New York City Ballet and Cosm said on October 6 that George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker will play on Cosm’s dome SCREENS in ATLANTA, DALLAS, DETROIT and LOS ANGELES this NOVEMBER. The production was CAPTURED at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater and cut for Cosm’s 87-FOOT, 12K-plus LED domes, which the company sells as “Shared Reality.” What the announcement does NOT include is any SHOWTIME, any ticket PRICE, or a firm opening DATE. Cosm says those details “will be announced at a later date.”
What was actually filmed
This is a RECORDING, not a LIVE relay. The joint release says the Shared Reality version was filmed during NYCB’s 2025-26 SEASON, so dome audiences will see LAST YEAR’S cast rather than the run that opens at Lincoln Center on November 27. NYCB’s own listing runs that LIVE engagement from November 27 through January 2, plus a sensory-friendly performance on January 3.
The cast is named in full. Principal dancers Tiler PECK (the Sugarplum Fairy), Roman MEJIA (her Cavalier), Mira NADON (Dewdrop), Emma Von ENCK (Marzipan) and Taylor STANLEY (Herr Drosselmeier) lead more than 50 NYCB dancers and 70 STUDENTS from the School of American Ballet. The NYCB Orchestra plays under music director Andrew Litton, with The Boys of the Saint Thomas Choir. Philippe Safir adapted and DIRECTED the piece with Cosm Studios.
The immersive pitch, in Cosm’s own words
The selling point is camera POSITION. Alexis Scalice, VP and head of Cosm Studios, said the company is “transporting audiences directly onto the stage at Lincoln Center with never-before-seen vantage points exclusive to Cosm.” NYCB artistic director Jonathan Stafford described viewers feeling “like an onstage guest at the Stahlbaums’ holiday party,” then moving into the Snow Scene and on to the Land of the Sweets, with “a view of the festivities previously only experienced by the Sugarplum Fairy herself.”
Those are PROMISES about framing, and NONE of it has been SHOWN publicly yet. The release does not say how many CAMERAS were used, whether the capture is STEREOSCOPIC, or how the dome edit deals with a proscenium stage that was built to be watched from ONE direction. Those choices DECIDE whether “onstage guest” means a REAL sense of PRESENCE or simply a very LARGE wide shot.
Why it matters for location-based XR
Cosm’s format is HEADSET-FREE: a CROWD shares ONE wraparound picture instead of each viewer wearing a display. That puts it in direct competition for the same “immersive night out” SPENDING that VR arcades and free-roam venues chase, without the hygiene, fit and THROUGHPUT limits of headsets. Up to now its catalog has leaned on SPORTS. The release calls this deal Cosm’s FIRST move into BALLET and the classical arts, joining Cirque du Soleil’s “O” and Mystère in its theatrical lineup.
For NYCB, the appeal is REACH. The company says the production draws more than 100,000 people to Lincoln Center EVERY year, and executive director Katherine Brown framed the Cosm deal as a way to expand the work “to new audiences across the country.” FOOD and drink are part of the package too, with a festive menu at each venue.
What to watch
- PRICING. NO ticket price has been published. Where Cosm lands against a Lincoln Center seat will show whether this is priced as a CINEMA outing or as a live-performance SUBSTITUTE.
- DATES. “This November” is the ONLY window given. An opening before November 27 would put the domes AHEAD of the live run.
- FOOTAGE. The first released clips will show whether the on-stage vantage points HOLD UP on an 87-foot curved screen.
Sources: Cosm news release (October 6, 2026; full text also distributed via Public); The Detroit News (October 6, 2026); New York City Ballet Nutcracker listing.