The Wizard of Oz (2005)

Performances

July 8-10, 14-17, 21-24, 2005

Venue

Community Players Theatre

A Theatre for Young People Production

Synopsis

After a tornado whisks away Dorothy, a young Kansas farm girl, to the magical land of OZ, she starts her quest to find the mighty Wizard of Oz who has the power to send her home. Along the way she meets a Scarecrow, a Tin Woodsman, and a Cowardly Lion who help her on her journey. The show includes many of the songs from the famous MGM musical.

As presented by the Royal Shakespeare Company, Music and Lyrics from the MGM motion picture, score by Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg, Background Music by Herbert Stothart, Book Adaptation by John Kane from the motion picture screenplay, Original book by L. Frank Baum

Historian’s Corner

The Wizard of Oz Preview (Curtain Calls 1.2, July 2005)

The Theatre for Young People production of “The Wizard of Oz” started the 83rd Season, which was themed “A Season To Die For.” The board named it this way because during the play reading committee meetings, members realized that every show under consideration for this season had someone or some people who never made it to the final curtain. However, not all of the shows were dark, there were comedies, classical musicals, a thriller, and an old fashioned ‘mellerdrayma.’

The show had mini-raffles to win “Wizard of Oz” dolls and other memorabilia. The leading actors had a chance to meet and greet and perform for patrons at Barnes and Noble Bookstore on July 9th. Cast members were also giving away vouchers to redeem tickets for the performances at the Community Players Theatre. Musical numbers from the show were performed for 15 minutes to entertain the customers at Barnes and Noble.