My wife and went tonight and saw the Phoenix Ballet’s presentation of The Nutcracker at Orpheum Theater. Awesome venue. Incredible dancers! Even the many youngsters in the beginning were impressively talented. Costumes, stage, everything top notch. The one and only reason I give 4 instead of 5 stars is their decision to include the creepy uncle Chester-molester throughout the entire performance. He seems to be lurking in every scene. Long hair, beard, clownish gesters, but creepy vibe. The weirdness, borderline pedophilia, crescendos in the very end when the creepy old man come out from behind the pretty little girl’s bed and fingers his lips to shush her then the lights go out. WTF? Get that dude out of there.

We realize they haven't been dancing for a year but this was a sloppy performance (no stage right is the other way) with few exceptions from beginning to end. The principal dancers were often adjusting their grip and seemed unsure. The opening had some gorgeous scenes and the music was outstanding but I forgot how boring the Second Act is (just a series of short performances with no story line - each one is a sweet) but this one lacked any set and the Gingerbread House distracted by begging for applause. My parents both fell asleep. It also took a long time to get in (vaccine card checks) as staff and volunteers didn't show up but they delayed the start 15 minutes. Take-away - Worth the money? Not really but we enjoyed the first half.

Beautifully set up and lovely ballerinas. Story like was okay and the acts preformed well. Very amateur with the exception of a few of the solo dancers. Would recommend if you like theatre but not for ballet lovers. Some of the most darling and beautiful little ballerinas . Unfortunately this was by far the most amateur performance and version of the Nutcracker. We also did not appreciate the fact that people were allowed to keep coming in after the show had started leading to constantly having to get up and miss parts of the acts,