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Behind the scenes: Joffrey Ballet company members rehearse the new Nutcracker (HERE AND TOP LEFT), which will feature puppetry elements and sumptuous, all-new costumes (LEFT AND TOP RIGHT). PHOTOGRAPHY BY TODD ROSENBERG (DANCERS); COURTESY OF THE JOFFREY BALLET (COSTUME; PUPPETRY) A BRAND- NEW NUT THE JOFFREY BALLET GATHERS AN ALL-STAR TEAM TO REIMAGINE THE HOLIDAY CLASSIC WITH A WHITE CITY TWIST. BY THOMAS CONNORS The Joffrey Ballet has been performing perennial holiday favorite The Nutcracker since 1987, and while it's been tweaked over the years, it's tied up with a big new bow this season in a production created by Tony-winner Christopher Wheeldon. The choreogra- pher, whose 2014 rendition of Swan Lake was a huge hit for the company, brings the beloved story home, setting this new Nut during the 1893 Columbian Exposition. Wheeldon, who took home a 2016 Tony for An American in Paris, promises a "visually dazzling" production, a real spectacle. And he's assembled just the crew to make that happen: Tony-nominated set and costume designer Julian Crouch (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), Tony-winning lighting designer Natasha Katz (An American in Paris), and Obie and Drama Desk award-win- ning puppeteer Basil Twist. What's more, he's turned to author and illustrator Brian Selznick—whose The Invention of Hugo Cabret became an Academy Award-winning film directed by Martin Scorcese—to fashion a new narrative for the Joffrey production. "It's no longer the story of a wealthy child who goes to sleep on Christmas Eve after having lots of delicious food and opened lots of presents and then dreams of candy," "CHRISTOPHER WHEELDON IS CREATING AN ODYSSEY FOR A YOUNG GIRL OF LIMITED MEANS, BUT LARGE DREAMS." —ASHLEY WHEATER 66 MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM SCENE HOT TEST TICKET