BATON ROUGE - The Baton Rouge Ballet Theater will hold its 30th stage performance of The Nutcracker: A Tale from the Bayou this year.

Nearly 200 kids from the area will take the stage with two local celebrities: Leonard Augustus and former LSU football player and radio talk show host T-Bob Hebert. 

"I remember 3rd grade, field trip, seeing The Nutcracker and on the bus ride home I ignored everybody on the bus," Hebert said. "I remember looking out that window and just desperately daydreaming about being on stage."

Artistic directors Molly Buchmann and Sharon Mathews started the show in 1992. Both of them are set to retire this year. 

"We put this together a long time ago," Buchmann said. "It will live after us, it's getting bigger and better, the company is in great hands and I think the city has something to really be proud of."

Tickets are on sale now and are available on , the ticketmaster.com or by calling 225-766-8379. Please note that ticket prices are only $30-$90 and if purchasing online, Ticketmaster is the only authorized retailer.