By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Eighty years ago, the nascent Toledo Ballet staged its first “Nutcracker.”
The production, under the direction of the company’s founder Marie Bollinger-Vogt, was less elaborate than the lavish, eye-popping show that has become a seasonal favorite in the Toledo area.
In 1941, the score, performed by a precursor of the Toledo Symphony, was partial – the full score was not available from the Soviet Union at that point. The ballet was staged in the Toledo Museum of Art, in the space that would become the Canaday Gallery.
At 80 years old, the Toledo Ballet is the oldest continuous production of “The Nutcracker.” And despite the pandemic forcing it to scale back, the show will go on, like so much these days, virtually.
The Toledo Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” will be livestreamed from the Peristyle Saturday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 13, at 1 p.m. Tickets are available at TAPA Streaming. The program will then be available for rental on the same platform.
Lisa Lang-Mayer, the ballet’s artistic director, said that “The Nutcracker” is such a tradition, she felt for the dancers, their families, and the audience it should be staged.
She’s heard from the parents of dancers, thanking her for providing “some sense of normalcy.”
“And it’s a tribute to Marie,” Mayer-Lang, who assumed the helm at the ballet from Bollinger-Vogt, said. Honoring the founder became especially important when she passed away in June.
“I have to continue this legacy through the craziest of times,” Mayer-Lang said.
Achieving that has been “crazy, absolute insanity, but fun – all of the above.”
The adjustments started back in September during auditions and casting. She wondered: “How are we going to do this as safely as possible?”
Having a cast, half the size as the usual 40 or so in each of the two casts. So only 20 would be invited to the opening Christmas party scene. Instead of 18 kids, there would be nine—six girls and three boys.
Only in the iconic company pieces, such as the “Waltz of the Flowers” and the snow scene, would the usual number of dancers be employed. However, even there the choreography would have only six dancers on the stage at once, not a dozen.
These dances are done by the advanced dancers in the Toledo Ballet Company.
The production will feature Caitlin Valentine-Ellis and Miguel Anaya as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Cavalier, both from BalletMet in Columbus. Mayer-Lang said it was good to have featured dancers who did not have to take a flight to get here. Valentine-Ellis and Anaya were available because BalletMet’s own production, which has a 19-show run, was canceled in favor of a virtual video celebration of the ballet.
“They’re absolutely beautiful. I’m so glad to have them.”
Everyone will be masked. Liz Hayes, an art teacher at the Toledo School for the Arts, designed face coverings decorated with mouths for the company.
“At first it was tough,” Mayer-Lang said. Now it’s become second nature.
“The audience can tell a lot through the eyes.”
The adjustments off-stage are as dramatic.
Everyone will apply their makeup before coming to the theater, so they can remain masked. They will get into costumes there. Because of the smaller casts, the dressing rooms will not be as congested as usual. There will be staggered call times and dancers will leave the theater as soon as their last number is done.
That’s “a little sad,” Mayer-Lang said. The camaraderie back stage is one of the joys of performing “The Nutcracker.” The young dancers would arrive at the theater at noon and stay through 10 p.m. They play games, eat, and bond. “That’s huge.”
Until recently the goal was to have performances with a small audiences – 350 socially distanced in the Stranahan, which holds more than 2,400. Then about week ago, Zak Vassar, CEO and president of the Toledo Alliance of the Performing Arts, came back from his meeting with the Health Department bearing the news that the symphony would present its holiday concert set for last Sunday livestream only.
Mayer-Lang saw the situation “caving in around me.” She understood that the conditions would be no better on the next weekend. So, the in-person performances were canceled.
That also involved moving the show from the Stranahan to the Peristyle. That was a logistical headache but was a major cost saving in rental and crew costs. Some props will be used, but most of the set will not fit in the Peristyle.
“The Nutcracker” will lose money, she said, and that will affect the entire year. Like most other ballet companies around the country, the Toledo Ballet depends on the revenue from “The Nutcracker” to fund its programs year-round. “We’re going to take a big hit.”
“The Nutcracker” is also the introduction for many children to the world of dance. They’re enchanted by the story and start taking lessons, and “then 12 years later they’re company dancers about ready to graduate from high school.”
One advantage of livestreaming is the opportunity to reach a larger audience. Paying for the livestream or rental, which will be available throughout the holiday season, will be less expensive than buying tickets for the show for a family.
“Maybe it’ll be more accessible,” Mayer-Lang said.
“Marie would be thrilled” to see the tradition she started is enduring all the while keeping the dancers safe, Mayer-Lang said. In honor of the founder, the principal character will be called Marie, not Clara.
Having it in the Peristyle at the museum, scaled back, is going full circle to that first performance, Mayer-Lang said. “That’s kind of apropos and nostalgic.”
