The Long Beach Nutcracker

The Long Beach Nutcracker, Long Beach Ballet's holiday production of The Nutcracker, returns to the Terrace Theater at the Long Beach Terrace Theater for its 44th year, with six performances only on December 12, 13, 19 and 20, 2026.

Choose your Nutcracker showtime

Matinees start at 2:00 pm on every performance day. Evening shows at 7:30 pm are Saturdays only.

First weekend: December 12 and 13

Mate Szentes of the Hungarian National Ballet dances the Nutcracker Prince, with prima ballerina Megan Wilcox (Long Beach Ballet, formerly Dresden Ballet) as the Sugar Plum Fairy.

Second weekend: December 19 and 20

Vitor Luiz, former principal dancer with San Francisco Ballet, dances the Nutcracker Prince, with his wife, Tara Ghassemieh, formerly of Golden State Ballet, as the Sugar Plum Fairy.

A Long Beach holiday tradition, now in its 44th year

More than 400,000 people have seen Long Beach Ballet's Nutcracker live in Long Beach, and millions more have seen it worldwide, including stagings by China's Guangzhou Ballet and television broadcasts. In 2018 and 2019, Goldstar audiences voted it the best-loved production in the nation. Each season brings new guest artists and a few surprises the whole family will love.

“Hands down... the most over-the-top, jaw-dropping, stage-devouring production I’ve ever seen, not just of The Nutcracker, but of anything.”

Stage Raw

“Crammed with special effects, the familiar Long Beach Ballet version of ‘The Nutcracker’ has nearly everything money can buy.”

Los Angeles Times

What makes this Nutcracker different

Long Beach Ballet dances to a full symphony orchestra conducted by Dr. Roger Hickman. It's also one of only two ballet companies in the country that use two harps for The Nutcracker, so Tchaikovsky's score sounds the way he wrote it.

Onstage, look for a flying sleigh, a real live horse, pyrotechnics and a cast of more than 250. Former Disney designers Elliot Hessayon and Scott Schaffer created the scenery, Australian artist Adrian Clark designed the costumes, and magician Franz Harary created the special effects. This year, ZFX Effects, known for its high-tech Peter Pan productions worldwide, provides the flying sleigh and angels. Pyro Spectaculars, which supplies the Hollywood Bowl's fireworks each summer, handles the pyrotechnics.

“It has pyrotechnics, it has magic; it’s got everything I can think of to make it thrilling. This production is not just for people who like ballet. You can hate ballet and you’ll still like this production.”

David Wilcox, Artistic Director, Long Beach Ballet

Nutcracker tickets and group discounts

Tickets are $40 to $160, including a VIP package. Buy online with the showtime links above or at LongBeachNutcracker.com, or in person at the venue's Box Office.

Groups of 10 or more qualify for discounted tickets.