Nutcracker in a Nutshell, 2:30 Showing

It’s a snowy evening the week of Christmas at the Stahlbaum’s estate where the maids and bakers are eagerly getting ready for guests to arrive. Mr. and Mrs. Stahlbaum with their children, Clara, Louise and Fritz enter a room full of excitement to see how the family’s Grand Ballroom has been transformed for their Christmas party. Friends and Family begin to arrive and joyfully engage in the Christmas festivities. The only problem appears to be a mischievous mouse the house staff cannot seem to catch. Drosselmeyer makes a grand entry into the ballroom and surprises all the guests. Everyone is thrilled to see Drosselmeyer and are anxious to see what tricks she has up her sleeve this year. Special things always happen when Drosselmeyer is around…after Drosselmeyer encourages dancing she invites a troupe of players to act out a story involving a battle between mice and soldiers with her kind niece Clara. She surprises the children at the party with life size dancing dolls. After the dolls dance, Drosselmeyer delivers special handmade gifts to the children but there doesn’t seem to be a gift for Clara until Drosselmeyer gifts her a handmade nutcracker doll. While the other children scoff at the worn looking wooden nutcracker, Clara sees wonderful potential and is in awe of the gift. Her siblings Fritz and Louise soon become jealous. As Fritz yanks the nutcracker away from Clara it falls to the ground and breaks. Clara is heart broken until Drosselmeyer mends the nutcracker and the party continues with dancing. As the party concludes the guests depart for their homes and Clara falls asleep under the Christmas tree holding her precious gift.

As the clock strikes midnight, Drosselmeyer appears to be up to something. Clara awakes to several mice invading the room around her and the nutcracker is carried off by the Mouse Captain. The Mouse Queen appears commanding her minions to surrounded Clara. Suddenly the nutcracker, who has come to life, appears and aids Clara as he commands a platoon of toy soldiers to ward off the mice. The nutcracker is about to be defeated by the Mouse Queen when Clara pulls off her shoe and hits the Mouse Queen in the head causing her to fall to the ground. The Nutcracker then defeats the Mouse Queen and takes on human form as the Nutcracker Prince. He escorts Clara , traveling through the Land of Snow as her introduces her to the Snow Queen in a beautiful land. As they continue their journey, shining lights guide Clara and the Nutcracker Prince to the Land of Sweets, home of the Sugar Plum Fairy and homeland of the Nutcracker Prince. Clara and the Prince are greeted by the many delighted dancing inhabitants of the land who are pleased at their arrival. There is a huge feast and celebration of dancing hosted by sweets from all over the globe. Soon it is time to depart and Clara and her new friends wave goodbye. Clara awakens to find herself once again sleeping beneath her Christmas tree, her wooden nutcracker tucked into the crook of her arm. She saw something valuable in the nutcracker that no one cared to see and was rewarded with an adventure of a lifetime!