The Palace Theater will once again bring holiday cheer to Hilo with its annual performance of “The Nutcracker” ballet by Island Dance Academy. The show premieres on Friday with additional shows on Saturday and Sunday.
Megan Kimata, 23, will be directing this year’s production after taking over ownership of the studio from longtime leader Suen Hughes in January. In addition to co-directing last year, Kimata said she has performed in the show’s 27-year tradition of “The Nutcracker” at the Palace several times, including her favorite role as the Rat King.
“We toned it down a little this year,” Kimata said with a chuckle about the rat battle, where dancers surprise audience members in their rat costumes. She explained that this year’s costumes were made slightly less scary and less bulky to allow the dancers to move more easily in the sequence where “they do a lot of leaps.”
This year’s Rat King will be played by Lexington Trooien, one of the seven male dancers in the show this year alongside Ryan Rice in the title role as the Nutcracker Prince, who comes alive on Christmas Eve to interact with young Clara, played this year by Helena Corrigan. Clara’s brother, Fritz — another role Kimata has played previously — will once again be danced by a female ballerina, this year by Mila Frias.
The 59-person cast of Island Dance Academy dancers range in age from 4 to 54. The youngest cast members play the lobsters who chase chefs around the kitchen by tap dancing, an addition to last year’s show that was such a hit with the crowd that Kimata decided to keep it in this year’s production.
The toy soldiers who come to life will be played by dancers between the ages of 10 and 13, while the eldest cast member, Jim Highfill, will play Uncle Drosselmeyer, the family friend and magician who transports Clara to the magical holiday world of toys and sweets.
Reining over the sweets is the Sugar Plum Fairy, which Kimata called the “most advanced” role in the play, explaining that it involves “lots of footwork and musicality, and you just have to hold yourself with a lot of grace.”
This year’s Sugar Plum Fairy will be danced by Amaya Motoishi, a 16-year-old junior at Hilo High who has danced with Island Dance Academy for eight years.
“I think it’s really cute because I’ve seen Amaya be like 10 different things in ‘The Nutcracker’,” Kimata said about Motoishi’s development. “Watching her grow up and become who she is today is really cool.”
Motoishi said she also has played many roles in “Nutcracker” productions at the Palace previously, including a flower, a snowflake, a doll brought to life and members of the Russian, Spanish and Arabian dance sequences. She said the Arabian dance sequence is her favorite part of the play for the contortions the dancers perform.
Kimata said she added another tap dance, new dance groups and switched up some expected dancers this year, explaining that small changes can be “exciting for audience who comes every year.” She said the stage at the Palace is only big enough to accommodate about 14 dancers at once, which she said the audience will see in the ballet’s grand finale.
“I love it,” Motoishi said of dancing on the Palace stage. “It reminds me of what I love doing.”
Kimata said a small holiday makeke will be set up in the lobby during the shows to allow attendees to purchase locally made goods from artisans.
Though the iconic Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky melodies will be played via recording, Kimata said an exciting addition to this year’s show will be Rick Mazurowski playing a “Nutcracker” medley on the Palace Theater’s historic pipe organ at the show’s opening, as well as a Christmas carol medley during intermission.
“The Nutcracker” will debut at 7 p.m. on Friday, with shows at 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday.
General admission tickets are $20 if purchased in advance, $5 more if purchased on the day of the show. Tickets are available at www.hilopalace.com/palace-event/nutcracker-ballet/.
Email Kyveli Diener at kdiener@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
