The Wizard of

The Senior School's production of The Wizard of Oz (April 27-29, 2023) was the first musical they had put on since pre-COVID Everyone hoped it would be a success, and it was. All of the performances were equally wonderful, even when things went awry, like broken or missing props, costume fails, or late appearances. When Scarecrow’s corn cob fell off the stalk, she carried on singing her song and dancing. When a wagon that was the main talking point for several characters didn’t make it on stage, two students (playing Lion and Scarecrow) rose to the occasion with on-the-spot

Oz

Musical Review by Esme Vedelago, 806

actors seem as if they really were, from the story. The Jitterbugs glowed in the dark, the witch was actually green, Glinda was a princess on stage, Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion were incredible, and the munchkins were absolutely adorable. I heard from a very reliable source that the munchkins all got new accessories, and you could tell that most of the hats were handmade Hats off to these wonderful women, who had to make costumes for four separate productions this year!

Speaking of the munchkins, they managed to pull it off! Their one all of the above and also clearly enjoying themselves. improv acting, pretending that the wagon was there and making the audience truly believe that there wasn’t even supposed to be a prop there.

Saturday night saw another adaptable moment on stage: although the Wicked Witch's prosthetic nose fell off while she was onstage, the actress picked it up and carried on flawlessly You wouldn’t have noticed anything if the witch's nose beneath had been painted green! When she came back onstage, she was sadly missing her prosthetic nose, but her real one was painted green Although there were costume fails the women in charge of costumes (The Costume Ladies) truly went above and beyond, making the big job onstage was to be adorable, and nobody would have really cared if they couldn’t sing or remember the dance. But luckily for us, they managed to do all of these things! You could hear their sweet voices well, even the munchkins who weren’t wearing microphones! They all remembered the dance, and their voices were loud and clear Bravo all around The munchkins were adorable, brilliant singers, good dancers, and great actors You could always find a few with a bright smiles acting and dancing to the part They knew the choreography and lyrics by heart, and some acted exceptionally in their roles While watching, my attention was always quickly drawn to someone who was doing

The main cast was chosen well, with incredible acting skills and amazing voices to back it up Dorothy captured our hearts with “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, Lion made us laugh in the scariest of moments, Scarecrow (even without a brain) made us think, and Tin Man showed us his heart long before he got one from the Wizard. The less major roles, but still from the main cast, were equally as good. Glinda had superb acting skills, the Wicked Witch was evil in all the right spots, the Door Guard made everyone smile, and the Wizard was well chosen for the role. The production was a smashing success, despite the hiccups.

Although several of our actors and actresses won’t be returning for an encore next year, there will be new people entering the Senior School, eager to take on a part. I truly can’t wait for Senior School’s next musical production, though I’m hoping that I won’t be a spectator next year!