Nutcracker: Rated R, the downtown version of the official ballet of the holiday season, was awesome enough last year: Clara became a rebellious late eighties club kid dancing through clouds of cocaine dust. But this year’s version has an even more timely twist. Its Mouse King and his furry followers will be fighting against an even more deadly enemy than last year’s corporate suits: the devastating armies of the Department of Health. Our friends at the Theater for the New City, where the ballet will be shown through the 23rd, won’t say who comes out on top. But our guess is that it’s not the health inspectors.

Nutcracker: Rated R [Official site]