TOLEDO, OH – Toledo Ballet is excited to announce 4 community leaders who will perform the role of Mother Ginger in Toledo Ballet’s 83rd annual production of The Nutcracker. Shaun E. Graham, Assistant General Counsel at Marathan Petroleum Company LP will perform during the sold-out school performance presented by Yark Automotive on Friday, December 8 at 10:30am. Andrew Newby, CEO and Co-Founder of The Toledo Spirits Company and HEAVY Beer Company, will perform on Saturday, December 9 at 2pm. Michael Ellison, Ph.D, Associate Professor Emeritus from Bowling Green State University will perform on Saturday, December 9 at 7pm. Patrick E. Bowe, President & CEO of The Andersons, will perform on Sunday, December 10 at 2pm. Saturday and Sunday’s performances are presented by Fifth Third Bank.
In Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, the appearance of Mother Ginger in Act Two brings a light-hearted distraction from the more serious roles in the ballet. The role is traditionally played by a man ‘en travesti’ for a theatrical effect.
Shaun E. Graham serves as Assistant General Counsel at Marathon Petroleum Company LP. Before joining Marathon in 2022, Shaun held Senior Counsel positions at Cooper Tire & Rubber Company in Findlay, Ohio and Melksham, England, and practiced law as a partner in a large, Indiana-based firm. He and his wife Jodi moved from Indianapolis to Perrysburg with their three children – Landon, Hayden and Nolan – in 2015. Shaun is a graduate of The University of Notre Dame and Indiana University Maurer School of Law, and currently serves as Community Service Director of the Perrysburg Rotary Club. After many years of proudly watching from the audience, Shaun is very pleased to join his daughter Hayden on the Stranahan stage for this year’s production of The Nutcracker.
Andrew Newby is the CEO and Co-founder of The Toledo Spirits Company and HEAVY Beer Company. Andrew’s passion and drive are guided by his pursuit of finding meaningful balance in the worlds of technology, entrepreneurship, and spirits. In addition to being a constant advocate for Toledo, Andrew sits on various local non-profit boards and is the chairman of the Vistula Foundation, which helps develop and protect Toledo’s first neighborhood. Andrew recently co-founded the Toledo Craft Brewer’s Alliance to promote the region’s growing craft brewery industry. Residents of the Old West End, Andrew, his amazing wife Kristin Kiser, and their fabulous daughter Joss, love to explore the hidden gems and natural wonders of our region.
Michael Ellison, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor Emeritus from Bowling Green State University, but he is not your typical academic. In everything he does – his writing, teaching, coaching, public speaking, and body/energy work – Michael is devoted to helping people overcome their personal obstacles and unleash their full potential. With a Ph.D. in Theatre from the University of Minnesota and vast experience in coaching, teaching, performing, and sharing his transformational body/energy across the United States, Canada, England, Denmark, Germany, and the Philippines, Michael brings a wealth of knowledge to the table. In addition to teaching a variety of theatrical workshops for actors, singers, and dancers, Michael is an inspirational speaker, and offers individual transformational body-energy work sessions.
Pat Bowe joined The Andersons in November 2015 and has more than 40 years of experience in the agricultural sector. He had previously served as corporate vice president of Cargill, Inc. and as one of the leaders of the company’s Food Ingredients and Systems platform since 2007. Prior to that role, Pat was the president of Cargill’s corn wet milling business from 1999 – 2007. Pat began his career working as a cash grain merchant and worked at the Chicago Board of Trade. He also worked in metals trading, sweetener sales, and plant management for Cargill. Currently, he serves on the board for United Malt Group (since September 2022), the fourth largest commercial maltster globally, which operates as a network of companies spanning North America, the UK and Australia. He is former Chairman (June 2020-June 2022) of the Toledo Alliance for the Performing Arts Board of Trustees and continues to hold a seat on the Board. In addition, he is the current Treasurer and Director of the Toledo Museum of Art (since 2020). Pat earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Stanford University and a master’s degree from the Stanford Food Research Institute.
HOW TO ATTEND:
What: Toledo Ballet’s 83rd annual production of The Nutcracker
When: Saturday, December 9 at 2pm and 7pm; Sunday December 10 at 2pm
Where: Stranahan Theater
Cost: Tickets start at $25
More info: Visit artstoledo.com/nutcracker, stop by the TAPA Box Office located at 1838 Parkwood Avenue, or call 419.246.8000, Monday-Friday, 9-5PM
For more information on Toledo Ballet’s 81st production of The Nutcracker, please contact Vanessa Gardner, Vice President of Marketing & Operations at vgardner@artstoledo.com.
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ABOUT TOLEDO BALLET
Toledo Ballet was founded in 1939 by Marie Bollinger Vogt. A native of Toledo, Vogt taught dance at an early age at the Bach Conservatory in Toledo and studied at George Balanchine’s School of American Ballet, the premier ballet academy in the nation, bringing back to the region the forefront of dance instruction and choreography, including classical Greek, classical Spanish, and Flamenco dance, in addition to classical and contemporary ballet.
In 1941, only two years after the founding of Toledo Ballet, the first production of The Nutcracker in the United States took place in Toledo, Ohio, complete with live orchestral accompaniment by the Friends of Music, a precursor to the Toledo Symphony. Though only an abridgement of the score was permitted out of Russia at the end of the Great Depression and the onset of World War II, more and more of the score would be released over time, and Toledo Ballet continued to grow the production. To this day, Toledo Ballet holds the record for the longest, consecutive-running production of The Nutcracker in the nation, perpetuating a beloved holiday tradition that has become synonymous with Christmas.
On January 1, 2019, the Toledo Ballet and Toledo Symphony officially merged to form the Toledo Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA), a new non-profit organization dedicated to providing exceptional live music and dance performances and education for the region. Stemming from an 80-year partnership and annual presentation of The Nutcracker in Toledo, this merger is one of only a few in the nation and promises to create new and invigorating programs, provide cost and revenue synergies in operations, and integrate the arts through shared educational missions.
In 2022, professional dancer, educator, and choreographer Eric Otto was appointed as Toledo Ballet’s Artistic Director & Head of Curriculum.
