Gen Horiuchi’s The Nutcracker has become the region’s most popular holiday production. Year after year, thousands of children, teens and adults, mark their calendars for the spectacle on stage.  A dazzling set at the Touhill frames the company dancers, professional character actors, and talented students from the school of the Saint Louis Ballet. And now, with a larger cast and some new choreography!

Hundreds of colorful costumes and special effects enhance the timeless tale, loosely based on the E.T.A. Hoffmann fantasy The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.  Clara’s life-size nutcracker comes to life on Christmas Eve and, together, they embark on wonderful adventures in magical lands (Land of the Sweets!)  -- waging battles against the evil Mouse King.