NUTCRACKER! Magical Christmas Ballet Tickets

Ours was a party of five, I paid a small fortune, we were seated on the folding chairs and one of my granddaughters fell through the back because the chair folded unexpectedly. Seriously, for $ 200 a piece? Also, no live orchestra??? Overall the artists were lovely and really tried to please the audience :)

Loved the little snowflakes! The costumes were phenomenal and the dance troupe was very talented.

The ballet was wonderful. The venue, not so much. The seating is basically folding chairs old stadium seats (probably 50+ years old). I'll not attend any show here again.

Venue was like a high school auditorium. Not special. Would be great for a concert but not intimate enough for a ballet. Performance was good but not great. Recorded music. But was really disappointed in the audience. So many very late arrivals and hooting. You don’t hoot during the Nutcracker. Haven’t missed a Nutcracker in years but this one is not a repeater. Poor food options. Snake was amazing!!!!

Terrible venue. Seating was so uncomfortable and obstructed. So rude and distracting that they kept seating people during the performance. Also, walking around during the performance with iPads to sell drinks and food was also distracting and frustrating.

The performance itself was quite good. This is a simplified version of the classic Nutcracker, and it was done well, the costumes were gorgeous, so was the stage decor. I grew up watching classic Nutcracker often in Soviet Union, and I liked this cute interpretation. The venue, however, was a disappointment! The Wiltern theatre itself is a beautiful Art Deco landmark in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, the management ruined the experience by selling popcorn (smell permiates the venue throughout) and other movie theatre foods, which makes one feel like being in the movie theatre rather than attending a classical ballet performance with tickets priced over $100. In addition, there are waitresses walking in the aisles during the performance(!?), taking food orders and bringing food to the patrons. During performance!!!! What a disrespect for the dancers and patrons alike! At some point I had to listen to some child behind me crunching popcorn while trying to enjoy the ballet score 😢 I guess the management is convinced that the audience will surely die of starvation if not continuously fed during a 2 hour show 😉 I understand that the food is a great source of revenue for the venue, but a consideration should be given to the type of performance. I didn't care for the seat arrangements either. The floors are not inclined enough, so unless one sits in the front row of each floor or in the loge, the view the stage is obstructed by the people sitting in the front. I chose to go see The Nutcracker at this venue because it looked like a great double opportunity: to visit The Wiltern to see yet another example of the Art Deco architecture in LA and get into Christmas spirit. But I won't be returning to The Wiltern and won't recommend it to anyone for the reasons stated above. For overall experience it was overpriced. I wish the management will take the comments in account and consider tailoring the ambience to the type of performance presented, since my comments align with the ones left by other people.

Colorful costumes, lovely set, a couple of very impressive dancers but not a great directing job. I would have liked to see a more cohesive artistic concept and actual scene-transitions (instead of pauses and a bare stage) in the second act. Overall a mediocre stage production but this was the good part. The HORRIBLE part was the audience and the Wiltern’s poor management. Zero theater etiquette and consideration for others, it was like being at the zoo. At the beginning, people who were as late as 20-25 minutes were allowed to pour in anytime and they blocked the view. Staff did not help them to find their seats so they were stumbling, spilling their stupid beer and popcorn on others as if this was a street fair. They used their very visible and disturbing flashlights to locate their place. Kids as young as 1 year old were crying and screaming really loudly – not sure why they let such young kids in…? Not age-appropriate at all. Many were talking all the way through evening as if they were in their living rooms, not understanding they are in fact in a theater. Riffraff people were recording the performance which interrupted visibility for others, not to mention it’s against the rules and the law. The whole experience was poorly organized, chaotic, loud, incredibly disrespectful, and full of non-stop disruptions which did not allow us to enjoy any part of the performance.

I recently attended the Nutcracker performance with high expectations, only to leave the theater during intermission, thoroughly disappointed and dissatisfied. To say that my experience was subpar would be an understatement; it was an evening that left me questioning the value of my $300 investment for two tickets. My first point of contention arose when I discovered that the evening show I had purchased tickets for inexplicably transformed into a 4:00 matinee performance. The lack of clarity regarding this change left me bewildered, as I had no idea when the alteration occurred. As an avid enthusiast of fine arts, particularly ballet, I have attended numerous Nutcracker performances and ballet company showcases. Regrettably, this particular production failed to meet even the most basic standards one would expect. We were enticed to attend based on the claim that the ballet company hailed from Russia and Ukraine, a detail that justified the steep ticket price of over $300. However, what unfolded on stage can only be described as a chaotic mishmash of dancers with no discernible continuity. It was disheartening to witness a performance that did not reflect the precision and artistry I have come to associate with such productions. Adding to the disappointment was the unruly behavior of the audience. Throughout the performance, there was a constant hum of noise—conversations, the rustling of snack wrappers, and the unmistakable sounds of children in distress. The uncomfortable seating arrangement, with banquet chairs squeezed tightly together, only served to exacerbate the overall unpleasant experience. We reached a breaking point during intermission, realizing that our expectations had been shattered, and the performance was far from the advertised world-class Nutcracker experience. Disheartened and frustrated, we made the difficult decision to leave the theater prematurely. In light of these shortcomings, it is my firm belief that the performance did not warrant the hefty $150 per ticket price tag, let alone the total cost of $300 for two people. I left the theater feeling cheated and disheartened, convinced that the organizers failed to deliver on their promises of a world-class Nutcracker experience. The false advertising surrounding the origins of the ballet company only deepened our sense of disillusionment. In conclusion, this Nutcracker performance was a far cry from the standard one would expect from a production of its caliber. It not only failed to live up to its promises but also prompted an early exit during intermission. I am left with no choice but to request a refund for the disheartening and subpar experience that I, along with many others in the audience, endured that afternoon.

The show was incredible. I’m grateful for the performers. But the seating was uncomfortable and the people around us were impolite. They were loud and person infront of me was taller and I would move side to side because they constantly kept moving and my back was hurting after a while. The person behind me had his volume loud and was snapping photos through out the entire show. There need to be rules implemented for guests and offers to upgrade seating.

The dancers and costumes were amazing, but from the play and center itself, we expected more. I bought floor seats which turned out to look like rows of folding chairs. I’m not sure if this is the permanent layout or they plan to undergo construction in the future, but I wasn’t impressed. There was a tall man sitting in front of us, so for the first half of the play my boyfriend missed most of the show. If I hadn't purchase the two seats at the end of the inner row, neither of us would have seen a thing. For the second half, we asked an usher if we could move to the stadium seating which was a lot better. We were further from the stage but had a better view and the chairs were more comfortable. As for the show itself, I liked it but it was also my first time seeing the show, so I didn’t know what to expect. My boyfriend told me that it seemed rushed. They summed the entire nutcracker into the first act and for the second act they added different culture inspired skits that had nothing to do with the nutcracker. Also, for my first time, I expected theatrical props but i don’t remember seeing any other than maybe one chair. The entire play consisted primarily of a TV screen backdrop. I did have fun and am glad my boyfriend and I had the chance to experience it together, but for the cost of the floor seats I expected more and I expected more from the show in general.

The talent in this Nutcracker was amazing! The professionals were awesome and the local dancers were also very well trained and talented. We really enjoyed it!

Good location site, plenty of paid and free parking around the area. Good performance. Decent sitting. Light on hallways close to the performing area was not ideal. I enjoyed the ballet and look forward to other events.

I thought it could've been more "magical"for the price of the ticket. The seats were uncomfortable and you felt cramped. The dancers were clearly talented but it was just okay for our family of five.

My family loves to go to different Nutcracker shows each holiday season. This one was BY FAR the best - entertaining, global, inclusive, acrobatic, just a stunning reimagining of this holiday class while still retaining it's full glow.

Beautiful music, set design and choreography. Very good experience for the whole family…

Loved the performance, loved the dancers and the choreography. It was beyond beautiful. I grew up with this show & it was my friends first time ever seeing a live ballet. The downside were the amount of distractions. People were talking loudly throughout in the audience, recording the performance with their brightness all the way up so much that it became incredibly distracting. The show was suppose to start at 12pm, people were still walking in and being sat in the middle of big numbers. I obviously know they still need to seat people, but most other theatres would wait until in between big songs to lessen distraction and obscuring views.

This production of The Nutcracker was amazing. The entire show was full of bright and whimsical costumes. The cast members were full of energy and talent. Their acrobatics and dancing routines were sure to keep anyone’s attention.

If you're looking for great ballet or classical music, this isn't it. The music was recorded and played through a speaker. The dancers were surprisingly bad (except the Arabian dancers, and the Snow King was OK) and the choreography was terrible. Even the "acting"was bad--I wouldn't have understood what was going on in the party scene if I hadn't seen the Nutcracker several times before. Stage decorations and costumes were just meh. Frankly, it was boring. I had high hopes for a large group with international dancers, but this is really not worth the money. I'll be sticking to the Winston Salem School of the Arts one in the future.

Beautiful dancing. Love the music and the costumes were amazing. The second half was a bit repetitive and the lead soloists were not the strongest performers or dancers I have seen in those parts. Still, enjoyed seeing it again and will likely attend again next year.

Enjoyed the ballet. Was not disappointed seats in Orchestra were good