Fairy-Tale Holiday Sales For The Nutcracker

Lia Cirio in Boston Ballet's The Nutcracker. (Gene Schiavone/Courtesy Boston Ballet)

BOSTON — Even with the recession, Boston Ballet is experiencing banner end-of-the-year ticket sales.

The 46-year-old organization is seeing the highest gross numbers for The Nutcracker in at least five years, according to marketing and communications Director Leslie Cargill.

She said an aggressive new marketing campaign is paying off, ranging from partnering with ZipCar to taking advantage of social media.

“A big part of it is in recognizing that Boston Ballet’s audience is an evolving one, a growing one,” Cargill explained, “and that we needed to be able to speak in a different way to our new audiences.”

Cargill said Boston Ballet will keep up the viral messaging and blogging throughout the new year.