FIRST OFF . . .

A stagehands strike in Toronto forced cancellation of the National Ballet of Canada’s last sold-out holiday performances last year of “The Nutcracker.” Four matinee and evening performances of the traditional ballet and one of the farcical “Nutty Nutcracker” were canceled from Thursday to Saturday. “The union refuses to put stagehands on the job while mediation talks are in session,” Charles Cutts, general manager of the O’Keefe Center, said in a statement. The O’Keefe’s theater seats 3,000. The National Ballet has been performing the holiday favorite annually since 1964. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees’ local and the center are in a dispute over the use of outside technical workers by touring productions.