Nutcracker Ballet at Stephens Auditorium Tickets

The show was fantastic. The Iowa Youth Ballet and Robert Thomas dancers did amazing. I loved the professionals they brought in for the Sugar Plum Fairy and Cavalier. My whole experience was marred, however, because neither I nor any of my friends had seen anywhere that the venue had a policy banning ALL bags unless they were clear. No purses. No diaper bags. No handbags even. I took my two children to the show. I about cried when I got to the door hauling my 3 year old who didn’t want to walk on the snow and was told I had to go back to the car because I had a diaper bag. I didn’t have a clear bag so that meant I had to take only what I could carry. Which meant that my daughter didn’t have anything to distract her when she lost interest in the show. Sorry for the kid that was crying through the end of the show but I feel it’s on the venue that I couldn’t keep the 3 year old distracted. It also meant that she had to sit in her soaking diaper all through the second act because I couldn’t carry a diaper in with me. If there had been a notice on the site when I bought the tickets, I would have had what I needed in order to make this a pleasant show for all. No notice meant I was struggling.

The tickets are priced too high for this local event. The worst thing at CY Stephens is the restroom situation. The employees had walkie talkies and would inform the long line if another restroom had a shorter line. By the time you travel to it, the line was long. The bathrooms upstairs had 4 stalls each. FOUR. I finally (and a few others) used the men's restroom where there was ONE stall. The bell rang to notify us the second act was beginning and we are still in line! The seating capacity here is 14,356. While this event had nowhere near that many in the audience, the restroom situation was ridiculous. Hate to think what it is at full capacity. Otherwise, this is a nice event venue.

We love it! Go every year. A wonderful tradition. Something new each time. Good for all ages.

Ballet performance was fairly good, not the best or most professional I've seen, lots of small errors by performers that could be seen from the first few rows. Prevented me from becoming immersed in the ballet. Worst issue is Stephens itself and their lack of women's restrooms. For those in the first few rows, by the time you can get to a restroom (have to go up around the back of the auditorium then down to the basement) at intermission the lines are extremely long with no hope of getting through before the performance resumes. Staff tried to assist by taking women by elevator to other floors, but the lines were just as long at other restrooms, leading to more frustration for those that are in need of a restroom. Stephens - maybe convert a men's restroom to another women's? We all know they never have lines.

Loved every minute, my 4 year old and 7 year old did too

The performance was great and the view from the balcony seating even better!

This was my first time seeing The Nutcracker at Stephen’s! It was wonderful. My two sons ages 8 and 11 enjoyed seeing it too! But they had a few questions sense there is no narrative to explain the story line.

Great show! Performers and the set were professional and beautiful.

Great performance by all! It was a wonderful show!