The Nutcracker

The Nutcracker lands at the Esplanade Theatre from 9 to 13 December 2026, with five evening performances at 8pm. Janek Schergen, the Artistic Director, has choreographed and staged this production, and the Metropolitan Festival Orchestra performs the music live rather than from a recording — an arrangement that gives Tchaikovsky's score a bit more bite than you might expect.

Each show runs 1 hour 50 minutes including one interval, which makes it a manageable outing for a weeknight or a weekend. Tickets are S$110, and admission is open to ages 4 and above, so it is one of the rare classical programmes where the younger ones can come along without a babysitter. The run sits squarely in the holiday period — a neat way to mark the season without resorting to the same old mall decorations.