Eighteen performances, nine matinees
Oregon Ballet Theatre brings George Balanchine's The Nutcracker to Keller Auditorium from Dec. 5 to Dec. 24, 2026. The Portland'5 event page lists 18 performance times and a starting price of $39.
Nine of the 18 start at 2 p.m. Eight start at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 24 opens at noon and closes the run.
Every performance uses the OBT Orchestra. Seating is reserved, and every attendee needs a ticket.
The 2 p.m. curtain and the desk
A 2 p.m. curtain leaves the morning intact. It leaves the evening intact as well, because the matinee finishes well before the 7:30 p.m. call for the same production.
The matinee dates are Dec. 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23. Dec. 21, 22 and 23 also carry a 7:30 p.m. performance.
The venue opens doors one hour before the start. A 2 p.m. matinee opens its doors at 1 p.m. OBT's own FAQ opens the lobby 75 minutes before show time, which puts a 2 p.m. matinee's lobby entry at 12:45 p.m.
The nine weekdays between shows
The run skips Dec. 7 through Dec. 10 and Dec. 14 through Dec. 18. Dec. 11 carries one Friday evening performance at 7:30 p.m. between those two gaps.
Those nine weekdays carry no Nutcracker at all. A December workday inside them can hold a day room and a downtown evening without competing with a call.
Doors, address and the ticket desk
Keller Auditorium sits at 222 SW Clay St, Portland, OR 97201, at the corner of 3rd and Clay. The house opens one hour before each performance.
Tickets come from Oregon Ballet Theatre by phone at 503.222.5538. The Portland'5 Box Office does not sell OBT tickets. Prices include all fees and remain subject to change. The page states no refunds.
A separate production, Dominic Walsh's Storybook Nutcracker, runs on Dec. 23 at the Keller as OBT's sensory-friendly performance for families with young children and the neurodiverse community.
Parking runs to 7 p.m.
The Keller parking page lists three options: metered street parking, pay surface lots in the surrounding blocks, and the Smart Park garages. It states that meters are paid until 7 p.m.
A driver who takes a meter for a 2 p.m. curtain has to feed it until 7 p.m., whenever the curtain falls. A pay lot or a Smart Park space removes the return trip to the meter.
The transit mall runs on 5th and 6th Avenues. Northbound buses use 6th Avenue, southbound buses use 5th Avenue, and the page directs riders to the stop nearest SW Clay St.
The room on the same street
The Hotel Zags sits at 515 SW Clay Street, on the same street as the auditorium. The drive between the two addresses measures 0.27 miles.
The hotel is a member of the hotelSlots Portland directory, which lists 278 hotels for the city. Dayuse shows The Hotel Zags at US$106 against a US$200 nightly comparison, 47 percent below, with the price including fees. hotelSlots states no booking fees and direct payment to the hotel.
The published window is 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. That block covers the morning desk hours, a 2 p.m. curtain and a return before 5 p.m. It ends three hours before a 7:30 p.m. performance.
Portland'5 names The Heathman Hotel at 1001 SW Broadway as its hotel partner. It carries no card among the 19 day-use rates on the Dayuse city page read on Oct. 20, so a reader who wants a priced rate has to look at another property.
Later windows for the evening shows
A 7:30 p.m. curtain needs a room that stays open past it. The Nines lists a 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. window at US$159 against a US$450 nightly comparison, and the Royal Sonesta lists 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. at US$110 against US$173. The Nines sits 0.65 driving miles from the Keller and the Royal Sonesta 0.75.
Dec. 24 carries the only noon curtain of the run, and the production closes that afternoon.
Book the matinee, then the room
Pick the performance first. The nine 2 p.m. calls and the single noon call are the dates that leave a workday intact, and the nine empty weekdays leave a day room as the only item on the calendar.
Then match the property window to the curtain. A 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. block suits a matinee. A 7:30 p.m. performance needs one of the later cards.
hotelSlots lists Portland day rates typically 30 to 75 percent below the nightly rate, with the morning, afternoon, evening and overnight windows sold separately. The run ends Dec. 24, and the nine empty weekdays sit inside it.
