More than 100 handcrafted marionettes will twirl, leap, and battle their way across the Sierra Madre Playhouse stage this holiday season as Bob Baker's Nutcracker returns for a run of 52 performances, starting Nov. 28 and continuing through Jan. 3, 2027. The hour-long production brings Clara, the Nutcracker, the Rat King, and the Sugar Plum Fairy to life through puppetry rather than ballet, a format that has defined the show since it first premiered in 1969.
The 52-show schedule was confirmed in a Patch event listing, which also details the puppet roster behind the ballet's familiar characters. According to NBC Los Angeles, Sierra Madre Playhouse tickets run $28 each, though the Patch listing puts the price at $25 — a discrepancy between the two outlets that hasn't been resolved.
A Puppet Tradition Nearly Six Decades Deep
Bob Baker's Nutcracker isn't a new creation dusted off for a trendy puppet revival — it dates back to 1969, according to Bob Baker Marionette Theater. The marionette troupe's relationship with Sierra Madre Playhouse is more recent, though: the show debuted at the venue in 2024, according to the same source, before returning for a special 2025 presentation at the Playhouse.
That 2025 run, reviewed by LA Dance Chronicle, opened Nov. 29, 2025 and continued through Jan. 4, 2026, according to LA Dance Chronicle. That outlet listed ticket prices at $25 for that engagement, matching the figure in Patch's current listing rather than the $28 reported by NBC Los Angeles for this year's run.
What's Onstage
The production leans on the same handcrafted-puppet artistry that has defined Bob Baker's work for decades, with more than 100 marionettes populating the stage across the hour-long show, per the Patch listing. Clara, the Nutcracker, the Rat King, and the Sugar Plum Fairy headline a cast built from the company's signature style of string-and-rod puppetry, a format distinct from the traditional ballet staging most Nutcracker productions favor.
Exact showtimes for the 2026-27 run, including any matinee schedule, were not detailed in the available listings. What's clear is the run's scope: 52 performances packed into roughly five weeks, spanning Thanksgiving weekend through the first days of January.
