Celebrity appearances are a long-standing tradition with Nutcracker productions around the world and for its 30th anniversary in Toronto, Raptors Scottie Barnes and Jamal Shead will be making cameos as Cannon Dolls this year.
Cannon Dolls are colourful Petrouchka dolls that appear alongside the confetti cannon fired into the audience halfway through Act 1. The comical pair – one timid and the other full of energy – kickstart the upcoming action in the epic battle between The Nutcracker and the Mouse Tsar.
According to the National Ballet, the duality – of timidness and bravado – is the “only hard and fast rule that guest performers must follow” and that 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.”
As we look forward to Barnes’ and Shead’s ballet debut on Dec. 19, Now Toronto rounded up the previous high-profile figures that made cameos as Cannon Dolls in past Toronto productions.
2024
In the year of the Paris Summer Olympics, the Cannon Dolls lineup featured Olympic athletes – Melissa Humana-Paredes, Katie Vincent, Maya Meschkuleit, Fay De Fazio, Alysha Newman, Austin Smeenk and Summer McIntosh, who appeared alongside her sister, figure skater Brooke McIntosh.
2023
Members of the rock band The Beaches and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow were among the city’s VIP’s featured in the Cannon Doll lineup. This year was also marked the 17th time distinguished broadcaster Susan Hay appeared in the production.
2022
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan of the hit Netflix series Never Have I Ever and actress Tia Bhatia were among this year’s star-studded lineup, along with PWHL’s Sarah Nurse and Renata Fast, as well as actors Graham Greene, Julie Nolke, and Gina Louise Philips.
(Courtesy: National Ballet of Canada)
2021
After the 2020 season was cancelled due to the pandemic, the 2021 season continued with limitations. The stage saw no external performers and all crew members were required to be vaccinated, with no Cannon Dolls performed by celebrity guests.
2020
The National Ballet’s Nutcracker production was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2019
Marking the year the Toronto Raptors won the NBA Championship, players Kyle Lowry and Matt Thomas took on the role of the Cannon Dolls.
2018
Despite losing in the first round of the playoffs, the Leafs had a franchise-record of 49 wins in the regular season this year. To mark the team’s achievement, its highest scoring player, Mitch Marner, and second-highest scoring, Austin Matthews, were 2018’s honourary Cannon Dolls.
2017
Then-Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland made her Nutcracker debut alongside her son. Also taking on the guest role that year were Steve Paikin and Nam Kiwanuka of TVO’s The Agenda and a couple of theatre critics from the Toronto Star.
2016
Following the Summer Olympics in Rio, Olympic medal-winning swimmers Penny Oleksiak and Martha McCabe were among the stars in the Cannon Doll line-up.Also featured were journalists from the Toronto Star, CBC, and Global News.
2015
Olympic figure skater Tessa Virtue, comedian Gerry Dee, and Toronto Argonauts were on the Cannon Doll roster this year. Also featured were former Toronto Mayor John Tory and his wife, who had made their debut the year prior.
The Nutcracker runs through to Dec. 31. You can buy tickets to The Nutcracker at the Four Seasons Centre directly from the National Ballet of Canada.