A photo series capturing moments and views from the cast of the fall musical “The Wizard of Oz”
Ava Boedeker
Lead Photographer
November 29, 2021
Oz, or Sam Vance (12), is shown before the tornado helping Dorothy.
“The flying was definitely the toughest thing to get right before the first show because not only do you need to get the timing right in coordination to the music, but you are communicating between the two people flying, the two people who need to catch you when you are landing, and keeping the people in the wings out of the way.” -The Good Witch, Cailin Gregory (12)
“I absolutely loved being a part of Munchkinland. The kids were, for the most part, so enthusiastic and sweet. I got to spend a lot of time helping them learn choreography and their songs. They were all so passionate and were so excited to be in the musical. I also loved working with all the other Munchkin high schoolers, they were a very sweet group of people.” -Mayor of Munchkinland, Molly Neff (11)
“The most difficult thing to get perfect was definitely my coroner solo in Munchkinland, it took me the whole length of the show to get good with the character voice and where I was placing the song in my voice. It was super difficult for me, but it came out in the end.” -Coroner, Grace Welsh (12)
“My favorite scene that I was a part of was Munchkinland because that’s the scene that really shifts the plotline and scenery, and I get the opportunity to help showcase that. I got to work with the fourth graders that were playing the munchkins fly into the set and sing.” -The Good Witch, Cailin Gregory (12)
“Being Scarecrow was something that was super new to me. It was definitely daunting with so many extremely talented people working right next to me, but I was honored to be able to share the same stage as other principal characters.” -Scarecrow, Peter Deck (11)
“I think the most difficult thing to get perfect before the first live show was the transitions between scenes. Our set was beautiful and also very big. Because of this, some of the scene changes were hard. But we had an amazing technical crew and they did a fantastic job at developing a plan to get things on and off stage within the amount of time they had. Even with such little time, they got it done and it ended up looking great!” -Tree, Ozian, Jitterbug, Emma Novak (12)
“My favorite scene to be a part of was definitely the Tinman scene because getting to do the dance with the trees and acting with Dorothy and Scarecrow for the first time was just such a surreal experience.” -Tinman, Luke Dillick (12)
The “Core Four” experience snow outside the poppyseed plants on their way to Oz.
The guard outside of Oz, Collin Alber (10) tells Dorothy and the Scarecrow that they cannot see the Wizard.
“My favorite scene that I was a part of was Merry Ole Land of Oz! I absolutely love ensemble scenes because I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for everyone to shine in their own ways. I particularly loved this ensemble scene because we had a lot of creative freedom with what we were doing and so I spent a lot of this scene with my best friend, Grace Welsh (12). This creative freedom ultimately made the scene look really cool because everyone was able to put a little bit of themselves into the scene.” Tree, Ozian, Jitterbug, Emma Novak (12)
“My favorite part of stage performance has always been the environment and the ‘live’ aspect. Whether it’s hamming it up for an audience, or playing off the other people on the stage. I loved observing tiny little things change each day with a new audience or other people differing their line delivery while my character of Scarecrow stayed consistent.” -Scarecrow, Peter Deck (11)
“It was most difficult for the cast to perfect timing with comedy and lines. This was difficult because we didn’t have much of an audience to play off of until opening night. Thankfully, we trusted the process and it all came together for the performance.” -Lion, Cole Wolfe (12)
“I loved the jitterbug dance! I loved getting the chance to dance in front of an audience and create a fun atmosphere on stage for the audience.” -Lead Jitterbug, Keegan Connor (10)
“They say there’s two things you should never work with in live theatre, dogs and children. We did both. It was difficult to get everything to go according to plan, but I think those hiccups are what make live theatre so beautiful. Toto actually peed on my foot during ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ on the Friday night performance, but the audience loved it. That’s live theatre!” -Dorothy, Alayna Miller (12)
“My favorite scene was definitely the rock scene before saving Dorothy. This scene always got the most laughs from the audience. Specifically when I pulled a fake Toto out from under the rock.” -Lion, Cole Wolfe (12)
“The most difficult thing to perfect was by far the witch melt scene. In that scene alone, there were multiple uses of fire, the actual dog, trap doors, moving set pieces, and blackouts. If one thing went right, the other went wrong, and it was very difficult to perfect. The first time things went seamlessly for that scene was actually opening night.” -Dorothy, Alayna Miller (12)
“I’d have to say my favorite scene was the Jitterbug scene because we were all in these super cool costumes and it was a very difficult dance. Difficult dances look more impressive.” -Alex Arnold (12), Wicked Witch of the East
Scarecrow is a very emotionally exaggerated character. He was a great tool for real funny moments, sure, but also for some emotionally charged ones. Scarecrow’s malleability and the axioms of his character were things I really fell in love with.” -Peter Deck (11), Scarecrow
Alayna Miller, Dorothy, and Peter Deck, Scarecrow, embrace in a hug before Dorothy leaves to go back to Kansas.
Toto gets applause from the audience for his performance during the show.
The cast and crew of the show point to the tech crew to allow the audience to applaud them for all the work they did for the show.
Mabree Humphreys (12), The Wicked Witch of the West, flies across the stage while confronting the core four.