Megill & Company’s “Not Your Normal Nutcracker” Presents Dance for Every Body
December 16 at 7:30 pm
December 17 at 7:30 pm
December 18 at 2:00 pm
Megill & Company’s Not Your Normal Nutcracker flips the script on the classic holiday favorite in this gender fluid, body positive performance set to musical selections from Tchaikovsky. Choreographed and starring Oceanside native Beth Megill as a 40-something Clara, who dreams of being a star, this whimsical modern jazz theater production brings to life an imaginary world filled with life-sized rodents, a melting snow kingdom, and a land of sweets comes to life.
Audiences will not see dancers like these in your traditional Nutcracker performance. The Snow Queen is 7 1/2 months pregnant — one of two dancers expecting in the new year. The Nutcracker Prince is portrayed by a woman. One gender non-conforming dancer presents both male and female roles. Best of all, there are tutus for almost everyone, since the men in the cast wear tutus and dresses along with the women in the corps de ballet.
“There are certain stories we all love hearing and seeing at the holidays. They remind us of our childhood and ring in the season for us. But it’s also exciting sometimes to mix it up a little, to take a traditional story and apply an unusual filter. And that’s what Megill and Company has done with this Nutcracker,” said Oceanside Theatre Company’s Creative Director Ted Lieb.
One of Megill & Company’s tenets is “Dance for Every Body.” Heather Reba, one of the dance company founders, explains, “We believe dance should be accessible and performed by bodies of all shapes, sizes, and genders. We try to foster inclusivity for dancers who may not fit the typical “dancer body” mold.”
Founded by sisters Beth Megill and Heather Reba in 2002, Megill and Company or “MeCo” has produced seven fully staged musical theater productions and eight dance productions and taken part in the Rogue Festival (Fresno, CA), the Fringe Festival (Hollywood, CA), the MixMatch Festival (Santa Monica, CA), ArtBark (Santa Barbara, CA) and performed in Puebla, Mexico with the small contemporary dance company Quinto Elemento.
“It’s great to have Heather back at OTC where she ran our Youth Academy for several years, most recently directing Honk, Jr. in 2019,” Lieb said.
Playful, colorful, rhythmic, and wonderfully light-hearted, Not Your Normal Nutcracker will entertain and delight fans of the beloved ballet, as well as new audiences seeing the story for the first time.
