Theater News

New York City Ballet Cancels 2020 Production of The Nutcracker

This will be the first time the company hasn’t presented the classic since the production premiered in 1954.

New York City
Sawyer Reo and Maria Kashvili fly away in a magical sleigh in George Balanchine's The Nutcracker at Lincoln Center's David H. Koch Theater.
Sawyer Reo and Maria Kashvili fly away in a magical sleigh in George Balanchine's The Nutcracker at Lincoln Center's David H. Koch Theater.
(© Paul Kolnik)

For the first time in the productions 65-year history, New York City Ballet won't present George Balanchine's The Nutcracker this holiday season, owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

The annual production has been presented since 1954. According to the New York Times, the show is New York City Ballet's most lucrative production, earning more than $15.3 million in ticket sales. The company is anticipating a return in January 2021.

Performed around 47 times each holiday season, The Nutcracker employs more than 150 dancers and musicians from the company, 40 stagehands, and more than 125 students from the School of American Ballet. Because of its size, the company determined that there was no safe way to present the show while adhering to current health and safety regulations and social distancing measures.