‘The Nutcracker’ is a Toronto holiday tradition — here’s how the blockbuster ballet has owned Christmas for 30 years

One of the National Ballet of Canada’s best loved productions is approaching a major milestone. On Dec. 21, choreographer James Kudelka’s jaw-droppingly spectacular version of “The Nutcracker” will celebrate its 30th birthday.

It’s reached the generational point where parents who were brought to see it as little kids are now introducing their own children to a fairy-tale world of beauty and magic in which siblings Marie and Misha experience a transformative, adventure-filled journey to a land of sweets where they meet the radiant Sugar Plum Fairy.

In 1995, Kudelka had no inkling his production would endure so long.

“At the time I was just living in the moment,” he said in an interview.

“The Nutcracker,” first staged to an original Tchaikovsky score in Saint Petersburg in 1892, was not an immediate hit but gained traction during the 20th century as a family-friendly holiday season entertainment. Its broad appeal explains why even the most modest ballet companies mount an annual production. It puts bums in seats.

National Ballet of Canada founder Celia Franca understood this when she staged what was then considered a lavish production in 1964. As a National Ballet School student, Kudelka first danced in it the following year.

“I was the littlest boy in the party scene,” Kudelka recalled. “I wore a pink and white striped jacket that I didn’t like for its colour.”

After three decades, then National Ballet artistic director Reid Anderson decided it was time for a change and commissioned Kudelka, by then an internationally renowned choreographer, to make a fresh “Nutcracker.”

Anderson aptly described it as “our bread-and-butter ballet.” In today’s dollars it cost close to $4 million to produce but after more than 670 performances it’s generated a cumulative $96 million at the box office. Nowadays that’s roughly 40 per cent of total annual ticket sales.

Without “The Nutcracker,” which this season will get a record 33 performances between Dec. 5 and 31, the company could not afford the risk of presenting such new contemporary ballets as the recent critical success “Procession.” But just because “The Nutcracker” is a cash cow doesn’t mean it can be taken for granted.

“The Nutcracker” remains one of the most technically complex and spectacular productions in the company’s repertoire.

By 1995, lavish big-budget Broadway-style musicals had significantly raised audience expectations. “The Nutcracker” depends on attracting large numbers of people, most of whom are not regular ballet-goers. It had to compete in the wider entertainment market. And it did just that with computer-automated sets that facilitate miraculous scene changes, a gigantic faux Fabergé egg from which the Sugar Plum Fairy emerges and a multitude of props including various fake foodstuffs, a magically expanding banquet table and non-melting snowballs.

And did we mention the animals? Bears on roller-blades, warring mice, a rooster, a ram, a fox, six unicorns; the list goes on. A crowd favourite is a high-kicking cart horse that takes two hidden dancers to bring to life.

As for the 187 colourful costumes created by production designer Santo Loquasto, opulent seems an inadequate adjective.

As you can imagine, maintaining all these elements in pristine condition requires a considerable annual investment in time and resources.

Kudelka always wanted his “Nutcracker” to be much more than seasonal cotton candy. He set out to create a work that set high technical and dramatic challenges for a total cast of almost 150 performers, nearly 100 of them children.

To this day his solo for the Sugar Plum Fairy is a major workout for the most seasoned of ballerinas. The dramatic demands he places on the juvenile leads, Marie and Misha, are also substantial, and they have a ton of serious dancing to do, too.

“It sets a high standard of dancing that each new generation continues to have to meet,” observed Kudelka. “And yet it also demands character detail to bring the story to life. Everyone can contribute to the narrative in interesting ways.”

That includes a 65-piece orchestra and 20-voice choir, part of the total commitment to keep “The Nutcracker” as exciting today as it was when it was made.

“The Nutcracker” is at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen St. W., Dec. 5 to 31. Visitnational.ballet.caor call 416-345-9595 or 1-866-345-9595 for tickets.