Scheifele will appear in a walk-on role at the 7 p.m. performance on Friday. He will be on stage twice during the show, during the ballet's party scene in Act 1 and also in a more familiar role, partaking in a game of hockey on a frozen pond in the opening scene.
"I got asked by our owner, actually, if I wanted to be in the opening scene," Scheifele said. "So I said, 'yeah, for sure.' I'll probably find out more details later, but right now I'm kind of going in in the dark."
Walk-on roles for "Nutcracker" are a tradition that span more than a decade within the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, with high-profile community members annually fulfilling the spots. Scheifele is one one of 17 Winnipeg residents chosen to perform in the ballet in a walk-on role, and the first Jets player ever to receive a cameo in the show, but he won't be the only athlete making a cameo this year. Maurice Leggett, a running back for the Canadian Football League's Winnipeg Blue Bombers, will perform in the 7 p.m. show Thursday.
Scheifele has not acted on stage since he was a kid but is not sweating his upcoming appearance.
"Not really," Scheifele said when asked if he was nervous. "I don't fully know what I'm doing yet. I think it's just out for the opening act, so nothing too intense."
Scheifele and the Jets have two more games before his on-stage appearance, at the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday (8:30 p.m. ET; CSN-C, TSN3) and home to play the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday. He can practice his grace on the ice before pretending to play hockey on stage.
