Mimes, berets, a certain iconic Parisian tower, and the moody music of Édith Piaf may not be the first things that come to mind when one considers “The Nutcracker.”

But they might be soon.

This year’s Olympic Performance Group production of the beloved Christmas ballet once more reimagines the holiday staple, this time transporting the timeless tale of Clara and her special gift to 1940s France.

Music and dancing — ballet, jazz, acrobatics, contemporary styles — and a plethora of other performers, too, await audiences adventurous enough for this new take on the Christmas classic, which will be staged at the North Kitsap Auditorium (1881 NE Hostmark St., Poulsbo) at 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 16 and Sunday, Dec. 17, also 2 p.m. Monday, Dec. 18.

Tickets, $20 each, $18 for seniors and $15 for youth, students and military, are available at www.brownpa pertickets.com/event/3101537 and also, while supplies last, at the door.

The show is again directed by OPG founder and Bainbridge Ballet owner/lead instructor Sara Cramer, and features a cast of 45 kids and teens, as well as about 15 adult performers, many of them returning contributors.

“I think it’s bigger than last year,” said program coordinator/OPG board member Dawn Weber. “The littlest ones are 6 and 7 and it goes all the way on up to I-don’t-know-how-old.”

The group is known for its yearly innovative takes on “The Nutcracker” — previous themes included the swinging America of the 1920s, masquerade balls, dancers from around the world, and a dramatic late 1700s French motif — but this season’s twist required heavy research even by OPG standards.

“It’s got this nice French ‘40s twist to it this year,” Weber said. “The [first] scene opens with Clara in the park and street performers come through and then the rest goes on from there.

“It was a lot of work, keeping the color scheme and the themes together.”

Musically, too, this year’s twist features some novel additions.

“We’ve incorporated some really kind of different sounding stuff,” Weber said.

Included on the playlist are the vocal stylings of Édith “The Little Sparrow” Piaf, an iconic and controversial French cabaret singer, songwriter and actress who became one of France’s most international stars even while navigating some rather turbulent times. In fact, since her death in 1963, at the age of 47, with the aid of several biographies and films (among them 2007’s Academy Award-winning “La Vie en rose”) Piaf has, according to biographer Carolyn Burke, acquired a legacy as one of the greatest performers of the 20th century.

Other highlights among this year’s new twists, Weber said, include adding a whole new character as well.

“Something nice this year, I think, we have a Nutcracker Prince and we also have a Cavalier whose the Sugar Plums prince,” she said. “The Sugar Plums’ and Cavalier are young, professional performers and we’re just thrilled to have them this year.”

Additionally, the show will, for the first time ever, feature dancers from four different studios: Bainbridge Ballet, Bainbridge Dance Center, Just for Kicks School of Dance (in Port Orchard) and the Oregon Ballet Theatre (from Portland).

“We’re starting to really draw from some different organizations,” Weber said. “This is our 12th year, and so as we’ve grown more people start to hear about it and they know that because it’s not the original ‘Nutcracker’ there’s something different about it and people are curious and they say, ‘Oh, I want to give that a go.’

“It’s such a collaborative effort this year,” Weber added. “Every single piece is stunning in its own right.”

Purists aside, Weber said most people she knew in the dance community are excited to explore new ways to present what is possibly the best known ballet on the planet.

“One of our choreographers this year … she’s relatively new and she’s a ballet stickler, she’ll tell you that herself,” Weber laughed. “But even she was very excited to see [this rendition].

“It’s not traditional,” she said. “The story is universal and I think that’s kind of the fun of doing it every year, that you’re not just repeating yourself year after year after year.”

A new twist on a festive fave

What: Olympic Performance Group’s 12th annual production of “The Nutcracker.”

When: 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 16 and Sunday, Dec. 17, and 2 p.m. Monday, Dec. 18.

Where: North Kitsap Auditorium (1881 NE Hostmark St., Poulsbo).

Admission: Tickets, $20 each, $18 for seniors and $15 for youth, students and military, are on sale now at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3101537.