Tacoma City Ballet has danced The Nutcracker for 71 years, and its home is the 1918 Pantages Theater on Broadway, an ornate vaudeville house that suits the story's old-fashioned magic. The run is short, two weekends in mid-December, with an opening Friday evening show and the rest as 2 p.m. matinees that work well for younger kids. Downtown Tacoma is decked out by then, so plan a pre-show lunch nearby or a walk through the Theater District afterward. For South Sound families, it beats the drive to Seattle for the big-house version.