By MICHELLE BERRY
REPORTER
Lone Star Ballet will be bringing its revamped version of a Christmas classic back to the stage.

The Lone Star Ballet will launch an all-new presentation of “The Nutcracker” on Dec. 12-14,  in the auditorium of the Amarillo Civic Center.
Performances are at 8 p.m. Friday , 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday.
The production received a multi-million dollar facelift last year, which includes brand new sets specifically designed for the ballet by a Broadway set designer, brand new costumes of never before seen designs, brand new props and surprising stage illusions, and newly conceived choreography exclusively for “The Nutcracker”.
Even though the ballet was redesigned, it has remained true to its roots as a time-honored Victorian production.
The Lone Star Ballet will once again partner with the Amarillo Symphony Orchestra for the festivities.
A nationally-recognized creative team directed Amarillo’s new production of “The Nutcracker” when it first debuted last year. Among the team members were Stanley A. Meyer, Broadway set designer from New York City; costume designer Kenneth Busbin from the Boston Ballet; illusion consultant Marshall Magoon and choreographer Bruce Caldwell, ballet master of Ballet West of Utah.
“The Nutcracker” was first produced in Amarillo in a local high school in 1971 and moved to the Amarillo Civic Center Auditorium in 1981.
It is a fairy-tale ballet in two acts, three scenes, and was written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
The adaptation of the story “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” written by E.T.A. Hoffmann was set to music by Tchaikovsky. In Western countries, it has become the most popular ballet of its kind.
The plot revolves around a German girl named Clara Stahlbaum or Clara Silverhaus.
Tickets are available through Panhandle Tickets at www.panhandletickets.com or by calling 378-3096, or through the Lone Star Ballet ticket office at 372-2463.