Stage Door News
Toronto: Six Olympians will be among the Cannon Dolls in this year’s “Nutcracker”
Tuesday, December 3, 2024
Hope Muir, Joan and Jerry Lozinski Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, shared today this season’s lineup of Cannon Dolls for The Nutcracker. Six Olympians will make their debuts as Cannon Dolls, including Gold Medalist Swimmer Summer McIntosh on December 20 at 7:00 pm.
The Olympians include Melissa Humana-Paredes, beach volleyball, Katie Vincent, canoe-kayak sprinting, Maya Meschkuleit, rowing, Fay De Fazio Ebert, skateboarding, and Alysha Newman, pole vaulting. Paralympian wheelchair racer Austin Smeenk will also debut as a Cannon Doll.
The lineup features Toronto Sceptres Natalie Spooner and Kristen Campbell, Jeopardy Champion and CBC Radio host Mattea Roach, Actors Kathleen Munroe (Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent) and Araya Mengesha (Nobody), Global News Anchor and longest running Cannon Doll Susan Hay, Global News Chief Meteorologist Anthony Farnell and Breakfast Television host Stella Aquisto.
Past Cannon Dolls have included former Toronto Raptors Kyle Lowry and Matt Thomas, Toronto Maple Leafs Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, Olympic Gold Medalist Figure Skater Tessa Virtue, Actors Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Graham Greene and Sarah Gadon, members of Arkells, Astronaut Chris Hadfield, Comedian Rick Mercer, Authors Carley Fortune and Emma Donoghue, Musician Brendan Canning, Mayor of Toronto Olivia Chow and Former Mayors of Toronto Barbara Hall and John Tory.
Celebrity walk-on roles are a long-standing tradition with Nutcrackers all over the world. In the National Ballet’s production, the cameo roles are Cannon Dolls, colourfully costumed Petrouchka dolls who shoot a cannon into the audience in Act I. To date, the National Ballet has invited 1,318 Canadian luminaries and personalities to appear onstage in the coveted roles.
This season, the National Ballet has invited colleagues in the Toronto arts and dance community and Community Partners onstage as Cannon Dolls. The opening night Cannon Dolls will be Michael Murray, CEO of Ontario Arts Council, and their Board Chair Simon Foster. Other organizations include Citadel et Compagnie, dance : made in canada / fait au Canada Festival, Luminato Festival, VIBE Arts, VITA Community Living Servies and Friends of Ruby.
The Nutcracker is choreographed by James Kudelka with music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set and costume design by Santo Loquasto and lighting design by Jennifer Tipton.
Tickets are selling fast with limited availability. Visit national.ballet.ca.
Photo: Genevieve Penn Nabity as the Sugar Plum Fairy. © Karolina Kuras.