The Nutcracker - Ballet Hawaii Tickets

I love how a touch of Hawaii was infused into the story! The dancers were amazing and the children were so adorable!

Kudos to Ballet Hawaii to keep the show, and the dances and performance were wonderful! The 3 star is for the venue. The Arena ruins the experience: the ambiance, the sound, the smell of food in the air…. 🫣

The nutcracker is my favorite ballet, so I bought tickets for both days of it’s showing. The Hawaiian spin on it was brilliant. The dancers were amazing, the orchestra was magnificent and the backgrounds were beautiful.

It was brilliant. Entertaining, whimsical, exciting, dramatic and fun.

The Nutcracker once again was a glorious performance! The show was held in the arena versus the concert hall, which I prefer. There was a lot more noise and disturbance with people arriving late. The one thing that disappointed me the most, was the view blockage of the stage. I sat in loge 18 and lost view of the lower right corner of the stage. That should have been conveyed in the ticket purchase. I purchased 2 tickets for almost $200.00! I would not have purchased those seats had I known, a portion of the view would be blocked. I look forward to this event every year, it's a gift to myself. I hope they move the event back to the concert hall in the future. It's a much more intimate setting, less noise and disturbance and gives you that theater setting and feeling, which I love! If they continue to have it in the arena, then I know for next time, that I'll need to select a different loge, in the center of the arena. Aloha!

When you pay for the best seats, you expect the best seats. Not so for this. Late arrives being allowed to come and go totally interfered with the program. If you are not on time, then you don’t get in until intermission. I missed much of the program in the beginning of both acts because of people not showing up on time!

IT deserved to have had both sided large screens included like a concert event etc...so everyone could have seen clearer from their seats...capturing much more out of it...as it was outstanding

This is my 7th season attending the Hawaiian ballet performance. I don't give many reviews and certainly not negative ones. I have been to ballets in different states, in different settings. I haven't heard of ballet performances held in a huge arena and now I know why. People were lining up really late which delayed (7:43) the performance to start with. There were no five minute notice chimes or bells so you had to guess at the start and intermission. There were lots of food vendors which is great, except they allowed people to bring food to their seats. Again, I've never seen this at a ballet. The smell of food was everywhere. I had a seat with an isle in front about three steps down and an isle going down right next to me. What a nightmare. People coming and going the whole time. It was absurd. I've never seen anything like that. Now to the ballet itself. I have never seen, the now mini, orchestra off to the side with black curtains around it. That's because the floor wasn't raised to be able to create a proper orchestra pit. They incorporated a huge background screen. Thus, eliminating most of the mobile sets. Pyrotechnics were almost completely eliminated except one small spark. No spotlights. No stage fog. The boat at the end used to float up to the rafters via cables. That's gone too. The ballet started and first thing I noticed was there were not as many Kieki dancers as there was before. Indeed, adult dancers as well. I don't expect the best quality of dancers but a few of the adult dancers were just plain bad. Out of sync, low jumps, low kicks and bad timing. The most painful part was Mother Ginger and the Clowns. I consider it to be one of the highlights of the show. No Mother Ginger. Just clowns. So It made no sense. A bit of a joke really. At the end of the show when the dancers came out for the curtain call, the floor gave a standing ovation and people balcony made a mad dash for their cars. A tale of two ticket prices. $45 / $125 Hopefully, they will return to the original venue. The concert hall where it belongs. But it seems like it's turned into a money making thing instead of a proper ballet with proper behavior. Fingers crossed though. Btw... The orchestra was excellent. It was the best part of the performance.

I have seen the nutcracker ballet at least 4 times here in Hawaii- it is a joy to see the performers- their strength and athleticism, their enthusiasm and charm. Normally this ballet is performed in the Blaisdell concert hall venue. The sound / acoustics are excellent, the stage lighting flattering and dramatic. This time the event was held in the arena where sporting events and concerts are held. This large capacity arrangement, complete with vendors selling burgers, hot dogs, garlic fries and the like, was much less intimate. It was noisier, brighter and more distracting, rendering the performance less enjoyable, despite the heroic efforts of the ballet troupe, complete with guest performers from esteemed ballet companies of the mainland. I will be more selective in future - I was disappointed

This was my 4th year attending the Nutcracker. While the performance was fantastic as usual, the venue was awful. Every other time I’ve attended, it’s been held in the concert hall, which has a sloped orchestra section so that the audience can all see the stage. This year, the orchestra section was metal chairs lined up on the flat floor which made it almost impossible to see the stage. I found myself constantly swaying to try to see between the people in front of me. Also, I wasn’t very far back and I couldn’t even see the dancers feet. Part of ballet is an appreciation of the dancers footwork so that was very disappointing. The arena isn’t set up for ballet performances and I won’t be attending the Nutcracker next year or beyond unless it’s held in the appropriate venue… the Concert Hall.

the arena seating made the ballet a low quality experience. sitting towards the back, my eyes were straining to see the dancers (could not see any faces at all) and the symphony was very soft. the overhead lights were kept on where I sat throughout the performance, which made it feel like a gymnasium experience rather than the theater experience I was looking for. the lights also made it harder to see the stage. If I had known how far away my seat was and that the overhead lights were going to stay lit throughout the entirety of the show - I wouldn’t have gotten those tickets.

This was moved to the stadium art last min. We paid 141.00 to sit in chairs on the arena floor. The back drop was not live but a screen shot. The arena sold hot dogs and tons of roasted garlic that was so smelly and over took the arena to the point you almost got sick. It was so SAD. The dancers were amazing and so good. Just wasn’t expecting a football like feel for the price we paid.

This show was our new family tradition. Last year was amazing. When I got to the show this year I realized it was in the arena and not the concert hall were we saw it last year. I wasn't paying attention when I purchased them if did I would not have purchased. If the seats where in concert hall they would have been perfect, But on the arena floor with no gradual rise I couldn't see. An attendant was nice enough to let us sit on nearby risers, but the sound quality was bad. We stayed until intermission because I didn't want to upset my wife and then we left. I really felt ripped off. No thank you next time

For the amount we paid for the tickets, I somehow thought we'd be closer. Being on the floor, all on the same level made it impossible for me to see much of the ballet. Had we known, we would have selected seats in the risers. I watched the back of someone's head for 2 hours. I gave it 2 stars instead of one because at least I could hear the music. Why wasn't the Nutcracker held at the Hawaii Theater instead? It seems the amount of people we saw in attendance would have fit in that theater instead. I will never attend a concert at the arena again, will wait for the concert hall to be done with its renovations instead. Awful experience.

The Nutcracker ballet itself was beautiful all the dancer were amazing, props were beautiful, orchestra was phenomenal. That aside the seats were terrible, you could not see past people’s head in front of you. We were at AA row 6 seats 3-5. For the price we paid, I was very disappointed. Granted it was not held at its normal location. They should really disclosed the fact that the views are nothing like they would be in the concert hall. Now on to the audience, it was the worst audience I’ve ever sat with. Extremely rude (yelling and talking during performances) just no etiquette whatsoever. What I would call somewhat ghetto behavior. I’ve never experienced a ballet performance like that. Without all the distractions I know I would have enjoyed it so much more.

The performance was fantastic, the venue however was disappointing. When you go to see the Nutcracker, being in a cozy theatre is part of the very beginning of the show. Being in the arena made it feel cold and impersonal.

Excited to see nutcracker with Hawaiian emphasis. My adult daughter had what I thought would be great seats. The 22nd row. I saw the top of audience heads. The floor seating was ridiculous, insultingly especially for the price. The seating wasn’t graduated it was all on the same eye level- I’m truly upset. Could NOT SEE any dancing- I’ll think twice before I purchase expensive tickets that has NO VIEW TO THE STAGE. Best part of the evening was the VALET PARKING-

One of the best Nutcracker performance's I’ve attended in three countries and multiple US cities! Spectacular choreography, beautiful costumes and sets! Performers were absolutely wonderful! Can’t wait until next year!

The show ushered the Christmas season very well. The stage and costumes were all out. I particularly loved the Hawaiian couple dance. It is good that the classic ballet show incorporated local culture. The kids were also adorable especially the fisherman kid. :) I would love to see this show every Christmas...

I love the Christmas season. I love decorating the tree with family & friends! This brought back my joy to do it this year. All the dancers are so talented and as an added bonus the orchestra was live. Looking forward to seeing this ballet again. Mahalo to everyone that organized and participated in this event. 🎄🎄🎄Many Blessings!