Dancing Sugarplums Invade the Southland : ‘Nutcracker’ stagings of every possible level of professionalism will make the holiday season full of dancing snowflakes

‘Tis the season, and visions of Sugar Plum Fairies will be dancing from Santa Barbara to Costa Mesa in Southern California performances of “The Nutcracker” ballet.

Highlights this year include the lavish Joffrey Ballet production at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, set in Victorian America and featuring 70 young dancers from area schools; and the Long Beach Ballet production with principal dancers from the Bolshoi--Alla Khaniashvili-Artyushkina as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Vitali Artyushkinc as her Cavalier--at the Terrace Theater in Long Beach. The Artyushkins are also scheduled to appear with Palos Verdes Ballet at some of the El Camino College and Norris Theatre performances.

Below are details on these and other “Nutcracker” stagings.

Today:

Westside Ballet at Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium, 4117 Overland, Culver City. 1:30 and 4:30 p.m. $10 for adults; $5 for children under 12. Information: (213) 828-6211.

Saturday and Dec. 3:

The Oakland Ballet, Smothers Theatre, Pepperdine University, 24255 Pacific Coast Hwy., Malibu. 2 and 7 p.m. $20. Information: (213) 456-4522.

The Palos Verdes Ballet, at El Camino College, 16007 Crenshaw Blvd., Torrance. 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday (the latter with Bolshoi guests); 2 p.m. Sunday. $8-15 for adults; $2 discount for children. Information: (213) 329-5345 or (800) 832-ARTS.

Westside Ballet, Reseda Auditorium, 18230 Kittridge St., Reseda. 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 2 and 6 p.m. Sunday. $10 for adults; $5 children under 12. Information: (213) 828-6211.

Dec. 9-10:

The Goleta Civic Ballet and the Santa Barbara Symphony, Arlington Center for the Performing Arts, 1317 State St., Santa Barbara. 2:30 and 7 p.m. Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. $10-20 for adults; $8.50-$10 for children. Information: (805) 963-4408.

Dec. 13-17:

The Joffrey Ballet, Orange Country Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday; 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; 7:30 p.m. Sunday. $11-42. Information: (714) 556-ARTS.

Dec. 14-17:

Coast Ballet Theatre of Orange County, Saddleback College, McKinney Theater, 28000 Marguerite Pkwy., Mission Viejo. 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. Matinee performances are sold out. $9 general; $8 students and seniors; $7 children under 13. Information: (714)-582-4656.

Dec. 15-17:

The Palos Verdes Ballet with the Youth Theater Guild Orchestra at La Mirada Civic Theater, 14900 La Mirada Blvd., La Mirada. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; 7:30 p.m. Sunday. $20 adults; $10 children 5-12 years old. Information: (714) 994-6310 or (213) 944-9801.

Dec. 15-16:

“Clara & the Jammcracker,” an updated work based on “The Nutcracker,” presented by Jack and Blew Productions, Smothers Theatre, Pepperdine University, 24255 Pacific Coast Hwy., Malibu. 8 p.m. Friday; 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday. $10 at the door; $8 in advance. Information: (213) 456-4522.

Dec. 16-17:

Ballet Montmartre/Children’s Ballet, Newport Harbor High School Auditorium, 600 Irvine Ave., Newport Beach. Curtain times: 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. $7.50 adults; $5 for seniors and children under 12. Information: (714) 646-7688.

Dec. 15-17, 22-24:

Pasadena Dance Theater with guest dancers Ann Marie De Angelo (formerly of the Joffrey and David Roxander from National Ballet of Canada) at the San Gabriel Civic Auditorium, 320 S. Mission Drive, San Gabriel. 8 p.m. Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2 p.m. Dec. 17; 1 p.m. Dec. 24. $12-18 for adults; $6 for children under 12. Information: (818) 308-2868.

Dec. 15-17, 22-23:

Ballet Repertory Theater, Golden West College, Mainstage Theater, 15744 Golden West St., Huntington Beach. 7 p.m. Friday; 2:30 and 7 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays; Special Christmas eve matinee 1 p.m. at Huntington Beach High School, 1905 S. Main St., Huntington Beach. $8 for adults; $6 for children under 12. Discounts available for advance purchases. Information: (714) 846-0215.

Dec. 16:

Ballet East, Montebello High School Auditorium, 1300 Cleveland Ave., Montebello. 7:30 p.m. $5. Information: (213) 725-1088.

Westside Ballet at John Burroughs High School Auditorium, 330 N. Buena Vista, Burbank. 2:30 and 7: 30 p.m. $10 for adults and $5 for children under 12. Information: (213) 828-6211.

Dec. 16-17, 21-24:

Long Beach Ballet and the Long Beach Ballet Orchestra, Terrace Theater, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach. 2:30 p.m. Friday, Saturdays and Sundays; 8 p.m. Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays; 7 p.m. Sunday Dec. 17; $11-27. Children’s tickets for certain performances half price. Information: (213) 427-5206.

Dec. 19-23:

Ballet Pacifica, Laguna Moulton Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday; 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. $12 general; $10 for seniors and children under 12. Information: (714) 642-9275.

Dec. 20-21:

Village Center for the Arts, McCallum Theatre, 73000 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert. Curtain times: 7:30 Wednesday; 4:30 p.m. Thursday. $25-5 for adults; $3 children 10 and under. Information: (619) 325-9116 or (619) 325-6559.

Dec. 20-31:

Joffrey Ballet, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave. 7:30 p.m. opening night; 2 p.m. matinees on Dec. 21-22, 24, 30-31; 8 p.m. on Dec. 21-22, 26-30. No performances Dec. 23 and 25. $8-$40. Information: (213) 972-7211.

Dec. 22-23:

Riverside Ballet Theatre with the Riverside County Philharmonic, Landis Auditorium, Riverside Community College, 4800 Magnolia Ave., Riverside. 2 and 8 p.m. $6-$9 for matinees; $12.50-$17.50 evenings. Information: (714) 684-6040.

Dec. 29-30:

Palos Verdes Ballet, Norris Theater for the Performing Arts, 27570 Crossfield Drive, Rolling Hills Estates. 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday night gala performance featuring Bolshoi dancers and reception, $25; other performances $12.50 for adults; $10 children 12 and under. Information: (213) 544-0403.

Next week: a seasonal calendar of local choruses/performances of Handel’s “Messiah.” OPERA BY THE BAY: The San Francisco Opera will open its 1990 Fall season Sept. 7 with a new production of “Suor Angelica”--directed by John Copley, with Leona Mitchell in the title role--paired with a revival of the Ponelle “Pagliacci.”

Other new San Francisco Opera productions for the season are “Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail”--in a production by Stephen Wadsworth, Thomas Lynch and William Ivey Long--and company director Lotfi Mansouri’s version of “Die Fledermaus.” Other productions new to the Bay area include a co-production with the Canadian Opera Company of a “Wozzeck” directed by Mansouri; Massenet’s “Don Quichotte” as directed by Charles Roubaud, with Samuel Ramey in the title role; Richard Strauss’ “Capriccio,” with a cast headed by Kiri Te Kanawa and Hakan Hagegard; and Monteverdi’s “Il Ritorno d’Ulisse In Patria,” with Thomas Hampson making his company debut in the title role.

Revivals include “Rigoletto,” “Un Ballo Maschera,” and Mussorgsky’s “Khovanshchina,” conducted by Yuri Simonov in his company debut. The season will also offer four cycles of the “Ring” in June, and in July Aribert Reimann’s “Ghost Sonata” as the Opera Center Showcase at the Theatre Artaud.

PEOPLE: Stanley Beyer will succeed Michael J. Connell as president of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Assn. board of directors. Beyer, chairman of the board of PennCorp Associates, Inc., has served as board vice president for the past year and has been an Association board member since 1985. . . . Conductor Anton Coppola will join his brother, composer Carmine Coppola, and film maker nephew Francis Ford Coppola to produce and conduct an operatic sequence for the third installment of “The Godfather” story for Paramount. Coppola has guest conducted with the San Francisco Opera and the New York City Opera and is former director of the symphony and opera departments at the Manhattan School of Music. . . . Composer-conductor John Harbison has been appointed creative chair of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra for the 1990-91 season. Harbison, winner of the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Music, was co-director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group from 1985-88. . . . Judith Frankfurt will take over as general manager of the Philadelphia Orchestra, effective in January. Frankfurt, currently manager of The Cleveland Orchestra, has also been associated with the Saint Louis and Boston symphonies.

EARLY MUSIC ARCHIVE: The Indiana University Early Music Institute (EMI) has been awarded a $60,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to establish an archive of early music recordings. The collection of records, cassettes and compact disk recordings featuring early music performed on original instruments will be housed in the Indiana University library.

SCHOOL COMPOSITIONS: The Orange County Philharmonic Society and the Newport Harbor Art Museum have invited more than 1,000 local high school students to attend a multi-media arts presentation introducing electronic music composition as part of the 1989 Art and Music Program co-sponsored by the two organizations. The lecture/demonstration runs through Dec. 7.