Even if your kids aren't ballet lovers, Christmas just doesn't feel like Christmas without one good Nutcracker. And if one good Nutcracker begins to make it feel a lot like Christmas, then the Los Angeles area is evidently hitting Uber-Christmas in the coming weeks with more than twenty professional Nutcracker ballet productions. After last year's dearth of Sugarplum Fairies, this is a most welcome development!

Incidentally, we've got answers to the two questions posed most often by LA parents in search of a Nutcracker ballet for their families: Yes, there is a condensed version staged specifically for kids, offered by the Festival Ballet Theatre down in Costa Mesa; and yes, there are local productions performed with full orchestra—​at the Long Beach Terrace Theater, the Broad Stage, the Dolby Theatre, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, and the Grove of Anaheim. There is even a spectacular Nutcracker Tea—in case you were wondering.

And when you've had your fill of the Mouse King, we can direct you to some nifty Christmas train rides, Christmas lighting displays, and more at our Holiday and Christmas Activities Guide.

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