Annabella is back for another night of museum-bound terror, and this time she is dodging the Riddler, Two-Face, and a trio of scheming Disney villainesses instead of just 1980s rock ghouls. Ballet Greenville will present Madame Tutu's Nightmare at the Museum on October 23 and October 24 at the Peace Center's Gunter Theatre, with tickets priced at $55 for the hour-long, Halloween-themed production.
The show follows Annabella's nightmare encounters with villains inside a museum before she wakes the next morning and takes selfies with the exhibits, according to Greenville Journal. That closing gag doubles as a comic critique of a generation absorbed in phones, the outlet reports. Hernan Justo, Ballet Greenville's artistic director and the production's co-creator, described the show simply as very entertaining.
New Villains Join the Lineup
This year's staging introduces the Riddler and Two-Face as new villains alongside a fresh number built around Disney's most notorious women, including Cruella de Vil, Ursula, and the Evil Queen from Snow White, per the same account. The Addams Family also makes an appearance. Justo shares choreography duties with his daughter, Sofia Justo, who helped identify songs with variety and dramatic possibilities for the dancers to work with.
The musical overhaul marks the production's biggest shift since it debuted. Madame Tutu's Nightmare at the Museum originally launched in October 2024 as a family-friendly, 60-minute show built around 1980s rock tracks by Pink Floyd, Yes, Journey, and Guns N' Roses, and that first staging spotlighted classic villains including Batman's Joker alongside fairy-tale figures, according to a historical account from the Greenville Journal. The updated musical selections grew out of a request to introduce contemporary pop music to the production, and the 2026 version now includes songs by Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish, and Ariana Grande, while retaining some of its original music. Justo himself still favors prog and classic-rock acts like Pink Floyd, Yes, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
Roots in an Older Halloween Tradition
Madame Tutu's Nightmare at the Museum draws on elements of Ghosts, a haunted-themed Halloween ballet the company often performed starting in 2010, set to Michael Jackson's music, including “Thriller.” Ghosts helped inspire the museum setting and supernatural characters now found in the newer production.
The production will feature about 35 dancers drawn from Ballet Greenville's professional company, Hernan Justo's school, and other area dance schools, the Greenville Journal reports. That school is DanceArts Greenville, which Justo and his wife, Anita Pacylowski-Justo, have co-owned and directed since 2004; Pacylowski-Justo was a principal dancer with Charlotte Ballet. Students from the school are among the dancers in this production, and the company also runs a tuition-free Pre-Professional Program for dancers 18 and older, offering up to three years of transitional training that lets young performers work alongside company professionals while receiving career placement guidance.
A Name Change Rooted in a 50-Year History
Ballet Greenville was formerly known as Carolina Ballet Theatre before changing its name earlier in 2026 to emphasize its Greenville connection and distinguish itself from similarly named organizations. The organization was founded in 1972, and Justo was invited to lead it in 2000 by founder Barbara Selvy.
Beyond its mainstage productions, the nonprofit runs an annual Community Nutcracker initiative that provides hundreds of complimentary tickets to local disadvantaged children and families, funded by corporate sponsors like TD SYNNEX and run in collaboration with charitable organizations such as Make-A-Wish.
Inside the Gunter Theatre
Madame Tutu's Nightmare at the Museum returns to the Peace Center's Gunter Theatre, an intimate 400-seat venue (439 seats when pit seating is configured) designed for close audience interaction during dance and chamber music performances. For tickets or more information, the Peace Center can be reached at 864-467-3000 or through peacecenter.org.
