The Nutcracker is based on the story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King written by E. T. A. Hoffman.

Texas Ballet Theater’s The Nutcracker will be performed in 2 different theaters.

There are several different Nutcracker casts for Texas Ballet Theater’s performances.

It takes a crew of 30 stagehands and 10 wardrobe/dressers to put on each performance.

Texas Ballet Theater has a company of more than 30 dancers.

Our Christmas tree grows to 40 feet.

More than 90 local children will appear in the run of The Nutcracker.

The wardrobe department begins refurbishing costumes in June to be ready by December.

Over 200 costumes are used in Texas Ballet Theater’s The Nutcracker.

10 miles of thread were used to build the costumes.

17 loads of laundry are done after every show.

Over 300 pounds of snow is used during the run, made from a combination of plastic and flame retardant ½ inch paper squares.

The Nutcracker uses 398,300 watts of electricity during each show.

 

Some ballet slippers are dyed to match costumes with the same type of paint used to paint a house.

It can take 200-300 hours to stitch together 1 tutu.  That’s equal to 100 Harry Potter movies watched in a row!

Dancers change into their costumes in the wardrobe room downstairs.

Quick costume changes are made right in the wings offstage or sometimes in the backstage hallway.

Some women use 1 pair of pointe shoes for each performance.