Robert Gynn, a Mayfield High School statistics teacher of many years has a different, unknown side to him. He was an actor in the play, “The Nutcracker.”

The story all started when Gynn was a young man fresh out of college. Gynn said, “When I was 23, a girl from my high school was stage manager of ‘The Nutcracker’ in downtown Cleveland and they needed Supernumeraries, which were six foot tall guys who stood on stage as Spanish and Russian guards.”

This chance for Gynn wasn’t his first time encountering acting. Gynn said, “I wanted to be in a school play in high school, but sports were in the way. When I finally got the chance to perform in “Grease” senior year, I chickened out.”

Looking to redeem himself for his lack of action in high school, Gynn said he shined on stage, acting like he was a professional. Not only was Gynn just a Spanish guard, he also played a significant role as priest. Gynn said, “I was amazed people were paying 80 dollars to watch this play to see me be the second man out when I’m not even a real actor!”

Gynn may have not been a “real actor,” but he said he defintelly practiced as if he was. Gynn said, “Three nights a week, for three weeks, we would practice our parts over and over. It definitely became tedious.”

Night after night, for seven nights, Gynn would go out, squeeze into his tights, and act like he belonged there. In fact, Gynn said, “People changed us backstage between scenes so it felt pretty official”.

Unfortunately, not every one saw Gynn’s acting as pleasant. Gynn said, “The ballet people hated us! They thought we were trash and it was pretty funny.”

Normally, to be considered a professional actor, one must get paid monetarily. Gynn, unfortunately, was not a professional actor. Gynn said, “We didn’t get paid, but we did get a few free tickets to future shows.”

Gynn’s colleague, Joe Nidy, started inexplicably bursting into laughter regarding Gynn’s involvement in the play. Nidy said, “It was obviously some ploy to get a girl. Some girl was in the play and Gynn wanted to impress her.”

Nidy proceeded to ponder what it would have been like to witness Gynn in person. Nidy said, “Of course I wanted to see it. I want to see it as much as I’m afraid to see it.”

When Brian Francetic, another math teacher, heard about Gynn’s role in “The Nutcracker,” he responded by humorously photoshopping a picture of Gynn’s face onto a skating nutcracker, highlighting his urge to see the play.

For those wanting to see Gynn perform, Gynn said, “No one that I know of recorded the performance, and I’m kind of happy about that!”

In the end, Gynn said, “Overall, I definitely feel doing the performance was worth it. I’ve always devoted a lot of my time to sports like golf and soccer, and to do something different was really fun. It allowed me to do something I have always wanted to do and gave me an experience I will never forget.”