American Ballet Theatre’s New ‘Nutcracker’ Premieres in Orange County : Dance: ABT’s Kevin McKenzie did the choreography, to a libretto by playwright Wendy Wasserstein.

COSTA MESA — The world premiere engagement of the American Ballet Theatre’s latest “The Nutcracker” began Friday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, where it continues through Dec. 12.

This version of the perennial holiday favorite was choreographed by ABT artistic director Kevin McKenzie to a libretto by Wendy Wasserstein, author of “The Heidi Chronicles” and the current Broadway hit “The Sisters Rosenzweig.” The costumes are by Academy Award winner Theoni V. Aldredge.

More than 80 dancers appear in the production, including children recruited from Orange County dance schools for the first-act Christmas party. In the key roles last night, Yan Chen was Clara, Robert Wallace was the Nutcracker Prince, Julie Kent was the Sugar Plum Fairy, Robert Hill was her Cavalier and Victor Barbee was Drosselmeyer.

In the ballet, young Clara is given a nutcracker for Christmas by her godfather Drosselmeyer. She falls asleep and dreams that the Nutcracker wins a battle against a Mouse King and then turns into a handsome prince who takes her away to the Kingdom of the Sweets. There, the Sugar Plum Fairy gathers various people to dance for her. But her dream must finally come to an end.

“The Nutcracker” was Tchaikovsky’s last ballet score and was first performed in 1892 at the Maryinsky Theater in Russia. The choreographer was Lev Ivanov, who also contributed the choreography for the second and third acts (the swan scenes) of the 1895 St. Petersburg revival of Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake.”

Tchaikovsky selected portions of the two-hour “Nutcracker” score, taken largely from the second act, for what has become a popular concert suite that is many people’s first introduction to the work.

ABT, based in New York City, has been without a “Nutcracker” since 1989 when then-artistic director Mikhail Baryshnikov abruptly quit the company, taking the rights to all his choreography with him. The Baryshnikov version (which incorporates an adult dancer as the child Clara and introduces some other non-traditional ideas) may be the most familiar of all versions because of its popular annual telecasts.

McKenzie’s production also uses an adult dancer as Clara and introduces his own innovations. It is his first full-length ballet. (A review of the opening by Times critic Martin Bernheimer will appear in Monday’s Calendar.)

The ABT premiere was first promised to Orange County for 1991, but the company’s budget problems delayed it until Friday.