New York Theatre Ballet brings its production of The Nutcracker back to the Winter Garden at Brookfield Place for three performances on the weekend of November 21 and 22, and every seat is free. The catch is timing: registration for the complimentary tickets opens on Eventbrite on Wednesday, November 4, at 10 a.m., and once the tickets are claimed, the only way in is to line up and hope there is room for walk-ins.

The schedule

  • Saturday, November 21: 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.
  • Sunday, November 22: 1 p.m.

All three performances take place in the Winter Garden, the glass-roofed atrium on the west side of the Brookfield Place complex at 230 Vesey Street, facing the Hudson River and the North Cove marina.

What audiences will see

The production is the version choreographed by Keith Michael, a long-time choreographer for New York Theatre Ballet. It is set to Tchaikovsky's score and places the story in an Art Nouveau world around 1907, so the Stahlbaum family party, the battle with the Mouse King and the trip to the Land of Sweets all play out in the curving lines and soft colors of that period.

New York Theatre Ballet is a chamber company. Its work is built around small classic ballets, new contemporary pieces for adults, and hour-long ballets made for young children. Its programs are sized for intimate rooms, which is part of why the Winter Garden works for it: the audience sits close, some in chairs and some on the atrium's broad marble staircase. The company also runs Ballet School NY and a community service program called LIFT, and Brookfield Place bills this year's performances as a return of the ballet to the Winter Garden.

How the free tickets work

Brookfield Place lays out the rules on its event page, and they are strict enough to be worth reading before November 4.

  • Register in advance. Free tickets are released on Eventbrite on Wednesday, November 4, at 10 a.m. Eastern. A ticket is required for guaranteed entry.
  • A ticket is not a chair. Seating is first come, first served even for ticket holders. Some guests sit in chairs and some sit on the Winter Garden stairs.
  • Check in early, with your whole party. Check in is at 230 Vesey Street, between Theory and Warby Parker. For the 1 p.m. shows it opens at noon, and ticket holders need to check in by 12:30 p.m. to hold their spot. For the 7 p.m. show it opens at 6 p.m., with the same half hour window before the seating area opens to walk-ins. Partial parties are not admitted, so a family needs to arrive together.
  • Walk-ins are possible, not promised. After the check in deadline, people without tickets are seated alongside ticket holders as long as space lasts. When the seating area is full, it closes.
  • Accessible seating is available first come, first served and is held for guests who need it; tell the staff at check in. Stroller parking is provided. Pets are not allowed, apart from service animals.

Questions go to the Brookfield Place events team through the contact listed on the event page.

What else is on at Brookfield Place now

The Nutcracker is the start of the complex's holiday programming, but two installations are on view in the meantime. Katrina Sánchez's woven installation Woven Axis: Soft Chroma Systems runs through November 9, and the large-scale nature installations by the British duo Graphic Rewilding, titled Fleeting Opulence, run through November 13. Both are free to see during regular hours.

Getting there

Brookfield Place sits at the western edge of the Financial District, across West Street from the World Trade Center. The closest subway stops are:

  • 1 train at WTC Cortlandt
  • R and W trains at Cortlandt Street
  • A, C and E trains at Chambers Street/World Trade Center
  • 2, 3, 4, 5, A, C, J and Z trains at Fulton Street, connected to Brookfield Place through the Oculus and the West Concourse
  • PATH trains at the World Trade Center station

The underground West Concourse runs from the Oculus straight into Brookfield Place, so it is possible to reach the Winter Garden without going outdoors, which helps on a cold November evening.

The practical next step

Set a reminder for Wednesday, November 4, at 10 a.m., when registration opens through the link on the Brookfield Place Nutcracker page. Choose Saturday, November 21, at 1 p.m. or 7 p.m., or Sunday, November 22, at 1 p.m., then plan to be at the check in table at 230 Vesey Street at least 30 minutes before the curtain. Admission is free. To read more about the company before the show, visit New York Theatre Ballet.

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