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A ballet company on an Ontario-wide tour of The Nutcracker says someone stole a moving truck storing its “irreplaceable” sets and backdrops.
Ballet Jörgen’s general manager Stephen Word issued a public plea Monday for anyone who sees the Penske truck — licence plate CD50229 — to report it to police.It’s described as a white 2026 Penske 26-foot (or approximately eight-metre) international make.
Inside, whether the thieves realize it or not, are “irreplaceable sets and backdrops” that are “the heart of our Ontario-wide holiday tour,” Word said in an email.
Word said security camera footage shows the vehicle was stolen around 3:30 a.m. from where it was parked in Etobicoke. Toronto police confirmed it’s been alerted about the stolen vehicle.
The truck had a GPS tracker, but that stopped working on McLaughlin Road in Mississauga around 4:30 a.m, Word said.
The company is set to perform the classic holiday ballet throughout late November and December to audiences everywhere from Burlington to Orillia to Ottawa.
The ballet company vowed to go ahead with Tuesday’s scheduled show in Burlington, even if the sets aren’t recovered.
In a statement Monday, Alen Beljin, spokesperson for Penske, said the truck was a rental that was parked after-hours in an unsecured area of its lot.
The GPS tracking system on the truck was disabled during the theft, he said.
“The ballet is a long-time and valued customer, and we empathize with them during this unfortunate situation, especially at this time of year,” Beljin said.
Costumes, props not stolen, artistic director says
Bengt Jörgen, artistic director of Jörgen Dance, said costumes and props weren’t stolen, but the backdrops will be hard to replace and some are replicas of Group of Seven paintings. Created in 2008 and retouched since, the replicas are are about eight metres tall and 12 metres wide.
Jörgen said tens of thousands of people will see the play, including young children who might otherwise not be able to see a professional production of The Nutcracker.
“It’s a holiday favourite and it will be such a shame if we can’t deliver the full production values,” Jörgen said.
He said he hopes once the thieves find out that there’s nothing of value to them inside the truck, they’ll leave the sets and backdrops and call an anonymous tip line.
Sets help to bring story to life, dancer says
Adrian Ramirez Juarez, a dancer who plays three roles in the show, said the sets help to bring the story to life.
“They do help to tell the story throughout the whole show and it creates the ambience,” he said.
Akari Fujiwara, a dancer whose role is a lady bird in the show, which a sugar plum fairy in a traditional production, said she felt “pure shock” when she heard the news.
“Everybody uses the set pieces and it’s a part of the show. So without it, it’s not just going to look the same.”
Jörgen, for his part, said the dancers will adapt and still deliver their best performance.
“We are doing to do a great dance show. We are hoping that people will come out and support us, support the arts. It’s a Canadian-inspired production.”