The Show Must Go On (Part 2)

Note: If you haven’t read Part 1, you should do that before diving into Part 2.

Where were we? Oh, yes, Sunday of Stomach Bug Nut(cracker) weekend. We had a matinee at 2:00 pm on Sunday, typically getting to the theater around 11:00 am to make sure that everything was prepped and ready for the performance. The calls, emails, and texts started coming in that morning around 9:00 am.

I truly can’t remember exactly how many cast members were sick that day. But I do remember having a quick Battle Scene rehearsal before the show because we were down some Toy Soldiers, and my Battle Scene was very interactive, with hand-to-hand combat moments between the Mice and Soldiers. So it wasn’t just a “we’ll have 10 soldiers in the line instead of 12” situation. The troops had to be rallied to step up for their fallen comrades.

The company dancers, teens who did most of the dancing roles – Snow, Flowers, and the Act II divertissements – were all still hanging on, no major worries there. However, I got a phone call from Clara’s mom…THE Clara, to be clear, the main character of The Nutcracker who is on stage through almost all of the ballet, that Clara…not just some student named Clara. The role of Clara was danced that year by my student, Madeline, and her mom, Terrica, was a friend of mine. Our conversation went something like this:

Penny: “Hello!”

Terrica: “Penny, it’s me…Madeline is not feeling very well. She hasn’t thrown up or anything, but her stomach isn’t great.”

Penny: “Oh, no! Do I need to call Kristin, let them know we may need Chelsea to fill in?” (Chelsea had performed Clara the year before.)

Terrica: “Madeline is absolutely determined to perform, so we will be there. I just wanted to give you a heads up.”

Penny (ending the call): “We’re going to need to put big trash cans right off stage, on both sides.”

We did, and Madeline made it most of the way through the Act I Party Scene before she had to sneak off stage to make use of one of them. When she exited after the Party Scene to change costumes into her nightgown before the Battle Scene, I asked her if she was okay to keep going. She nodded firmly, and I talked her through some of the moments she could sneak off if necessary in the battle and same for the Snow Scene. She nodded again, took a deep breath, and went back on stage. She made it the rest of the way through Act I, strategically timing her vomiting (off stage, in one of the trash cans) for after she’d helped the Nutcracker Prince vanquish the King Rat and was just supposed to be watching the Snow Queen and King dance.

At intermission, I checked in again. “The hardest part is over,” she said. “Once I get through the pantomime, I just sit on the throne.”

“Well,” I said, “I guess you could ask your Prince to escort you to the trash can, if you need to.”

She did.

There’s one more performance left, a show on Monday morning for 1,300 area school children. Part 3 coming soon.