Fri 12/12-Sun 12/14
Thu 12/18-Sun 12/21
What is there left to say about the traditional holiday ballet The Nutcracker? Once again, the Cleveland Ballet brings the enchanting story back to Playhouse Square’s Connor Palace Theatre for 11 performances, a mix of evening performances and matinees, where parents and grandparents can bring little girls clad in their favorite velvet party dress or lacy tutu.
Based on a work by 18th/19th-century German fantasy author E.T.A. Hoffman, it tells the story of a young girl who gets a nutcracker doll for Christmas, which comes to life and whisks her away to a magical land where dancers perform a series of character and romantic dances that give ballet companies the opportunity to showcase their members’ talents and every little girl dreams of someday dancing the Sugarplum Fairy. The music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is so familiar that you know it even if you don’t know you know it.
But the Cleveland Ballet is bringing some special events as sweeteners. The evening shows on Friday December 12 and Saturday December 13, and Thursday December 18-Sunday December 21 with feature 15-minute “Behind the Curtain” artist talks starting 45 minutes prior to curtain. At the matinees on both Saturdays and Sunday, there’ll be meet-and-greet photo ops with the cast after the show.
In addition, there’ll be Dew Drop Face Jewels prior to each evening performance, meet-and-greet photo ops with the Cleveland Grays after all 11 performances, and carolers from the Singing Angels in the lobby on Friday December 12, Sunday December 14 and Friday December 19. And on opening night, Friday December 12, there’ll be a “Nutty Nightcap” after the 7pm show.
Get tickets to all performances here.