
International Theatre Database
Category
Dance
Country
United States
Run Dates
Nov 28, 2025 - Jan 4, 2026
Run Time
90 minutes
2025.11.28 ~ 2026.01.04
Lyric Opera of Chicago
George Balanchine's The Nutcracker® is one of the most complex theatrical, staged ballets in the company's active repertory. Based on the Alexandre Dumas père version of E.T.A. Hoffmann's tale, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (1816), it features 90 dancers, 62 musicians, 40 stagehands and more than 125 children from the School of American Ballet. Act I follows Marie and the Nutcracker through a Christmas Eve battle with mice and a magical snowflake waltz. Act II transports them to the Kingdom of the Sugarplum Fairy for dazzling divertissements. The production features a one-ton Christmas tree that grows to 41 feet, spectacular costumes by Karinska, and sets by Rouben Ter-Arutunian.
Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky
Composer
George Balanchine
Choreographer
Horace Armistead
Set Designer
Rouben Ter-Arutunian
Set Designer
Karinska
Costume Designer
Jean Rosenthal
Lighting Designer
Lawrence Vlady
Props Designer
Maria Tallchief
Cast
Nicholas Magallanes
Cast
Tanaquil Le Clercq
Cast
Michael Arshansky
Cast
Alberta Grant
Cast
Susan Kaufman
Cast
Paul Nickel
Cast