes to the delicate, 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.