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The Billings Symphony’s production brings San Diego Ballet and the Billings School of Classical Ballet together for a two-act telling of Clara’s Christmas Eve adventure, with Michelle Di Russo conducting.
All times are local to the venue · America/Denver
A local dance school, a visiting ballet company and the Billings Symphony share this production of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. Its program follows Clara from a Christmas Eve party into a dream of battling mice, a snowy kingdom and the Land of Sweets, where a sequence of named dances shapes Act II.
The Billings Symphony says The Nutcracker has been part of the Billings community’s holiday season for more than 45 years. This edition brings the orchestra together with San Diego Ballet and the Billings School of Classical Ballet. The school has offered dance education in Billings since 1970, giving the production a longstanding local connection alongside its visiting company.
San Diego Ballet was founded in 1990 by Robin Morgan. The company’s artistic director, Javier Velasco, has created more than 70 works for it, and its repertory includes both classical and contemporary ballet. The company describes its Thanksgiving-weekend appearance in Billings as a recurring holiday engagement; that history is context for this edition, not a promise about any particular performer or role.
Guest conductor Michelle Di Russo is an Argentinian-Italian conductor appointed music director of the Delaware Symphony beginning with its 2025–26 season. She became associate conductor of the Fort Worth Symphony in 2024 and has received the Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award twice.
Further reading: The Nutcracker Ballet - Billings Symphony ↗
The program starts with Clara and Fritz at their family’s Christmas Eve gathering. Herr Drosselmeyer arrives with three mechanical dolls—a Ballerina, a Mouse and a Nutcracker—and gives Clara the Nutcracker. After the party, she falls asleep beside the damaged doll. At midnight, the story turns to a battle between the Nutcracker’s toy soldiers and the Mouse King; Clara distracts the king with her slipper, allowing the Nutcracker to win.
Clara then travels through the Kingdom of Snow to the Land of Sweets. In Act II, the program names an opening dance by angels, bakers at work on a cake and a welcome from the Sugar Plum Fairy. The featured confection dances are Spanish Chocolate, Chinese Tea, Arabian Coffee, Marzipan Shepherdesses, Russian Candy Canes and Salt Water Taffy Sailors. The Dewdrop Fairy dances with Flowers, before the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier perform a pas de deux and the court joins the finale.
The program credits Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Those specific episode and dance titles offer a useful guide to the two-act structure without requiring prior familiarity with the ballet.
Further reading: The Nutcracker Ballet - Billings Symphony ↗
The Billings Symphony’s notes date the ballet’s premiere at St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theatre to December 18, 1892, on a program that also included Tchaikovsky’s one-act opera Iolanta. Choreographer Marius Petipa withdrew during the ballet’s creation because of illness; his assistant Lev Ivanov completed the choreography following Petipa’s guidelines.
The ballet was performed outside Russia in England in 1934, and its first full-length U.S. production followed in 1944 with the San Francisco Opera Ballet under William Christensen. That history places Billings’ decades-long holiday tradition within a repertory that has traveled well beyond its original production.
Further reading: The Nutcracker Ballet - Billings Symphony ↗
The published listing names the same participants for all three showings; it does not announce different casts or programs by performance.
Saturday, November 28, 2026: 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM. Sunday, November 29, 2026: 2:00 PM. All performances are at Alberta Bair Theater, 2801 3rd Ave N, Billings, MT 59101. The listings give start times but no end time.
The Nutcracker Ballet - Billings Symphony ↗ · Billings Symphony Presents “The Nutcracker Ballet” - Alberta Bair Theater Official Website ↗ · The Nutcracker Ballet - VisitBillings.com ↗
The listed range is $27–$80, plus non-refundable fees. Reserved adult seats are listed at $80 for Tier 1, $73 for Tier 2, $64 for Tier 3 and $48 for Tier 4. Under-30/student prices are $42 for Tier 2, $37 for Tier 3 and $27 for Tier 4. Prices depend on seat location; the Symphony identifies the back of the balcony and the front row nearest the stage among the least expensive seats.
The theater lists July 11, 2026, as the individual-ticket on-sale date. Group pricing for purchases of 10 or more tickets on select seats was also scheduled to begin that day; ask the Alberta Bair Theater Box Office about group purchases at 406-256-6052. The theater names its website and ThunderTix as official ticket channels, and the Symphony warns that third-party tickets are not accepted.
The Billings Symphony lists subscriptions for its 2026–27 season through its office at 2820 2nd Avenue North or by calling 406-252-3610. It also advises students, veterans and active-duty military members to bring student, VA or military identification for discounts; no discount amounts are listed.
Billings Symphony Presents “The Nutcracker Ballet” - Alberta Bair Theater Official Website ↗ · The Nutcracker Ballet - Billings Symphony ↗
The Symphony lists 80 minutes of music and a 20-minute intermission. That is not a stated total elapsed runtime, and no end time is published.
No age restriction is stated; the Symphony describes the performance as engaging for children and adults. Its guidance leaves clothing to each guest’s preference, from dressy to casual. Audience members may applaud after a solo, dance or musical section, and the Symphony welcomes calls for an encore.
Request accessible or wheelchair seating through the theater’s ticket link, at the box office or by calling 406-256-6052; indicate the need when purchasing. The Symphony lists seven wheelchair spaces on the main floor and two in the loge, each with a companion seat. These spaces are held out of general sale until the performance day or until the event otherwise sells out. One additional attendant ticket is allowed in the same section.
Wheelchair access is available through any of the theater’s main doors, and a wheelchair is available for use at the theater. Seating is provided in the lobby while guests wait for the auditorium doors to open.
Complimentary assisted-listening devices are available at the Coat Check Counter, and foam earplugs are available from ushers or the Coat Check Counter. Sign-language interpreters can be requested; allow ample time to arrange one. Large-print playbill notes or study guides can also be requested when purchasing tickets or reserving seats. For accommodation questions, call the theater box office at 406-256-6052, Monday through Friday, 10 AM–5 PM; telephone assistance is available through the Telecom Relay Service at 711.
The event is at Alberta Bair Theater, 2801 3rd Avenue North, Billings, MT 59101. The theater’s directions say to take Exit 450 for MT-3/27th Street from I-90. From I-90 East, turn left onto 27th Street; from I-90 West, turn right. After about 1.5 miles, turn left onto 3rd Avenue North; the theater is on the right.
The official directions page does not list transit routes. Use the map and directions links to calculate a route from your own starting point; no particular transit service is confirmed here.
Directions - Alberta Bair Theater Official Website ↗ · The Nutcracker Ballet - VisitBillings.com ↗
Metered city street parking is free after 5 PM and on weekends; posted limits vary, and metered periods range from two to 10 hours. The theater lists Park 1 at 2912 Third Avenue North, the 1st Avenue North Garage at 2651 1st Avenue North and Park 3 at 210 North 27th Street as public 24-hour garages that accept credit or debit cards. The Symphony’s event information lists free Sunday parking at Park 1 and Park 3. Garage rates are not included in the supplied parking details.
For accessible parking, the Symphony lists two spaces on North Broadway and one on 3rd Avenue North, each about 125 feet from the entrance. It also lists one space in the U.S. Bank lot and four in the Miller Building lot, each about 300 feet away; check for restrictions at those lots during normal business hours. Park 1 Garage, one block west, has an elevator and accessible spaces on every level.
Parking - Alberta Bair Theater Official Website ↗ · Accessibility - Billings Symphony ↗ · The Nutcracker Ballet - Billings Symphony ↗
The published listing names the same ballet, guest conductor and participating companies for each showing; it does not list separate programs.
The Nutcracker Ballet - Billings Symphony ↗ · Billings Symphony Presents “The Nutcracker Ballet” - Alberta Bair Theater Official Website ↗
The theater lists group pricing for purchases of 10 or more tickets on select seats, with the group-pricing date set for July 11, 2026. Contact the box office at 406-256-6052 for details.
Billings Symphony Presents “The Nutcracker Ballet” - Alberta Bair Theater Official Website ↗
Request accessible seating when buying tickets through the theater or call 406-256-6052. Sign-language interpreters are available by request; allow ample time for scheduling.
2801 3rd Ave N, Billings, MT 59101
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Images from the linked sources. Each caption identifies the context of the image.
Event, planning and background information checked 2026-11-03 against the linked sources.