Ross Brown
We loved how the Royal New Zealand Ballet reimagined The Nutcracker in a children’s hospital ward in 2010 and in 2025, get set for a brand-new take, this time against a 1950s Kiwi summer, choreographed by artistic director Ty King-Wall and set to the traditional Tchaikovsky score.
This is the company’s biggest, most ambitious production of 2025, with 40 tutus and costumes handcrafted over nine months by its specialist costume team. The RNZB says the stage designs are ‘breathtaking’ and it is set to wow audiences regardless of age. Ten thousand tickets have already been ordered.
The tour begins in Wellington in October and offers Kiwi nostalgia with summers at the bach, playing barefoot cricket, and eating melting ice-creams beneath a blooming pōhutukawa.
‘The impetus behind this production was an aspiration for Royal New Zealand Ballet to have a Nutcracker which was our very own, a work recognizably of the place we call home,’ said King-Wall. ‘Being a story borne from the northern hemisphere it is far removed from our own experiences around Christmas, the festive season and summer holidays. We have our own customs and history in this part of the world at that time of year, so first and foremost I sought to draw inspiration from that.’
The Nutcracker is a story about hope, family and imagination. ‘I think we need to remind ourselves of these things sometimes and hold onto them at all costs. I hope audiences have a sense of wonder and awe, of pure escapism to a world that is both reassuringly familiar and completely fantastical,’ added King-Wall.
The ever-talented team of Tracy Grant Lord (set and costume design), Jon Buswell (lighting) and POW Studios (visual effects) have collaborated to bring to life the world that Clara finds herself in.
Act one begins at the Stahlbaum family bach, where Clara’s godmother, Auntie Drosselmeyer, a retired ballerina, gifts a handcrafted Nutcracker doll. It takes Clara into an adventure that brings in New Zealand’s nature and cultural icons. Act two sees iconic Kiwi sweets appear: chocolate fish, hokey pokey ice-cream, lolly slice and pavlova. The battle scene sees the Nutcracker Prince facing the Rat King’s army of weasels, stoats and possums.
‘Our landscapes define us. They are a source of beauty, inspiration and shared memory, and their emotive power has influenced this production immensely,’ said King-Wall.
‘Our distance from the rest of the world is our strength. It gives us a creative distinctiveness that’s reflected in every moment of this ballet.’
The Nutcracker, presented by Ryman Healthcare, begins October 30 at Wellington’s St James Theatre, running till November 8, before heading to Christchurch’s Isaac Theatre Royal for November 12–16. Dunedin hosts at the Regent on November 21 and 22, followed by the Municipal Theatre in Napier on November 28 amd 29, before travelling to Auckland at the Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre in the Aotea Centre from December 4 to 13, finishing at the Regent on Broadway in Palmerston North for December 19 and 20. Music by Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky will be performed live by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and the Auckland Philharmonia. Tickets are available here.
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