Correction: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Jonna Cox’s name. 225 regrets the error.
Baton Rouge sports talk radio host and former LSU offensive lineman T-Bob Hebert had a secret childhood fantasy, and it didn’t have anything to do with football.
The son of New Orleans sports commentator and then-Atlanta Falcons quarterback Bobby Hebert, he recalls joining classmates on a third grade field trip to see The Nutcracker at Atlanta’s historic Fox Theatre. Hebert found himself particularly enraptured by the iconic ballet’s first act party scene. Parents and children gather for a Christmas fete, where they dance, trim the tree and exchange gifts, one of which, of course, is the titular nutcracker given to the lead character, Clara.
“I just very vividly remember on the bus ride home having hyper, hyper-intense daydreams about being on stage, because there were kids my age on stage,” Hebert says today. “I’m kind of a movie nerd and I always liked musical theater, too.”
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SEE THE SHOW
The Nutcracker – A Tale from the Bayou
Dec. 16+17, 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.
River Center Theatre for the Performing Arts
batonrougeballet.org
Note: The River Center Theatre has a clear bag policy.
Time passed for Hebert, now 34, but the dream didn’t fade. The married father of three says he recently told his wife that maybe one day he could weasel his way into The Nutcracker “as a party dad or something.”
And that’s exactly what happened. Like a number of local media personalities over the years, Hebert was asked to perform in the party scene of Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre’s 2023 production of The Nutcracker – A Tale from the Bayou.
He said yes.
“This is the most fun thing I’ve ever done,” Hebert says. “I love it. It just feels good to be doing something creative.”
Created by BRBT co-artistic directors Molly Buchmann and Sharon Mathews, The Nutcracker – A Tale from the Bayou was first performed in 1992. It’s one of a handful of shows across the country that add a regional twist to the timeless classic. Lavish sets depict Clara as a child growing up on the bayou who dreams of life in a stately mansion. Her reverie continues with a nutcracker who transforms into a mouse-dueling prince and takes her to an enchanted land filled with dancing sweets against the backdrop of the Old State Capitol.
“We wanted to keep it as traditional as possible so people would recognize a traditional Nutcracker, but with this particular setting,” Buchmann says.
In the early ’90s, Buchmann and Mathews hired set designer F. Nels Anderson, LSU School of Theatre professor emeritus, to design the show’s whimsical backdrops. The originals are still used today and are considered a fundamental part of the audience experience. Among others, they include the bayou scene with Clara’s cabin home, a fancy mansion that could be in New Orleans or in rural Louisiana, and the interior of the Old State Capitol complete with a spiral staircase and stained glass.
More than 100 cast members perform in the show this month. Along with local cast members, the show features professional dancers Dana Benton as the Sugar Plum Fairy/Snow Queen and Francisco Estevez as Cavalier/Snow King, Marlon Grigsby, a BRBT alumnus as Arabian/Nutcracker, and Celia Fishbein, another BRBT alum, as Arabian.
Clara is played by young local dancers Gabriela Bautista, Irelynn Harris, Rachel Magee and Sophia Robison, each of whom will star in a different performance.
It’s the final Nutcracker for Buchmann and Mathews. The two have led BRBT since 1976 and will retire at the end of the 2023-2024 season in April. BRBT veterans Rebecca Mathews Acosta and Jonna Cox are on deck to take over. They will continue to stage the arts organization’s productions and operate its dance education programs.
“We feel great about it,” Mathews says. “It’s in good hands.”
Buchmann says The Nutcracker – A Tale from the Bayou has been an essential part of BRBT’s ethos.
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“It’s important for a ballet company to have a Nutcracker because it’s a good revenue generator, but also because it’s so important for a community,” she says. “Sometimes, it’s the first exposure to the arts kids will get. That’s how you expose generations of people to what will hopefully be a lifelong appreciation for the arts.”
Just ask T-Bob Hebert.
This article was originally published in the December 2023 issue of 225 magazine.