American Ballet Theatre's The Nutcracker returns to Segerstrom Center for the Arts
COSTA MESA, CA | Segerstrom Center for the Arts announces the return of Southern California’s favorite holiday tradition – American Ballet Theatre’s captivating production of The Nutcracker coming to Segerstrom Hall stage with 13 performances from December 12 – 22, 2024. This year marks the ninth season that the Center has presented ABT’s The Nutcracker, Southern California’s grandest and glorious production of this beloved holiday ballet, featuring ABT’s international all-star cast under ABT Artistic Director Susan Jaffe, who was appointed in 2022.
Co-presented by the Center and American Ballet Theatre with choreography by Alexei Ratmansky, The Nutcracker is the beloved holiday story based on The Nutcracker and the King of Mice written by E.T.A. Hoffmann and set to Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky’s magical score performed live by Pacific Symphony.
American Ballet Theatre has produced several critically acclaimed productions of this family-friendly classic tale of Clara and the Nutcracker over the years. The Nutcracker, with its timeless music by Tchaikovsky and splendid costumes and scenery, is the perfect way to introduce children to ballet and inspire them to study dance and become a little Clara or Nutcracker Prince themselves. This production, with choreography by Alexei Ratmansky, scenery and costumes by Tony Award® winner Richard Hudson (Disney’s The Lion King), and lighting by Tony Award® winner Jennifer Tipton, received its World Premiere in 2010.
ABT Artistic Director Susan Jaffe has released principal casting which will include Hee Seo as Clara, the Princess, and Cory Stearns as The Nutcracker Prince on Opening Night, Thursday, December 12.
ABT Principal Dancer Chloe Misseldine will debut as Clara at the evening performance on Saturday, December 14. Of Misseldine, The New York Times said that in Swan Lake this summer she gave “an extraordinary performance of the kind that reminds us how rare it is for a dancer to have not only access to strength and delicacy, but also the ability to weave them together in real time. [When] after a tremendous Swan Lake performance, Chloe Misseldine was promoted onstage [to principal dancer] at the Metropolitan Opera House. The audience went nuts.”
*Indicates the first time in the role.
The Los Angeles Times said, “Choreographer Alexei Ratmansky has made his own Christmas miracle: a joyful Nutcracker ballet that is ravishing and clever enough to inspire multiple viewings … in ‘Waltz of the Flowers,’ Busby Berkeley-esque waves of complex human patterns make this waltz one of the most astounding and beautiful you’ll ever see … in all its wondrousness, an unreserved classic.”
The Orange County Register said, “A visual tour de force … a Nutcracker without parallel … Ratmansky is an undisputed master; few choreographers combine his qualities of invention, wit, pacing, and theatricality … Ratmansky has created a work that celebrates the wonder and transformative power of live performance.”
The New York Times said, “Mr. Ratmansky here is an enchanting storyteller, but his is among the most original, fascinating for children and adults alike. A production like no other, made with complete theatrical authority from first to last.”
The American Ballet Theatre William J. Gillespie School at the Center, headed by artistic director Susan Brooker and associate director Sarah Jones and joined this year by newly appointed faculty member and former ABT corps de ballet dancer Eric Tamm, offers students unrivaled performing opportunities, master classes, lectures by visiting artists, and the highest quality of classical ballet training through the American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum. Forty students are featured annually in ABT’s production of The Nutcracker; and students have performed alongside ABT dancers in the World Premiere productions of The Sleeping Beauty (2015), Whipped Cream (2017), and the West Coast premiere of ABT’s Harlequinade (2019).
Tickets for American Ballet Theatre’s The Nutcracker start at $32.77 and are available for purchase online at scfta.org, in person at 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, and by phone at (714) 556-2787. For inquiries about group ticket discounts of 10 or more, call the Group Services offices at (714)755-0236.
A limited number of exclusive Sweet Seats are available for all performances of The Nutcracker. Along with prime Orchestra seating, this ticket also comes with a Segerstrom Center keepsake ornament, The Nutcracker collectible poster, and a delicious holiday cookie – all in a Segerstrom Center tote bag!
Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Segerstrom Hall
Ticket start at $32.77
Segerstrom Center for the Arts and American Ballet Theatre’s co-presentation of the North American Premiere of Woolf Works in April 2024 continued the partnership between America’s National Ballet Company® and one of the nation’s leading presenters of dance. The Center is set to continue holding ABT World and West Coast Premieres and engagements each spring through 2025, including American Ballet Theatre’s upcoming North American Premiere of Christopher Wheeldon’s The Winter’s Tale to score by Jody Talbot; designed by Broadway and West End Tony and Olivier Award winner Bob Crowley; lighting by Natasha Katz; projection design by Daniel Brodie; and silk effects by Basil Twist from April 3 – 6, 2025.
Since 2015, ABT has wowed Southern California audiences at Segerstrom Center with annual holiday engagements of The Nutcracker, totaling over 75 performances. In 1988, ABT gave the World Premiere of Mikhail Baryshnikov’s Swan Lake at the Center, and in 1999, the ABT production of Le Corsaire was taped for broadcast on PBS’ Dance in America. In 2008, ABT co-commissioned Twyla Tharp’s Rabbit and Rogue with Segerstrom Center for the Arts, which received its World Premiere in New York and its West Coast Premiere at the Center.
The Center additionally held the West Coast Premiere of former ABT Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie’s The Sleeping Beauty in 2007, as well as several ballets by ABT Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky, including the World Premiere of a new production of Firebird in 2012, the West Coast Premiere of The Nutcracker in 2015, the World Premiere of Whipped Cream in 2017, the West Coast Premiere of Harlequinade in 2019, the World Premiere and co-commissioned production Of Love and Rage in 2020 and the North American Premiere of Like Water for Chocolate in 2023.
In April 2021, the Center presented Uniting in Movement, a unique dance project that brought 18 ABT dancers together for safe collaboration and exhilarating performance of new works by Jessica Lang, Lauren Lovette, and Darrell Grand Moultrie. In March 2022, ABT and the Center presented a mixed repertory program that included the World Premiere of Single Eye by Alonzo King to the music of Jason Moran, the West Coast Premiere of Ratmansky’s Bernstein in a Bubble, and Jessica Lang’s ZigZag, featuring songs recorded by Tony Bennett.
American Ballet Theatre is considered one of the greatest dance companies in the world. Revered as a living national treasure since its founding in 1939, few ballet companies rival ABT in size, scope, and outreach. Though located in New York City, ABT annually tours the United States – performing for 300,000 people each year – and is the only major cultural institution to do so. The Company has performed in all 50 U.S. states, 45 countries, and over 480 cities worldwide, bringing American ballet to the world.
Perhaps unmatched in the history of ballet, ABT’s celebrated repertoire includes beloved full-length classics from the nineteenth century and newly commissioned works by celebrated choreographic minds of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, including ballets by George Balanchine, Antony Tudor, Jerome Robbins, Agnes de Mille, Twyla Tharp, Mark Morris, Alexei Ratmansky, and Christopher Wheeldon, among others. On April 27, 2006, by an act of Congress, American Ballet Theatre was designated America’s National Ballet Company®. Find out more at ABT.org and follow ABT dancers at @abtofficial on Instagram, on X at @ABTBallet, and on Facebook at @AmericanBalletTheatre.
Segerstrom Center for the Arts® is an innovative nonprofit organization that champions artistic excellence and fosters a vibrant, inclusive community in Orange County through the transformative power of live performance. As the region’s leading cultural hub, the Center offers a diverse array of programming, featuring international dance companies, Broadway national tours, jazz and cabaret musicians, and an engaging speaker series. Its Education and Community Engagement departments present family-friendly events on the picturesque Julianne and George Argyros Plaza, including outdoor movie screenings, concerts, and lively festivals.
With six stunning venues nestled within a beautiful multi-disciplinary campus, the Center is home to the region’s most esteemed performing arts organizations, including the Pacific Symphony, Philharmonic Society of Orange County and Pacific Chorale as well as two independently acclaimed organizations: Tony Award®-winning South Coast Repertory and Orange County Museum of Art. Segerstrom Center is also home to the American Ballet Theatre William J. Gillespie School and Studio D: Arts School for All Abilities.
The Center continues to uphold the vision of its founder, Henry Segerstrom, remaining true to its mission as the premier arts in Orange County since its inception in 1986 as Orange County Performing Arts Center®.
Segerstrom Center for the Arts applauds its corporate partner Kaiser Permanente, Official Health Care
Partner, and Riviera Magazine as the official media partner for the Dance Series.
The information provided is accurate at the time of printing but is subject to change. Segerstrom Center
for the Arts is a public, non-profit organization. “Segerstrom Center for the Arts” and “SCFTA” are
registered trademarks.
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