A famous actor, known for his roles on the small screen, credits the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) with getting him into ballet as a child. Boston native Jonathan Tucker, who is best known for turns on Westworld and Kingdom—and is currently starring in a new NBC sci-fi thriller, Debris—was appearing on Live with Kelly and Ryan yesterday, when he made the pronouncement.
Tucker, talking about how he got into ballet before acting, first gave a shout-out to Freihofer’s Baking Company and his love of their baked goods and their sponsorship of SPAC programming. “I’ve always wanted to give this shout-out to a regional bakery company in Upstate New York called Freihofer’s,” Tucker said. “I love the cookies that they make, but they have a whole spectrum of baked goods up there in the Capital Region.” He went on to say that Freihofer’s, “as good corporate citizens and stewards…paid for the lawn tickets for the New York City Ballet at SPAC up in Saratoga Springs, NY, and my grandmother would take me, with her free Freihofer’s tickets…and I got to sit on my grandmother’s lap on the lawn under the stars and watch the New York City Ballet in the summers up there.” (SPAC and the New York City Ballet recently announced a live, limited-run series for mid-July, in lieu of the dance company’s full summer residency.)
Tucker went on to say that it was those performances that compelled him to ask his parents to get him into “real” ballet. Eventually, he starred in a national advertising campaign for Fruit Roll-Ups, got into acting full time and the rest is history. But it all started at SPAC.
You can watch Tucker’s full interview here.