Follow the yellow brick road, straight to ODA’s newest musical production!

Many of you may be familiar with the play, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” but ODA’s musical production of “The Wiz” is a wonderful adaption of this classic, including music, dancing and incredible entertainment.

“[It’s] a funky adaption of the Wizard of Oz!” explains freshman Emily Liu.

In modern spin off of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” Dorothy (Madeline  Naylor, ’16) gets whisked away by a tornado, and transported to the Land of Oz. There, she meets incredible friends including the Scarecrow (Julia King, ’18), the Tin Man (Todd Humphrey, ’16), and the Lion (Jon Eichenbaum, ’16).  Together, they must face several challenges to find the Wiz, in hopes of having their wishes granted.

The Arts Department always does an excellent job casting the right roles for everybody, but how exactly do they do this?

In an interview with Upper School Arts Department Head, Ms. Evans, she explained that the auditions are held in the spring and fall, and everyone is welcome to audition. During the audition, every student will need to present a monologue and sing a song, so that Ms. Evans and Ms. Hoff can properly evaluate which role is best for everyone.

“Every year, I like to add a cameo from a faculty member or two,” explained Ms. Evans.

In this year’s musical, you can look forward to cameos from college counselor, Jacob Harding and Athletic Director, Brett Timmons, both performing the role of the Wiz.

Picking the play was no easy task either. Ms. Evans explained that the play is picked after auditions are held, taking into account all the different talents. This year, there was great musical talent, and “The Wiz” was picked because of its incredible musical pieces. Ms. Evans’ personal favorite, is a song called “Everybody Rejoice.” She describes it as a “fun, exciting, uplifting and inspirational song.”

This year, Ms. Evans has made decided that the Black Box Theater will remain a “naked stage,” with minimal props, in order to draw attention to the students acting.

“It’s all about the actors,” she said, “and them [acting] in all their glory.”

The play will be performed March 25th through the 28th in the Black Box theater at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10.00, but entry is free to all ODA students.