Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...Running through Dec. 29, the returning production comes off as fresh, inventive and entertaining as ever, with six rotating casts of 93 dancers in each performance, including 50 children from the company's training programs."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Just walking up to the Auditorium Theatre, The Joffrey Ballet's home for the last 24 seasons, and the final year "The Nutcracker" will grace its stage, arm in arm with my mother was a treat. I reveled in watching the wispy breath curling from her nose and mouth in the cold, crisp evening air, in observing her take in the city and the crowds all resplendently arrayed and decorated for the season, and in feeling the squeeze of her arm as the palpable excitement and anticipation of the evening's festivities ahead took her in its grip. Her eyes were shining, her smile was enormous, she was effervescing with wonder and enthusiasm at all she was encountering around her and, in that second, I knew this was going to be everything I had hoped and more."
WTTW - Highly Recommended
"...This “Nutcracker” is a monumental production both in its storytelling and its design, yet it manages to beautifully interweave its grand scale elements with human scale emotions. And when it debuted on a notably snowy evening back in 2016 it came with all the weight of enormous expectations and a big price tag attached. Miraculously, that first performance was all but flawless on both an artistic and technological level. But this fourth season turns out to be the charm, with the storytelling and characterizations tighter and clearer, and the dancers more relaxed amidst all the complex projections, puppetry, masks, snow and complex design magic."
Picture This Post - Highly Recommended
"...Much of the choreography emphasizes personal relationships more than spectacle, especially those within the family. However, Joffrey's NUTCRACKER lacks nothing in the way of polished and satisfying dance performances. The Fair's international pavilions align with the ballet's set pieces for Arabian, Spanish and Chinese dancers. Buffalo Bill's Wild West show certainly didn't factor into Tchaikovsky's score. But somehow, Buffalo Bill--with a lasso and three showgirls in cowboy boots-- do justice to the great composer's music. For this reviewer, it's another reason to reconsider tradition from every angle."
Splash Magazine - Highly Recommended
"...This version of The Nutcracker, choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, is brought to life through the incredible inventiveness of a myriad of production experts. Thanks to lighting designer Natasha Katz; projection designers 59 Productions; masks, set and costume designer Julian Crouch; puppetry designed by Basil Twist; with puppetry and effects built by Tandem Otter Productions, it is an extravaganza of lights, costumes, puppets, projections, curtains and props, an absorbing spectacle, and a well considered departure from tradition in a number of ways."
