INTERVIEW: Josh Canfield returns once again to Jersey Shore ‘Nutcracker ROCKS!’
Photo: Josh Canfield will once again become Uncle Dross in The Nutcracker ROCKS! at the Axelrod. Photo courtesy of L. Morgan Lee / Provided by LL-PR with permission.
Last year, Josh Canfield, the Broadway star and alum of TV’s Survivor, had an awesome time performing in The Nutcracker ROCKS!, the reimagined holiday classic that annually plays the Axelrod Performing Arts Center in Deal Park, New Jersey. He played the character of Uncle Dross and was taken in by the magical ballet dancing that surrounded him on stage.
This Christmas season, he was expecting to take a break from theatrical holiday fare, but then an unexpected phone call came in — and Canfield could almost hear Tchaikovsky’s iconic score ringing in his head.
“I did it last year, and they just called and were like, ‘Hey, the guy who was doing it this year had to drop out. … You don’t happen to be free to pop in right away,’” Canfield said in a recent phone interview. “I had just turned down another Christmas show at a different theater because most Christmas shows and holiday shows go over actual Christmas, and this year I decided I didn’t want to be working over Christmas. I wanted to go home to see my family in Michigan, so I turned down things. But then when they asked about this, [which] finishes Dec. 11, I was like, ‘Oh, well, I can do that.'”
Canfield said he enjoys how choreographer Gabriel Chajnik has enhanced the uncle character in the show and given him more to do on stage. In particular, the plot has been somewhat modernized, and Uncle Dross has a clearer connection with his niece, Clara.
“It’s very inclusive, whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa,” the actor said. “I think it’s very broad in the scope for the audience, and … last year when I did it, I was like I can listen to this music all the time. It’s just one of those scores that never gets old. Immediately for me it gives me feelings of my childhood and hearing it for the first time and going to see a version of The Nutcracker as a kid, and I think a lot of people are like that. It just immediately throws you back in time.”
When Canfield is on the Axelrod’s stage performing in The Nutcracker ROCKS!, which this year runs Dec. 2-11, he is immersed in a world of ballet dancers, from the very young to professionals who are part of the local ballet company.
“There are so many people and so many cast members running around stage, backstage, on stage, and you never know what you’re going to get when you have 5-to-10-year-olds on stage with you,” said Canfield, who appeared in Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 on Broadway. “And it’s always something exciting. One of the girls last year, one of the kids, she had a bangle on her wrist during one of the numbers, and it flew off across the stage. So I had to go over there in my blocking and pick it up and give it back to her. It keeps you on your toes when you have a younger generation of performers on stage with you, so that’s a lot of fun. The main company members at Axelrod Ballet, they’re professional and they’re great, and it’s really fun to work with them.”
While performing approximately 90 minutes south of New York City, Canfield has also fallen in love with the local area. The Axelrod is the cultural hub of the Deal Park / Asbury Park section of the Jersey Shore. They keep a theatrical light burning bright, even during the off-season when the tourists are no longer on the beaches. This little-theater-that-could is quickly becoming a magnet for top-tier talent and winning productions. Canfield loves the Axelrod (he previously appeared in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat), and he appreciates his time down the shore.
“Last year I stayed right in Asbury Park, and it was still beautiful, even in the off-season,” Canfield said. “There were still lots of cute little shops open and coffee shops and restaurants that were really fun to hang out in. I really enjoyed my time.”
Canfield began his trek to professional acting at a young age. He said he began as a singer because his mother was a singer as well. In fact, as a child, he once needed to join with his other family members and dress up as the Von Trapp children from The Sound of Music. This was a requirement from his mother.
“So I started really young,” he said with a laugh. “They put a microphone in my hand probably at 3 years old, so it was always something that I was going to be a part of in some way. … And I think I was probably around 15 when my older brother brought back Phantom of the Opera and Les Miz as a CD, and I listened to those. … With my parents also we always watched the old MGM musicals — Oklahoma!, Carousel, My Fair Lady, all of those. Those were my favorite type of movies, to see people singing, acting, dancing. That’s what I want to do. Then once I heard Les Miz and Phantom, I was like, OK, that’s a career, and I want to do it. That’s when it started.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The Nutcracker ROCKS!, starring Josh Canfield, runs Dec. 2-11 at the Axelrod Performing Arts Center in Deal Park, New Jersey. Click here for more information and tickets.
