Oregon Ballet Theatre publishes five ticket prices for the 2026 Nutcracker run at Keller Auditorium. Two sit below the $39 starting price. One sits more than six times above it. A group buyer can price a block before making a call.
The run and the floor
The production runs Dec. 5 to Dec. 24, 2026 at Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay St, Portland. Matinees start at 2:00 p.m. Evening performances start at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 24 carries one noon performance. The venue page advertises a starting price of $39.
Five published prices
$5 SNAP. Oregon Trail Card and Washington Quest Card holders buy up to two tickets per production. Orders go through the box office at 503.222.5538. The seats sit in the side boxes, and the tickets cannot be bought online. SNAP credit cannot pay for them, and the offer does not combine with others.
$15 military. Service members and veterans buy up to four tickets per show by phone. The box office asks for a military ID at Will Call.
$20 student rush. Students buy in person with a valid school ID, starting two hours before curtain at Keller. The same rush line sells seniors 65 and older 50 percent off any available seat.
$39 single. This is the floor, and prices include all fees.
$250 premium. The premium tier adds center orchestra seating, a backstage tour and a goody bag of signed merchandise, one per order. OBT holds a limited quantity.
The group rate on a ten-seat block
Groups of 10 or more save 25 percent on regular prices, and OBT waives all handling fees. A ten-seat block at the $39 floor lists at $390 and prices at $292.50, which is $29.25 a seat and $97.50 off the block.
Four military seats cost $60. Two SNAP seats cost $10. The gap between those totals and the $292.50 block decides the seat mix a group settles before anyone quotes a package.
OBT runs a second offer on the same order. Adding Swan Lake and Alice (in wonderland) takes 25 percent off adult tickets and 50 percent off children's tickets. No page states whether the package combines with the group rate.
Eighteen performances on eleven dates
The run spans 20 calendar days. The 18 performances fall on Dec. 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24. Seven of those dates carry two performances. Dec. 6, 11, 13 and 24 carry one.
Dec. 19 through Dec. 23 carries two performances a day, and Dec. 24 adds a noon show. That is the tight half of the run. Dec. 6 through Dec. 18 carries five performances across thirteen days.
The room side
OBT names one hotel partner, the Heathman Hotel, one block from the Newmark Theatre. The plan page lists restaurants and bars near the venues. No page carries a room rate, a group code or a cutoff for the run.
Street meters around Keller run until 7 p.m. through the Parking Kitty app. The venue points drivers to garages at 200 Market and the KOIN Center. Neither carries a published rate. An evening curtain at 7:30 p.m. starts after metering ends.
How to frame the ask
Call the box office at 503.222.5538 and ask for the group desk. The group desk offers personalized support and flexible payment plans across the order.
Put four numbers in the request: seat count, performance date, the $39 floor and the 25 percent group rate. Then ask three questions in writing. Whether the group rate combines with the SNAP, military or rush price. Whether a ten-seat block can split across two performances on one date. Whether the $6 exchange fee is waived on a group order the way it is waived for subscribers.
Pair the ticket ask with the room ask in one call. Name a date and a price for the stay, and let the properties answer. The request reaches every qualified hotel in the destination, properties accept, counter or decline, and replies arrive within 24 to 72 hours. Oregon sits outside the four states that restrict the name-your-price mechanic.
What the run leaves unpublished
No page carries a hotel rate, a room block, a group code or a cutoff date for the run. The $39 floor has no seat map attached, and prices can change.
The five published points are $5, $15, $20, $39 and $250. Every rung above the floor is a published percentage or a published inclusion. Both rungs below it are means-tested or same-day.
