Welcome to Theater News, a regular column by longtime reviewer Anita W. Harris. Look for it most Thursdays. Or sign up for our Eat See Do newsletter to get it in your inbox.
If you’re like me, you’ve barely made a dent in your gift list. But as the countdown to Christmas begins, you can still get into the holiday spirit through local theaters that’ll have you merrily tying bows in no time.
The iconic and meaningful play “A Christmas Carol” is continuing in its final weekend at Long Beach Playhouse, as is the new musical play “Mrs. Christmas” at the Aurora Theater.
For holiday music shows, you can catch “A Broadway Holiday with David Burnham” at the Carpenter Center tonight, Dec. 18, and two this weekend at nearby Cerritos Center — “Dave Koz & Friends Christmas Tour 2025” on Friday and Saturday and the “Los Angeles Symphony Christmas Concert” on Sunday.
And like icing on a Christmas cake, “The Long Beach Nutcracker” is performing in its final weekend at the Terrace Theater, bringing true holiday magic to the stage for young and older folk alike.
Directed by Long Beach Ballet artistic director David Wilcox, this version of the holiday classic pulls out all the stops — pyrotechnics, a flying sleigh and angels, an actual live horse, a full orchestra and a 250-member cast that includes possibly every small child in Long Beach — to create an unmatched theatrical experience.
The story itself is literally dreamlike, beginning in young Clara’s home as her parents throw a Christmas party and her eccentric uncle gifts her a nutcracker doll. As she drifts off to sleep, however, the nutcracker transforms to princely life just in time to fight scary, sword-wielding mice.
The Nutcracker Prince soon takes Clara on a fabulous journey amid snowflakes and a world tour of dances facilitated by the Sugar Plum Fairy. All this is told through Tchaikovsky’s well-known score and ballet dancing, anchored this weekend by Vitor Luiz of the San Francisco Ballet as the prince and Tara Ghassemieh as the Sugar Plum Fairy.
Now in its 43rd year, “The Long Beach Nutcracker” is one of only two productions in the country that uses two harps in the orchestra to ensure the performance sounds the way Tchaikovsky intended. But director Wilcox says the production is not just for people who like ballet.
“You can hate ballet and you’ll still like this production,” he said. “I like using the beauty of the classical art form of ballet, which has taken 500 years to develop to the level that it is today, to form a production that’s enticing and exciting. It has pyrotechnics, it has magic — it’s got everything I can think of to make it thrilling.”
The plaza in front of the Terrace Theater itself is aglow in holiday lights, with spiked eggnog and other treats inside the theater to warm you up — a delightful gift for the whole family.
“The Long Beach Nutcracker” continues Dec. 19 and 20 at the Terrace Theater, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach, with shows Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets can be purchased in person at the box office or by visiting LongBeachNutcracker.com.