A Backstage Drama for the Holidays : Transforming 200 Kids Into the Cast of ‘The Nutcracker’ Takes a Special Talent

MONDAY, NOV. 29, 8:45 a.m.

Half a dozen cardboard Christmas trees and toy soldiers line the back wall of the cafeteria. A pretend wreath, with a painted red bow, lies on the cold floor near the fake brick fireplace. No smoke wafts from the phony flames.

Not a creature is stirring.

Until 8:47, when the kids arrive. Three talkative waves of them.

The first group is Karleen Hamilton’s fourth-grade class, so they had better behave. “What happened to boy, girl?” Hamilton asks as her students file in effectively, if not orderly.

What would you expect? After all, it’s the first day back from Thanksgiving vacation at El Rancho Structured School in Camarillo.

When the last of the children has settled in, some on the floor, some in chairs, Hamilton takes center stage. “This week,” she says, “is going to be a busy week for us.”

As director of the school’s full-scale production of “The Nutcracker,” the traditional Christmas fantasy about a toy soldier come to life, Hamilton is used to corralling the attentions of a large number of students. This year, about 400 of them, kindergarten through sixth grade, will participate in the show.

It’s particularly crowded on this day, the first combined rehearsal of singers, dancers and actors.

Actually, only half of the 205 dancers are in attendance. The others will rehearse tomorrow. The cast has been split for maximum participation. Some students will perform Dec. 7, others Dec. 8, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Paseo Camarillo in Camarillo.

“A couple of things are going against us today,” Hamilton says. “The mike isn’t working and the Nutcracker has the flu. At least Judge Drosselmeier is better from the chicken pox.”

A BRIEF HISTORY

Auditions for “The Nutcracker” were held in September, but the groundwork was laid a year earlier, when Hamilton spotted the music and theatrical accessories for Tchaikovsky’s Christmas ballet in a school-supply catalogue.

As head of the school’s fine arts program, a role she has filled for 2 1/2 years, Hamilton teaches music and dance to the entire student body and is in charge of organizing stage productions.

In addition to teaching the songs and dances and directing the production, Hamilton spent many off hours conceiving and creating costumes, scenery, script changes and all the logistics, while organizing a regiment of parents, teachers and other community members to help with all of the above.

“I love it,” she says. “If I didn’t love it, it would probably be overwhelming.”

Hamilton says she is proud of her ability to organize and delegate. “During back-to-school night I got parents to sign up,” she says. “Five or six from every class.”

Hamilton also received financial help from parents and the Pardee Construction Co. of Camarillo, which tossed in $300. Some of the funds from a $1,200 Professional Incentive Grant awarded to her by the Pleasant Valley Elementary School District also went toward the play.

TUESDAY, NOV. 30, 8:45 a.m.

All is well at El Rancho school. The Nutcracker (sixth-grader Curtis Kephart) has returned, rosy cheeks and all. And he knows his lines almost flawlessly.

The drab cafeteria is beginning to look a lot like Christmas. A blue sleigh, for that long fantasy trip to the Land of Sweets, occupies a spot that is generally home to a couple of folding chairs.

A beautiful, vibrant, cardboard Russian church stands where yesterday there was nothing. Sue Sigler’s sixth-grade Russian dancers should feel right at home.

The chorus this morning is more vocal than at Monday’s rehearsal. The kids are singing when they should be but talking when they shouldn’t. Sigler, seeking full participation from the singers, bargains for extra recess time. Five more minutes in the schoolyard speaks loudly.

This is the morning kindergartners turn to dance. And it’s their scene, the candy flute scene. There they are . . . or, at least, there they should be.

“I forgot the kindergartners,” says Hamilton. “All 30 of them.”

They are chased down by one of Hamilton’s students and the rehearsal proceeds.

Later, Gail Brockett, stage manager and fourth-grade teacher, offers a brief critique. “Yesterday, they were in awe,” she says. “Today, they were wiggly.”

Hamilton’s emotions are mixed. “It was a little more rugged today. I guess that’s how it’s going to go--up and down. But I think it’s coming along quite well.”

With that she runs off and tries to organize more than 200 kids for their personal costumed photo sessions. Parents who apparently hadn’t been informed in advance come jogging into the school office, costumes in hand, searching for their kids.

“All these little details,” Hamilton sighs. “You have to realize that these are little children. . . . They try, but they get things confused.”

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 1, 8:45 a.m.

Good news. Rocky Lopez, the school custodian, has fixed the microphone. “Testing,” he says. “Yeah!” scream the kids.

With mike in hand, Hamilton begins the day’s rehearsal. “I need my four main characters. One, two, three and . . . and Curtis is sick again.” That means Hamilton must say the Nutcracker’s lines--while leading the chorus and directing the dancers.

During a break in the action, Hamilton explains a few things to the cast.

The four leads--the Nutcracker, Marie (sixth-grader Jessica Avina), Fritz (sixth-grader Michael Martinez) and Judge Drosselmeier (fifth-grader Andrew Medina)--will wear body mikes during the production. “Which means you can’t whisper,” Hamilton says. “Or the whole audience will hear.”

Neither Jessica nor Hamilton seem all that concerned about the flu-ridden Nutcracker. “I think he’ll be here even if he’s sick,” says Jessica.

“He knows his lines cold,” Hamilton says. “There’s no understudy, which shows great faith on my part.” She does confess to having phoned Curtis’ home for a medical update. “I spoke to his dad. He said Curtis hadn’t been sick for so long that the flu has thrown him for a loop. It really has him down.”

Interestingly, the sleigh--which yesterday was blue--has turned white. Mrs. Hamilton didn’t like the blue.

The sleigh was built by Hamilton’s husband, Howard, the associate superintendent of the Pleasant Valley Elementary School District. A seating area for Curtis and Jessica was hammered into place by Jessica’s dad, Henry Avina, a contractor. Avina also repaired the sleigh after it snapped in the wind while being transported from Hamilton’s home atop a van.

THURSDAY, DEC. 2, 8:45 a.m.

Sixth-graders Ryan Richardson, Jesus Anguiano and Tim Tobola are among the first to arrive at the cafeteria. They sit at the far end of the room, as they have every day this week.

The three are members of the stage crew. When the cast has taken its practice curtain calls each day, the stage crew received some of the loudest applause from the other kids. Even young performers know to be respectful to these backstage types who can bring the curtain down at the wrong time.

“We take off the clocks. We put on the trees,” says Jesus, explaining their role in the production. But all is not perfect behind the scenes in Toyland.

“We have to move the sleigh, and yesterday he tried to pick it up and it hit him in the head,” says Ryan, pointing at Tim. Tim laughs and says he’s OK.

More good news on the medical front: Curtis, the Nutcracker, has returned once again. “My fever is back to normal,” he says.

The rehearsal goes smoothly--the chorus singing loudly, the stars nailing their lines. It’s hard not to notice, however, that one of the Russian dancers has on a T-shirt that says: “He who dies with the most toys . . . still dies.”

FRIDAY, DEC. 3, 8:45 a.m.

Electricity is in the air. The kids are a touch more rambunctious than earlier in the week, but they are also at nearly full strength.

One boy, who four days ago talked during his scenes, has become an active part of the chorus.

But there are still problems. The candy flutes are knocking each other down, the Russian dancers are bickering over who is going to lead the group onto the stage (nobody seems to want to) and the Chinese dragon is circling the stage in the wrong direction.

And not only is the Nutcracker recovering from the flu, Judge Drosselmeier from the chicken pox, another cast member from an appendectomy and another from a hernia operation, but now two more cast members have the chicken pox.

At least most of the leads are calm about the production. Only Curtis is getting nervous. “I try not to look at the audience,” he says.

Curtis certainly doesn’t act or look frightened on stage. Maybe it’s because he has some acting experience. “I’ve been in a summer school production,” he says. “We lip-synched songs. I was the Righteous Brothers.”

SATURDAY, DEC. 4, 8 a.m.

Hamilton arrives at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints about an hour before dress rehearsal. She is startled to find a basketball game going on in the middle of the seating area she set up the night before.

Hamilton is a little upset by the whole thing, but soon she is in control and getting the basketball players out of the seating area and into helping her unload the van.

About 8:40, the children begin arriving. “Be good,” says a Russian dancer’s mom. “If you get out early, call me.”

The children’s costumes, which they are wearing on stage for the first time, are a mix of bright reds, blues, yellows, whites and sparkles. Most of this beautiful wardrobe has been improvised by Hamilton or created by talented parents.

“If you’re doing something for their child,” Hamilton says, “parents will really come forward, because they realize something like this doesn’t happen much in a kid’s life.”

Hamilton had asked all parents to make or buy a costume, at a cost of no more than $15. The fourth-grade Chinese dancers are wearing homemade quilted robes. The first- and second-grade sugarplum fairies are in tutus and bathing suits. Hamilton bought their crowns and made their wands and fairy wings.

Each kindergarten dancing flower has a cardboard headpiece in the shape of a rose or daisy. Their waists are wrapped in crepe-paper greenery.

Chef’s hats worn by the Russian dancers (whose characters are actually bakers) came from the Red Lion Resort in Santa Barbara. Marie’s party dress was worn by one of Hamilton’s daughters at a dance festival years back. And the Nutcracker’s costume, a likeness to the traditional Nutcracker uniform, was designed and sewn by the boy’s grandmother.

Backstage, near the change-of-scene directions posted on the wall, is a box of flashlights, glue, pencils, tape and other necessities. Mrs. Hamilton came prepared.

Nearby, Curtis’ mother, Debby Kephart, tinkers with her son’s outfit.

“He doesn’t want me to be here,” Kephart says, after she finishes the alterations and Curtis goes off to eat a chocolate doughnut bar. “I told him as soon as the play starts and they start talking, I’ll leave.” Curtis comes by and says he’s scared.

And the dress rehearsal begins.

After the first scene, Judge Drosselmeier shares his impression of the stage. “It’s really big,” he says with a touch of awe. “And the lights kind of shine on your face.”

This being the first rehearsal at the church, there are some serious problems: mainly too much noise from dancers waiting to take the stage. They drown out the actors.

There are technical problems too. One body mike has a short, another is missing parts. A mouse’s tail fell off and an Arabian dancer collided with the Russian church in the backstage darkness.

After rehearsal, Hamilton is agitated. “If anything can go wrong,” she moans, “it probably did.” She is particularly concerned about the distracting noise. “All this chaos going on--I can’t stand it.”

Her final analysis: “My experience is that if the dress rehearsal is bad, the show will be good,” she says. “This could be the exception.”

OPENING NIGHT, TUESDAY, DEC. 7, 6 p.m.

Jessica and her sister, Alie, are the first cast members to arrive, more than an hour before the show. Curtis is close behind. Mrs. Hamilton and Mrs. Brockett are running around taking care of last-minute details. About 700 folding chairs wait to be filled.

By 6:30, the church is buzzing with brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers settling in for the show.

Backstage, though, is like another world. The actors, in full costume, are quiet--except for some tense, heavy sighs. Curtis is on a prop sofa, reading the evening’s program. Jessica and Michael (Fritz) are chatting softly atop the fireplace. In the hallway, a mother adds makeup to a sugarplum fairy.

Just before the start of the show, Hamilton pops in backstage. “Good luck,” she says.

“Don’t say, ‘Good luck.’ That’s bad luck,” says Curtis.

“Break a leg,” she says.

And it’s show time.

The stars remember their lines, the dancers are cute as ever, the scene changes flow. The lights and music are on the mark. The audience laughs at the right time, aaaahhs at the right time, and applauds and screams enthusiastically at the right time.

Most everything comes together, and Hamilton seems a little surprised. Afterward, as Curtis signs a few autographs, Hamilton serves as the receiving line for parents offering congratulations.

“Can you believe it?” she asks. “It was wonderful. Just wonderful.”

Area Schools Mark Season With Holiday Shows

They may not have holiday performances on the scale of El Rancho Structured School’s Nutcracker production, but most other elementary schools around the county have their ways of ringing in the season.

Singers, musicians, actors and poetry readers all get in on the action. Many schools have already presented this year’s holiday shows, but some are yet to come. The following is a guide to area elementary school presentations, listed by district.

BRIGGS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT

Briggs Elementary School: today, 7 p.m., at Olivelands School, 12465 Foothill Road, Santa Paula, kindergarten through second grade.

CONEJO VALLEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

Ladera Elementary School, 1211 Calle Almendro, Thousand Oaks: Friday, 9:10-9:40 a.m. lower grades, 1-1:30 p.m. upper grades, Holiday Sing, parents invited.

Walnut Elementary School, 581 Dena Drive, Newbury Park: today, 7 p.m., Christmas program.

HUENEME ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT

Art Haycox School, 5400 Perkins Road, Oxnard: Friday, 8:45 and 9:15 a.m., school choir assembly.

Ansgar Larsen Elementary School, 550 E. Thomas Ave., Oxnard: today, time to be determined, first- and third-graders perform.

MOORPARK UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

Campus Canyon School, 15300 Monroe Ave.: Friday, 8 a.m. kindergartners perform, 10 a.m. first grade.

Mountain Meadows School, 4200 Mountain Meadow Drive: today, 7 p.m. kindergartners perform; Friday, 8:30 and 10:15 a.m. first- and second-graders’ sing-a-long.

Peach Hill School, 13400 Christian Barrett Drive: today, 7 p.m. first-grade Christmas program.

MUPU SCHOOL DISTRICT

Mupu School, 4410 N. Ojai Road, Santa Paula: today, 1 and 6:30 p.m., individual classes perform.

OJAI UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

Meiners Oaks Elementary School, 400 S. Lomita Ave.: today, 6 p.m., second-grade classes perform; 7 p.m., first grade.

Mira Monte Elementary School, today, 7 p.m., first- and second-graders perform at Nordhoff High School, 1401 Maricopa Highway, Ojai.

OXNARD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT

Curren School, 1101 N. F St.: Tuesday, 9:15 and 10:40 a.m. Winter Holiday Performances.

Driffill School, 910 S. E St.: today, 6:30 p.m. Second-, third-, fifth- and sixth-graders perform.

Emily Ritchen School, 2200 Cabrillo Way, Oxnard: today, 7 p.m., poetry and song.

Kamala School, 634 W. Kamala St.: Dec. 23, 9 a.m., Christmas program.

Lemonwood School, 2200 Carnegie Court: Tuesday, 8:30 and 9:30 a.m., classes perform individually.

McKinna School, 1611 S. J St.: today, 7:30 p.m. choral and instrumental program.

PLEASANT VALLEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT

Dos Caminos School, 3635 Appian Way, Camarillo: today, 7 p.m., the children’s chorus, school band, and string ensemble will present “The Spirit of Giving,” a medley of songs from around the world.

Santa Rosa School: today, 7 p.m., at Las Colinas School, 5750 Fieldcrest Drive, a Christmas program with singers, musicians, dancers and teachers.

RIO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT

Rio Real School, 1140 Kenny St.: today, 10 a.m. kindergartners sing.

SANTA PAULA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT

Grace Thille School, 1144 Ventura St.: Friday, 9:30 a.m. Individual classes perform.

SIMI VALLEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

Atherwood Elementary School, 2350 E. Greensward St.: today, 6:30 p.m., kindergarten through second grade Christmas program.

Crestview Elementary School, 900 Crosby Avenue: Friday, 7 p.m., caroling.

Garden Grove Elementary School, 2250 Tracy Avenue: today, 9, 9:50, 10:30 a.m., Winter Holiday Music Program; Friday, 10 a.m. kindergarten and special education preschool will sing.

Hollow Hills Elementary School, 828 Gibson Ave.: today, 8:30 a.m., first through sixth grade, singing; Friday, 10:15 a.m., kindergarten.

Katherine Elementary School, 5455 Katherine Ave.: today, 6 p.m. (parents with last initial A-M) and 7 p.m. (last initial N-Z), choral program.

Simi Elementary School, 2956 School St.: today, 7 p.m., lower grade performance.

Vista Fundamental School, 2175 Wisteria St.: today, 8:30, 9:30 and 10:30 a.m., sing-alongs.

VENTURA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

Arnaz School, 400 Sunset Ave., Oak View: today, 7 p.m., third through fifth grade, songs and poetry.

Oak View School, 555 Mahoney St., Oak View: Friday, 8:30 a.m. individual classes perform songs and poetry.

Pierpont School, 1254 Martha’s Vineyard Court: Friday, 10:30 a.m., winter sing-a-long in school courtyard.

Poinsettia School, 350 N. Victoria Ave.: today, 1:30 p.m., sing-along.

Will Rogers School, 316 Howard St.: today, 7 p.m. individual classes perform.

Sheridan Way School, 573 Sheridan Way: Friday, 6:30 p.m., Christmas program.