Photo courtesy Sierra Madre Playhouse

More than 100 handcrafted marionettes will dance across the Sierra Madre Playhouse stage this holiday season, as Bob Baker’s Nutcracker returns for its annual six-week run.

The production, created by the late puppeteer Bob Baker in 1969, opens November 29 and runs through January 4 with 50 performances. Originally staged with hand-and-rod puppets, the show has evolved over five decades as Bob Baker Marionette Theater’s team of artisans carefully preserved and adapted the ballet, transforming it into an elaborate marionette spectacle featuring intricate sets. The production includes traditional Nutcracker figures—Clara, the Nutcracker, the Rat King, and the Sugar Plum Fairy—along with many of Baker’s own whimsical creations.

“We are thrilled to welcome back Bob Baker’s Nutcracker,” says Sierra Madre Playhouse Artistic and Executive Director Matt Cook. “The production transforms the historic venue into holiday central, drawing multi-generational families, couples on date nights, as well as those seeking a festive seasonal performance.”

Critics call the show “Christmas magic” (Broadway World) and “a congregation of imagination” (LA Dance Chronicle). LA Theatrix notes that “the cutely intimate Sierra Madre Playhouse, with its throwback red velvet seats and curtain, seems ideally suited for this vintage feeling show.”

The 99-seat playhouse, located at 87 West Sierra Madre Boulevard, has earned recognition as “a jewel” (Pasadena Weekly) and “a landmark theater” (ABC7 Los Angeles) over its century-long history. The structure opened in 1910 and has transformed from furniture emporium to silent movie theatre to its current incarnation as a performing arts center.

The playhouse’s December programming also includes 30 Minute Musicals’ Home Alone parody (December 6, 7, and 14 at 7:30 p.m.) and Matt Johnson and the New Jet Set’s “Jet Set Christmas!” concerts (December 20 and 21 at 8:00 p.m.).

Bob Baker’s Nutcracker is co-presented by Bob Baker Marionette Theater and Sierra Madre Playhouse.

All holiday performances cost $25. Information: 626.355.4318 or www.sierramadreplayhouse.org.