Learn about John Wilpers!
You may know John Wilpers as our Mother Ginger in The Nutcracker for 22 years! Read all about how he came to be Mother Ginger and his fun Nutcracker memories below.
How – and when – did you first come to JMBT?
I joined JMBT in 1996 when my older daughter (Abby) first performed as a mouse. I started as a stage door dad but quickly and literally rose to the heights of playing Mother Ginger. The exhausted existing two Mother Ginger dads were looking for a sucker (volunteer) to take some of the load off them (we had dozens of shows back then). They asked if I had ever walked on stilts. No surprise, I hadn’t. Undeterred, they gave me a pair of stilts anyway and told me to take them home and learn. Thus began my 22-year “career” as Mother Ginger, continuing through the years of both daughters’ performances (Abby and Melissa) and beyond.
Outside of The Nutcracker, after a 50-year career as a writer and editor at newspapers, magazines, and websites around the world, I am currently a freelance editor and media consultant. Between the consulting and editing, I am also getting back into my jazz blog (GlobalRhythms.net). I am also trying to find a new home for the 30-year-old early childhood development nonprofit program I started in 1996 offering sports and arts programming. (hotshotssoccer.org).
What did you enjoy most about being part of JMBT’s production of The Nutcracker?
The camaraderie, the fun of performing on stage, and the chance to bring joy to both my little Polichinelles and our audiences. After months of rehearsing with the Polichinelles, we became like a sports team, bonded by shared experiences and a dedication to performing exquisitely. I treasured sharing high fives after each performance and awarding my handmade “Polichinelle Necklaces” to each girl after the last show.
It was also a heck of a lot of fun to be such an outrageous character. My Polichinelles and I got to take the stage after the rather sedate scenes that open Act 2. We instantly got the audiences all excited, smiling, and physically involved by getting them to clap along with the music. We were the fun part of Act Two.
John Wilpers performing as Mother Ginger in The Nutcracker
Do you have any favorite memories from your time at JMBT you would like to share?
Here is one of my most forefront memories: As I exited the stage door after my very first show, I was confronted by what looked like an angry mob. All of the Polichinelles’ moms had waited for me and in unison and with not a little derision, they asked me: “Have you EVER done this before?!” I stammered and weakly replied, “No”. They all replied with undisguised derision, “It looked like it!” I assured them I would get better and not endanger their daughters! They harrumphed and stalked away, clearly unconvinced!!
Another great memory that I have is José’s comments about my Mother Ginger makeup: The Mother Ginger character is SUCH an odd duck: A 12-foot-tall woman with a dress the size of a circus tent that disgorged 12 teeny dancers. So, I figured it only made sense for her make-up to be equally bold, colorful, and outrageous: Luminescent rouge, vibrant super-sized fire-engine-red lipstick, a liberal sprinkling of sparkles, a Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer shiny nose, giant glittery earrings, etc. On the night when I thought I’d really nailed the peak Momma G “look”, Jose Mateo came up to me and quietly (and delightfully cleverly) suggested I dial it back: “John,” he said, “I would like the audience to think that all of the Polichinelles had the same father”.
