BOB BAKER'S NUTCRACKER will Return to Bob Baker Marionette Theater

Bob Baker’s Nutcracker, Bob Baker Marionette Theater’s (BBMT) 1969 marionette adaptation of the beloved ballet classic, makes its highly anticipated Sierra Madre Playhouse debut this holiday with 50 performances running from November 30, 2024, through January 5, 2025. A perennial and beloved yuletide tradition for Angelenos of all ages, Bob Baker’s Nutcracker has been carefully renovated for this special 2024 presentation at the Playhouse.

The show features more than 100 handcrafted puppets, including Clara and Fred, the Nutcracker, the Rat King, and the Suger Plum Fairy, alongside a number of other Bob Baker playful creations. NBC4 proclaims it “a panache-filled fantasia full of marionette-y merriment.”

Bob’s original Nutcracker show, created in 1969, was performed with hand-and-rod puppets, but over the years, BBMT’s talented team of artisans and craftspeople transformed the adaptation of the ballet into a fanciful dreamscape with large-scale marionettes and intricate sets.

BroadwayWorld decrees, “They are experts on creating shows that will mystify and captivate the attentions of infants while still delighting grown-ups. The performances are crafted with the audience so intrinsically in mind that the entire hour seems to fly by in an instant. The institution stands as a reminder that, even children who have access to iPads are hushed with awe when a puppet is manipulated with strings and overwhelmed with delight when a puppet waves at them.”

This project was funded in part by a grant from Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts.

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