A 21+ Nutcracker Takes Over a Bushwick Theater This Winter
Company XIV recasts the holiday ballet as a baroque burlesque with circus artists and chanteuses, twelve weeks from November 12.
🎄 Twelve Weeks in Bushwick
🩰 Sugar Plum, Rewritten
Every December brings a Nutcracker with a Sugar Plum Fairy, a party scene and a family audience. Company XIV answers with a baroque burlesque in a Bushwick room where the front row sits within arm's reach of the stage: circus artists on aerial work, chanteuses singing live, burlesque dancers, and the company's signature baroque excess. Ballet stays the through-line, and the story only loosely follows the original. The run opens November 12, 2026 and closes January 30, 2027, twelve weeks. Budget 2 hours 15 minutes: TDF's listing for this run gives that running time with two intermissions, and the venue FAQ still says 90 minutes to two hours. The production uses strobe lighting, haze and incense, so anyone sensitive to flashing light, smoke or scent should plan for that.
🥂 Bar Before, Dinner After
The bar opens an hour before curtain and pours craft cocktails, wine, beer, champagne and small treats. The venue serves no full dinner, and outside food and drink are not allowed inside, so plan the meal around the show. Its own short list of nearby tables runs to Monkey King, The Ten Bells and Roberta's. Nowon Bushwick, a few blocks off, closes at 11:00 PM Sunday through Thursday. Book Club Bar on the same block stays open until midnight. Trescientos sits on the Myrtle-Wyckoff side, about 1.3 km away.
🎟️ Times, ID and Getting There
Shows run Thursday to Saturday at 8:00 PM and Sunday at 6:00 PM for most of the run. December adds Tuesday and Wednesday nights and moves the weekend: those Saturdays play at 5:00 PM and 10:00 PM, those Sundays at 3:00 PM and 8:00 PM, New Year's Eve at 10:00 PM, and December 25 and January 1 are dark. Check the ticketing calendar for your date. Tickets start at 49 dollars for standing room and reach 300 dollars for a champagne couch. Everything above standing room is a reserved seat picked on the seating chart; a service fee applies to every online or phone order, parties of six or more save 10 percent, and all sales are final. Théâtre XIV is a 21+ room at 383 Troutman St, with photo ID checked at the door. Row D is wheelchair accessible and there are no steps inside. The L stops at Jefferson Street; the M at Myrtle-Wyckoff is a 15-minute walk. Phones are fine for photos inside, but flash and professional cameras are not.
