1. Holiday production requires many
hours and many hands to accomplish
text by CHERYL ROSE
Tchaikovsky premiered his glit-
tering ballet “The Nutcracker”
in St. Petersburg, Russia, in
December 1892. Marsha Woody
Zummo, the founder of Mar-
sha Woody Dance Academy,
premiered the Beaumont Civic
Ballet’s version in December
1971. A classic and timeless tale,
the ballet features renegade
mice, toy soldiers, waltzing flow-
ers, Russian dancers, fairies and
a young girl named Clara who
receives the gift of a nutcracker.
A favorite of the holiday season
in Southeast Texas, the produc-
tion has 92 performers each
year, some of whom are second-
generation participants.
Casting
Everything begins in October
with casting. Monique Zummo
Steinhagen, the co-director, and
Megan Forgas Anderson, the
choreographer, size up the danc-
ers and assign parts, with the
blessings of Zummo.
“You would think casting
would repeat each year, but it
doesn’t,” Steinhagen said. “We
have to look at who is new, who
has improved, who has grown
and who has graduated.”
Steinhagen’s first role in “The
Nutcracker” in 1971 was as a
boy in the “Prologue” scene.
She understands from personal
experience about growing up and
into parts.
“Everybody wants to be
Clara,” she said. “I never was
a Clara. For that role, we are
after a particular look and talent
– a whole package. It can be a
difficult choice. Some dancers
have the talent, but don’t have
the drama to sell the face. Age
doesn’t matter, but height does.
Also, Clara is not an extremely
hard technical part.”
Most dancers begin as mice
or soldiers and work into harder
roles. Torrance Cobb, a 22-year-
old junior at Lamar University
who will be returning for her
seventh time as the Sugar Plum
Fairy, began as a mouse. She pro-
gressed through the roles until
she was tapped as an understudy
for Sugar Plum, the hardest tech-
nical program in the show.
“I rehearsed Sugar Plum for a
year before I ever performed it,”
she said.
Cobb remembers being
A tough nut
to crack
n u t c r a c k e r
vip worthy
Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 13 and 14, 2014, 2 p.m.
Public performances of at the Julie Rogers Theatre
>>

2. nervous at casting time each year,
but also that the dancers were
aware of each others’ strengths
so there weren’t often any casting
surprises. Steinhagen said she’s
proud of how the girls accept the
assigned roles.
“I talk to the girls a lot; I’m like
their mom,” she said. “They look
up to me as another mother. I tell
them that life is not always perfect.
There are disappointments. I’m
not going to be able to please all
of them, but if they love ballet and
dance, they will keep with it and
keep working and maybe they will
get an awesome role in our next
production in the spring.”
Matt Forgas will return as the
Nutcracker though he has a full-
time job elsewhere. Forgas and
Cobb are the only paid dancers in
the production. Forgas began danc-
ing with the studio when he was 10
years old. “We’re blessed to have
boys come through the school the
last few years, but we could always
use more,” Steinhagen said.
Sets & props
Only the set for “Snow” is the
original one the company used in
1971. The other sets date to 1993.
The sets and props are warehoused
during the year, but have to be
transported to and from the Julie
Rogers Theatre for the perfor-
mance. At this time, a parent
volunteer who has a storage/trans-
fer business lends his trucks and
crew to help. In other years, Ouida
Broussard, the administrative
assistant and de facto production
manager, has had to hire both a
vehicle and help. “We would rent
the largest truck you can with a
regular driver’s license and we had
to hire six men to help,” she said.
The small props are brought
back to the studio in the fall so the
dancers can rehearse with them.
For example, the young mice need
to practice wearing the mouse
heads, which are made with
football helmets and are heavy
and challenging to see through.
Broussard said they are on their
third nutcracker doll, but are still
using the original cannon from
1971. Parent volunteer Amanda
Collins is Broussard’s prop person
this year, helping to inventory and
refurbish items.
Makeup
Steinhagen said that dancers
are trained in putting on their own
stage make-up from the time they
are small. “The only person that

3. needs extra help with make-up
is Mother Ginger, because that
role is actually played by a man,”
Steinhagen said. “One of our
teachers will put on his make-up.”
Costumes
Broussard, a woman who
wears many hats, according to
Steinhagen, has been the costume
mistress since 1987. As a seam-
stress, she’s had to get creative a
number of times over the years
with everything from magic mark-
ers to safety pins. The costumes
were purchased in 1993, so with
21-year-old costumes being
re-fitted every year for different
children, it’s a project.
“A regular seamstress isn’t
going to want to cheat like we do
with costumes,” Broussard said.
“In costumes, we get away with
murder because you can’t see it
from the audience seats. We spend
a lot of money on safety pins. I or-
der the largest pins you can buy by
the gross. And bobby pins, too.”
This year, Broussard has
already replaced all the bodices
on the 20 flower costumes. Last
year she re-did all the snow
costumes. In the early years of
the show, new costumes were
made each year. Now she re-uses,
re-fits and updates costumes and
has duplicates in different sizes
for a few key roles. The individual
pieces of bows, tutus, hairpieces,
mouse ears, soldier’s hats, dresses,
petticoats, capes and much, much
more numbers in the thousands,
with each piece requiring to be
tagged and fitted to each child each
year. It is a huge undertaking and
Broussard relies on parents’ help.
“When we started these shows,
more women sewed,” Broussard
noted. “Nowadays, there are very
few people who really sew.” Par-
ent volunteer Teri Ocnaschek is
Broussard’s dependable assistant
this year, able to make and repair
whatever is required.
Some dancers wear more
Nutty Nutcracker
Beaumont Civic Ballet only performs this
silly spoof of the “The Nutcracker” oc-
casionally. Zummo said it has been about
five years since the last one, because it
means preparing for another show in ad-
dition to the main event. They aren’t giving
away any details, but the nutty version is
intended to be a funny parody with current
pop culture references. When: Saturday,
Dec. 13, 2014, 5 p.m
>>
photography by Lacie Grant

4. than one costume, so there is
always a flurry of costume changes
behind the scenes. (All the danc-
ers wear nude leotards beneath
the costumes.) “Clara has a very
quick change that takes three of us,
well-trained, to change her from
her party dress and petticoats into
a nightgown in less than a minute,”
Broussard said.
Rehearsals
Steinhagen estimates that in-
structors work an additional 15 to
20 hours a week from mid-October
until performance teaching the
dancers the choreography. The
dancers involved in the produc-
tion are all volunteers. The senior
company girls, ranging in age from
13 to 18 years old, have the greatest
burden because they have the more
complex roles. “They know what
they are signing on to do,” Steinha-
gen said. “It’s a huge commitment
and it means budgeting their time
to do their homework and it may
mean staying up late. From now
until the day we walk into the the-
ater, the schedule is on the board.
When we get to the theater, we are
ready to go.”
Cobb, as a college student, has
to prepare for her role as Sugar
Plum Fairy. “It takes a lot of prac-
tice because it is very demanding,”
she said. “You need stamina to
perform it well. I’m not taking as
many dance classes as I was, so
I enrolled in some dance courses
at Lamar to help get in shape and
work on some technique aspects.
I rehearse on weekends with the
company.”
Production
For the actual performance,
the professional stage crew of the
Julie Rogers Theatre takes over.
These experts handle the sets and
scenery changes, special effects,
sound and lighting. When the can-
non smokes or the Christmas tree
grows, that’s the work of IATSE
Local 183 (union members of the
International Alliance of Theater
Stage Employees). Steinhagen
said they have depended on Mark
Arrington to run the production
since 1983. “Either Miss Marsha
or I are backstage with headsets,
but Mark has been running our
show for years and he knows what
to do without us needing to tell
him,” she said.
Backstage Dramas
“Crazy-organized” would
describe the detailed planning

5. and execution of the productions.
That’s not to say there has never
been a crisis or a mishap, but
generally, the show has enjoyed
a smooth run for 43 seasons. Back-
stage may be a bit frantic with
nervous girls and rushed costume
changes, but it is never chaos, the
leaders agree. They try to plan
and prepare for problems, too. For
example, Steinhagen has multiple
understudies for the key roles
prepared to step in if a dancer
twists an ankle. Broussard and
her volunteers come armed with a
fishing tackle box filled with pins,
thread and other emergency sup-
plies. Many of the “disasters” that
do happen aren’t even noticed by
the audience.
“One time during the Sugar
Plum Fairy dance, my costume
got stuck on my partner when we
were doing a lift,” Cobb recalls.
“It seemed really obvious that we
were trying to get out of that situ-
ation, but the audience didn’t even
notice.”
Broussard remembers one year
where she was backstage using
a green marker to color in white
spots that were showing through
on some costumes. Another time,
the night before a school perfor-
mance, she realized they were
short a maid’s apron. At 10 p.m. at
night she had to invent a solution.
She took down the white sheers
from her living room window,
washed and dried them and made
an apron out of them, ruffles and
all!
Holiday institution
For Cobb, who has been danc-
ing since she was 4 years old, “The
Nutcracker” is part of her life.
“The holiday season wouldn’t be
complete without it, because it’s
been part of my life for so long,”
she said.
Many locals who attend year
after year feel the same way. The
show is always nearly full or sold
out for every performance.
“It’s wonderful that so many
students, teachers, dancers and
audience members have stuck with
us all these years,” Steinhagen
said. “We couldn’t do it without all
the moms and dads who help. Our
dancers are trained really well and
I’m very proud of them.”
Zummo, who still definitely
has her hand in the production
she created, has seen all that hard
work turn into something special.
“When the music starts each year,
its magical,” she says. VIP