Fun facts you didn't know about BalletMet's 'Nutcracker'

Peter Tonguette
·3 min read
Dancers perform during a preview rehearsal for BalletMet’s performance of "The Nutcracker" at the Ohio Theatre.
Dancers perform during a preview rehearsal for BalletMet’s performance of "The Nutcracker" at the Ohio Theatre.

When it comes to grand holiday productions, BalletMet’s “The Nutcracker” is in a category all its own.

The classic ballet — which opens Thursday and continues through Dec. 24 in the Ohio Theatre — has long entranced young audiences with its tale of Clara Stahlbaum, a girl whose nutcracker doll takes on life-size proportions and beckons her to a candy-filled fantasia known as the Land of the Sugar Plum Fairy.

BalletMet’s production does not want for spectacle: The show boasts hundreds of dancers, elaborate sets, glorious costumes and much theatrical wizardry.

Ahead of the opening, The Dispatch asked BalletMet Artistic Director Edwaard Liang to walk us through “The Nutcracker” by the numbers.

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There are 18 full-length performances this year

Herr Drosselmeyer, played by Austin Powers, wearing an eyepatch, watches the Spanish Doll, played by Francesca Dugarte, leap across the stage during a preview rehearsal for BalletMet’s performance of "The Nutcracker" at the Ohio Theatre.
Herr Drosselmeyer, played by Austin Powers, wearing an eyepatch, watches the Spanish Doll, played by Francesca Dugarte, leap across the stage during a preview rehearsal for BalletMet’s performance of "The Nutcracker" at the Ohio Theatre.

BalletMet will perform the full-length version of “The Nutcracker” 18 times through Dec. 24; a sensory-friendly abbreviated version, “My First Nutcracker,” will be presented once on Dec. 22. Through the three weeks’ worth of productions, the dancers go through stages.

“The opening week, I would say, is chock-full of excitement,” Liang said. “Then, the second week is usually where a lot of the cast get their second and third performances, and that’s where (the dancing) really becomes more ingrained in their body.”

Liang’s favorite week of performances, though, is the last.

“I feel like the dancers, and especially our (BalletMet Dance) Academy (dancers), are so comfortable onstage,” he said.

More than 180 student dancers to perform, including 4 Young Claras

Young Clara, left, played by Chloe Steele, and a Party Child, played by a student in the BalletMet Academy, dance across the stage in a preview rehearsal for BalletMet’s performance of "The Nutcracker" at the Ohio Theatre.
Young Clara, left, played by Chloe Steele, and a Party Child, played by a student in the BalletMet Academy, dance across the stage in a preview rehearsal for BalletMet’s performance of "The Nutcracker" at the Ohio Theatre.

The BalletMet Dance Academy contributes 180 students to the production over the course of the run, all of whom have auditioned to be part of the show. Many children grow into different parts through successive years of “Nutcrackers.”“The pages are the smallest (children),” Liang said. “From then on, it’s angels to party children to potentially Clara. But truth be told, the most important thing in terms of level and roles is that they need to be able to fit into the costume.”

Four student dancers will perform as Young Clara this year: Sydney Anosike, 11; Phoebe Congleton, 13; Elsie Lewis, 11; and Chloe Steele, 14. The part is always coveted.

“It’s pretty amazing that a young child is able to perform a lead, featured role in a production,” Liang said.

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Rehearsals begin as early as October

Herr Drosselmeyer, played by Austin Powers, wearing an eyepatch, gives out a gift to party children during a preview rehearsal for BalletMet’s performance of "The Nutcracker" at the Ohio Theatre.
Herr Drosselmeyer, played by Austin Powers, wearing an eyepatch, gives out a gift to party children during a preview rehearsal for BalletMet’s performance of "The Nutcracker" at the Ohio Theatre.

Although “The Nutcracker” is a Christmastime favorite, the dancers have been preparing for the show since before Halloween. “It takes about between four to six weeks to get ready for the full production,” Liang said.

The show uses 300 pounds of fake snow

The fake snow, featured prominently during the snow scene, is made up of paper cut into tiny pieces with hole punches. “Our production team every year orders 300 pounds of new ‘snow,’” Liang said. “It is a big mess, not only in the theater. I go home in my closet and I find the fake snow everywhere. Somehow, it gets into our cars; it gets into our bags.”

Each year during the last performance of “The Nutcracker,” audiences should watch for the “snow dump.”

“At the last performance, we dump all the snow on the second-act dancers while they’re bowing,” he said. “It’s just so much fun to see the roar and the gasp and a little bit of the scream from the audience and the dancers.”tonguetteauthor2@aol.com

At a glance

BalletMet will perform “The Nutcracker” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, noon and 5:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and various dates and times through Dec. 24 at the Ohio Theatre, 39 E. State St. Tickets start at $38.70. For more information, visit balletmet.org.

Young Clara, played by Chloe Steele, and Herr Drosselmeyer, played by Austin Powers, smile at one another during a preview rehearsal for BalletMet’s performance of "The Nutcracker" at the Ohio Theatre.
Young Clara, played by Chloe Steele, and Herr Drosselmeyer, played by Austin Powers, smile at one another during a preview rehearsal for BalletMet’s performance of "The Nutcracker" at the Ohio Theatre.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: BalletMet to do 18-show run of 'The Nutcracker' at the Ohio Theatre