Shorewood teen has performed in ‘The Nutcracker’ for 5 years. She’s now the lead.

A 14-year-old Shorewood girl’s dream came true when she landed the lead role in “The Nutcracker” on her first audition for the role.

McKenna Koger, a student at Holy Family Catholic School in Shorewood, will perform as Clara in the Chicago Festival Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Rialto Square Theatre, 102 N. Chicago St. in Joliet.

According to the Rialto website, the family-friendly “magical production” of “The Nutcracker” “features lavish costumes and exquisite sets, including a Christmas tree that grows before your eyes.”

McKenna said she is very excited because she loves “The Nutcracker” so much and “tried her very best” during the audition.

“But I was really nervous,” McKenna said.

Sarah Lewis of Shorewood, McKenna’s mother, said McKenna started dancing at the age of 2, began taking lessons at the Von Heidecke School of Ballet in Naperville at age 9 and started dancing en pointe two years ago.

“She dances 20 hours a week to rehearse for this role,” Lewis said. “She dances alongside professionals.”

This is McKenna’s fifth year performing in “The Nutcracker” and her first as Clara, Lewis said.

McKenna also traveled with “The Nutcracker” cast last year to Ohio for performances. These experiences “have really shaped McKenna into a resilient girl,” Lewis said.

“I am so proud of McKenna and all her hard work to become Clara,” Lewis said. “It is her dream come true.”

McKenna said her first dance classes as a young child were “Mommy and Me” classes, “where I got to have fun with my mom,” but she preferred ballet the most.

“It makes me feel on top of the world,” McKenna said.

McKenna said “The Nutcracker” is perfect for all ages, with some families making the Chicago Festival Ballet version a holiday tradition for 20 years.

She said some of the acting parts are funny and that during other parts “you’ll be sitting on the edge of your seat just captivated by the dances.”

The Chicago Festival Ballet’s production of the “The Nutcracker” has been an annual holiday tradition at the Rialto since the 1990s partly because its founder, Kenneth von Heidecke, always included local youth in the performances as mice and soldiers.

Some of these youth, such as McKenna, wound up touring out-of-state with the ballet. And any student not selected for mice or soldier roles automatically became an angel, a less demanding role, von Heidecke said in a 2019 Herald-News story.

“I never believed in turning down any kids,” von Heidecke said in the story. “I have a soft heart.”

[ Kenneth von Heidecke always made room for youth who wanted to be part of ‘The Nutcracker’ at Joliet theater ]

He died in a car accident Dec. 11, 2021, but his vision continues at the VH Dance Center in Aurora, the school for the Chicago Festival Ballet, where McKenna now dances. For information, visit vhdancecenter.com.

McKenna said she’s striving for her best “Nutcracker” performance this year because “I just want to make Mr. von Heidecke proud.”

“I miss him,” McKenna said. “He was like family to us. He would take us under his wing. And whenever we were super tired and we took a break, he would tell us stories of what he did when he was a kid. So he was kind of like our grandpa in a way. It’s just hard without him. It’s very hard to leave someone you love especially when they love you back.”

McKenna recalled “freaking out” at practices when von Heidecke corrected her because she “did not want him to be disappointed.”

“So I always tried my hardest,” McKenna said. “That’s probably why I’ve become better at ballet. I did not want to let him down.”

For tickets to “The Nutcracker” at the Rialto and for information, visit rialtosquare.com/event/the-nutcracker.