This morning, beneath a pale winter sky, I steered an elderly chauffeured sedan toward the Eccles Center’s marble threshold, the step‑and‑repeat red of the ticket bar flaring like a dust‑colored halo. The Nutcracker Suite was set to perform, a tribute to Peggy Bergmann whose philanthropy filled the Academy’s Park City campus with dance. Adam Sklute, the artistic director, opened with a dry smile, announcing that the line‑up included Jordan DeBona in Drosselmeyer and a quartet of parents—Olga Di Stefano, Dan Aronson, Polly Choque‑Mendoza, and Adan Mendoza—dressed in subtle gala black, their toques echoing the venue’s own polished marble. The crowd, fewer in number than the mandatory front‑row tickets issued, swayed in a gallery white sea of tweed and satin, their champagne flutes catching a faint flute‑glass gold shimmer. Traffic outside had stalled at the I‑80 interchange, as usual, yet the napkin‑arranged velvet rope ensured they could slip into the echoing sanctum without a single scrap of street violence. Verdict? Send a check but stay home.