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Plymouth, Canton area police searching for ballet company's stolen 'Nutcracker' props

By and Brendan Vrabel
Published  November 19, 2024 5:04pm EST
Woodhaven
FOX 2 Detroit

Thieves steal trailer full of ballet props for showing of 'The Nutcracker'

A community comes together to help after 40 years of props for 'The Nutcracker' in Plymouth were stolen by thieves.

WOODHAVEN, Mich. (FOX 2) - Christmas is a little more than a month away, and there is already a group of people who are on Santa's naughty list, after surveillance footage caught thieves stealing 40-years worth of props for an upcoming performance of ‘The Nutcracker’ in the Plymouth and Canton area. 

The classic Christmas play is a holiday tradition, performed every year by the Plymouth-Canton Ballet Company, and in three weeks is their 40th year anniversary.

"We’ve been accumulating these props for 40 years. So there are things in there that have lots of memories attached to them," said June Smith from the Plymouth Canton Ballet Company.

But those 40 years of magic are now stolen. Thieves were caught on video hauling away the production trailer filled with sentimental props like a tree that grows from scene to scene, a throne, and custom backdrops. These were taken early Sunday morning from a dance studio in Canton.

"Hard to put into words exactly how it feels to watch that drive away," she said. "It just makes me sick and when I watch that, and I go, that’s our props, that’s the magic. There's kids in the company who started when they were 7 years old. They were a little mouse, and now they’re a lead role in the company. So their families have grown up with this."

That is why Smith says the show has to go on. More than 80 dancers from 20 different studios across metro Detroit auditioned and have practiced for this performance since September. The performers can keep the show alive.

"But the set around them makes them go. We are in the land of show, we are in the magic kingdom," she said.

June is asking for the community’s help. A Go Fund Me has already raised $7,000 and crews are trying to create new props. Police are investigating. 

Her message to the thieves is that the trailer can be replaced, but to please bring back their sentimental props.

"Please just think about who you’re hurting when you do something like this," she said.