Nellie Small was a mainstay of the Tivoli circuit in Australia from the 1920s until her final performance in 1964. There was a catchcry on the variety circuit: if your show was falling flat, send for Nellie. Largely absent from our performing arts history books, Send for Nellie at the Sydney Festival thrusts Nellie Small back into the spotlight.Also, a new Australian production of Death of a Salesman has enticed Anthony LaPaglia back to the stage for the first time in over a decade, and we learn how, after being a flop in its native Russia, Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker became a permanent fixture of the Christmas season at ballet companies everywhere.