The American Ballet Theatre’s world premiere performances...

The American Ballet Theatre’s world premiere performances of Kevin McKenzie’s “Nutcracker” drew 29,586 people during the company’s Dec. 3-12 engagement at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa. Paid attendance at the 13 performances averaged 77.52% of capacity and totaled $1.33 million. It was the third highest attendance in the center’s five-year history of presenting ballet (ABT pulled in 36,156 for 16 performances of “Romeo and Juliet” and mixed repertory in 1990; the San Francisco Ballet sold 32,880 tickets to 12 performances of “Nutcracker” in 1991).