Who’s That Cannon Doll?

Guest Appearances in The Nutcracker

James Kudelka’s imaginative staging of The Nutcracker is full of surprises, not least of which is the opportunity to spot famous faces amongst the armies of warring cats and mice in the Battle Scene of Act I. The comic pair of Cannon Dolls who help to kickstart the action are typically cast with local or Canadian celebrities, a tradition dating back to Celia Franca’s Nutcracker, when celebrities performed as Stretcher Bearers.

The Cannon Dolls appear midway through Act I flanking a company dancer who fires a confetti-filled cannon into the audience, the start of an epic battle between The Nutcracker and the Mouse Tsar. Dressed almost identically in colourful costumes and hats, the Cannon Dolls are distinguished by their personalities – one is timid, the other full of bravado. This duality is a convention common to children’s stories and the only hard and fast rule that guest performers must follow, apart from their spacing onstage. The Cannon Dolls decide for themselves how to behave and interact within this framework, often spontaneously, and the results are always a highlight of the show.

The long list of Cannon Doll “alumni” includes Canadian Olympians and Paralympians, politicians, journalists, professional athletes, visual artists, writers and musicians. Among them are Canadian swimmer Penny Oleksiak, former Toronto Raptors player Kyle Lowry, author Emma Donoghue and Toronto Mayor John Tory.

As the National Ballet continues the tradition of including guest performers in The Nutcracker this season, we invite you to revisit some of our famous Cannon Dolls of the past.

The Nutcracker is onstage December 6 – 31