Nov 25, 2005 By Jean Lohr For The 3 min read

Donna Marovic-Anthony admits she was worried. For the past 16 years, the Mon Valley Dance Council, a student organization at California University of Pennsylvania, and the Department of Theatre and Dance at the university had presented Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker Suite” ballet in Steele Auditorium on campus. The holiday performance was quite successful. Families brought their children, schools their students and soon the performance became an annual event.

This year would be different. This year Steele Auditorium would be undergoing renovations when the holiday season arrived. For the first time, Steele Auditorium would not be available.

“It was hardly fancy at Steele,” said Marovic-Anthony, the artistic director of “The Nutcracker,” “but it was workable. And the dancers felt comfortable there.”

The show must go on.

The State Theatre Center for the Arts in Uniontown was available.

The dance troupe had found what they hoped would be their home away from home.

“This is the first time we have ever performed ‘The Nutcracker’ off campus,” said Marovic-Anthony, a professor in the Theatre and Dance department at California University.

The show must go on.

Now Marovic-Anthony faced yet another dilemma.

“I had to convince my students that different is not necessarily bad,” she said. “The State Theatre is completely outside our normal routine. The layout, the lighting and the dimensions of the theater are different, interesting,” she said.

The Mon Valley Dance Council dancers and the 60 local children needed for the production have adjusted well.

“We’ve been rehearsing since the beginning of October, and everything is right on schedule,” Marovic-Anthony said. “If things aren’t going well by Thanksgiving, you know adjustments must be made. But everything is going well, and I am happy with how it looks.”

“The Nutcracker Suite” ballet, composed in 1892, under protest, by Peter Tchaikovsky, is based on the story, “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” by E.T.A. Hoffman.

When Clara (a young Russian girl) falls asleep under the Christmas tree, her godfather, Drosselmeyer, who had earlier that evening given her a nutcracker doll gives her another present – a trip through dreamland where she meets the Snow Queen and her court, and visits the Kingdom of Sweets where she is greeted by the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier.

Clara is grandly entertained by dolls of many nationalities and has other exciting adventures.

The show must go on.

“Usually, we hire a guest performer, a professional dancer, to do the leads, the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Cavalier, but this year we have two high school students, Jerrica Blankenship and Justin Wirick, who are great,” Marovic-Anthony said. “I feel very lucky this year. I am stress free.”

“The Nutcracker” will be staged by the California University of Pennsylvania Department of Theatre and Dance and the Mon Valley Dance Council at the State Theatre Center for the Arts in Uniontown.

Performances will run Friday through Sunday, Dec. 9-11, with both afternoon and evening events scheduled.

There are also performances for school students that will take place.

Marovic-Anthony is hoping that the Uniontown area will take advantage of the closeness of this event.

“We could attract people who have never been exposed to ‘The Nutcracker,'” she said. “This may be a very good thing.”

For more information, contact The Department of Theatre and Dance at California University of Pennsylvania on line at www.cup.edu or call California University of Pennsylvania’s box office at 724-938-5943.

For tickets to “The Nutcracker” ballet, call the State Theatre Center for the Performing Arts box office at 724-439-1360.