New York City Ballet opens its annual run of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker at the David H. Koch Theater on Friday, November 27 at 8pm. The season ends on Sunday, January 3, 2027 with a sensory-friendly performance at 1pm.
Tickets for the whole run, November 27 through January 3, are on sale now online, at the theater box office and by phone on 212-496-0600.
The January 3 matinee is built for audiences with disabilities, including autism. Entry and exit are relaxed, lighting and sound levels are adjusted, break areas are set aside around the theater, extra staff are on hand, and pre-visit materials are available beforehand. Tickets for that performance start at $59; details are on New York City Ballet’s website.
Balanchine’s staging premiered on February 2, 1954, and more than 100,000 people see it each year. Set to Tchaikovsky’s score, it uses scenery by Rouben Ter-Arutunian, costumes by Karinska and lighting by Mark Stanley after Ronald Bates’ original design. The company’s full roster of more than 150 dancers and musicians takes part, with more than 120 children from the School of American Ballet in two alternating casts.
The set pieces are the familiar ones: a one-ton Christmas tree that grows from 16 to 41 feet, a snowstorm on stage and a Mother Ginger costume 9 feet wide. Travelers is sponsoring the production for the 15th year in a row.
Families wanting a shorter introduction have Family Saturdays on Saturday, December 19, from 11am to noon: an hour of excerpts with company dancers and the NYCB orchestra, hosted by principal dancer Unity Phelan, for ages 5 and up. Tickets start at $29.
The David H. Koch Theater is on Lincoln Center Plaza at Columbus Avenue and 63rd Street.
