George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® celebrates its 10th anniversary at PNB this year! The Northwest’s favorite holiday tradition, this ballet has been delighting balletomanes and first-time showgoers for a decade. Celebrate with us by diving deep into the production with 10 fun facts!
1. The approximate number of Nutcracker performances a founding member of the PNB Orchestra could have feasibly played through December 28, 2025, is 1,378!
2. While built to last, Nutcracker costumes require regular updates. In 2025, PNB’s Costume shop made suspenders for 26 pairs of Soldier pants; built a new Sugar Plum bodice; created a new Drosselmeier wig; made all new Hot Chocolate tights, breeches, and hats; sewed two new Snow costumes; and more!
3. The PNB Costume Shop has made other updates to the costumes over the years. To date, they have created 117 pairs of shoulder straps in four different skin tones for Snow, Flowers, Marzipan, Dewdrop, and Sugar Plum bodices.
4. The Wardrobe department (where costumes are maintained and managed once the Costume shop has finished building them) is kept busy during The Nutcracker too! Among other things, they typically run 8 loads of laundry per show (a total of 328 loads for the 41-show run).
5. Wardrobe also uses 10 cases of vodka to deodorize and disinfect costumes that can’t be laundered. (The Wardrobe team goes through 1.5 handles of vodka – approximately 2.25 liters – per show.)
6. 17 mice costumes were built by Erik Andor and a team of fabricators in his Pioneer Square studio. Laid end-to-end, the mice’s upper lips total 782 inches!
7. In 2021, PNB introduced a new character to The Nutcracker: The Green Tea Cricket! Artistic Director Peter Boal worked closely with the George Balanchine Trust and Philip Chan, co-founder of Final Bow for Yellowface, to create this festive character.
8. PNB has worked to make The Nutcracker increasingly accessible. In 2021, The Nutcracker sensory-friendly performance was introduced, creating a safe and supportive environment for individuals to enjoy the ballet with friends and family. In 2024, PNB began offering audio-described performances to serve blind and vision-impaired audience members.
9. PNB began a new Nutcracker tradition in 2023. PNB Company dancers visited Seattle Children’s Hospital in full costume to read stories with patients, give them handmade gifts from student members of The Nutcracker cast, and more. PNB also offers 200 complimentary tickets to patients at Seattle Children’s to The Nutcracker dress rehearsal each year, so immunocompromised folks can enjoy the performance in a safer environment.
10. Every Nutcracker season, PNB Company dancers use about 1,200 pairs of pointe shoes (which cost $120.00 a pair)!