For over 30 years the Homer Nutcracker Ballet has been a celebrated mainstay of the performing arts community in Alaska. As with every theatrical production, there are always challenges. Casting, set design and construction, rehearsals, interstate performing arts troupe collaborations — so many moving parts comes with a notable margin of error, and yet as the acting adage the show must go on. And the Homer Nutcracker does go on, annually, to great success and with consummate aplomb.
In recent years, however, the production has faced a different challenge, one that is both ideological and tangible. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual production has fought an uphill battle against the city and school district over support for the performing arts.
Homer Mayor Ken Castner, who has been producing the city’s Nutcracker ballet since its inception, has been the figure in the thick of this battle.
According to Castner, the production — and the arts in general — has suffered from what amounts to a general unwillingness on the part of leadership to go to the same lengths preserving and sustaining the performing arts as it does, say, for athletics.
“There’s a definite starting point, and that was the pandemic. Because the school district figured out a way to continue on with sports during the pandemic, but they could not figure out a way to continue on with theater,” said Mayor Castner in a call to KSRM. “At that point, it just became like, well, we’ve proved that we can live without the performing arts here. And the shifting point was that pandemic year where we kind of lost our footing in the theater wing because we weren’t there.”
“Nature abhors a vacuum. And so, there was an empty space and they filled it,” he added.
Castner does not disparage athletic programs, though. On the contrary, he says he understands how some of the same constraints straining the Nutcracker have been placed on those programs as well. The issue is with an imbalance in the prioritization the two educational opportunities for students are receiving from leadership.
The disparity wasn’t an issue pre-pandemic, but now where there seems to be a willingness to aid other programs, like sports, as much as possible, there is little concern in applying the same level of effort to arts opportunities for students. Now, obstacles facing the Nutcracker are popping up almost daily. Or, as Castner puts it, its like the “Sword of Damocles” is hanging over his head every day.
The Homer Nutcracker has always been a production built on the backs of its volunteers, and this is something Castner doesn’t mind. What he objects to is the lack of support for those volunteers who care about kids getting the chance to be engaged by a critical facet of education and culture.
“If the school district can’t afford to have a performing arts program, they should be supporting the efforts of the community to step in and take care of that,” said Castner, “because those kids deserve that part of an education.”
Comparing apples to apples, where other extracurricular programs see notable student participation, the Nutcracker participation is on a different echelon. “In extracurricular activities, The Nutcracker has 85 kids in it. There’s nothing that touches that,” he said. “It’s a big, big deal and we’ve had literally [more than] 1,000 kids go through the production. I won’t say that it’s life changing but it’s life enhancing.”
The 35th annual Homer Nutcracker Ballet opens this weekend at the Homer High School Mariner Theatre. Sally Oberstein will be its artistic director for the second year and a row, although she is no stranger to the production. She’s been involved in the Nutcracker since the 1980’s as a performer and set/prop designer.
“We make it new and fresh every year,” Oberstein said in an article by the Homer News. “I stick with the traditional story and then add in splashes of unexpected treasures. You have to come see it if you want to know what they are!”
An annual Homer holiday tradition, the Nutcracker Ballet is the culmination of an extensive collaborative effort between Homer High School students, the Pier One Theatre, residents of Homer, and others from across the state. In past years, professional ballet dancers have even been contracted to perform in certain roles. And with a cast eclipsing 80 total members, this is the largest show to date.
Challenges aside, Castner says this years cast and production is one no one will want to miss. “It really is an outstanding show this year and it’s well rehearsed and we’re there every day this week working on it to open this weekend.”
For the Homer mayor, its about the kids, though. He says he wishes all the other things could just be set aside so the kids could get the opportunities they deserve. “The continuum of beliefs and political philosophy and everything runs the gamut. But we don’t go there. We don’t draw a line. We’re all there for one reason. That’s to support these kids, [to] make them look good, make them shine, make them feel great, [and] find their place.”
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.homernutcrackerproductions.com.
*Photo courtesy of Christopher Kincaid Facebook
