We're Off to See the Wizard!

If you haven't seen the Waycross Area Community Theatre's (WACT) production of The Wizard of Oz at the historic Ritz Theatre in downtown Waycross, put it on your to-do list!  In the words of cast member Chris Brown (he plays an Ozian):

I haven't seen this many sellouts on a stage at one time since the Backstreet Boys reunion.

Well, there ya go.  In our performances of the show, each night thus far has been a tremendous success, all sell-outs!  The cast is amazing, the orchestra's adding wonderful music, and the show is completely original, combining different aspects from the original novel with the movie to create our own, unique production of The Wizard of Oz.  You can still catch the show this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8pm and a Sunday matinee at 2:30pm.  To make reservations, call (912) 283-2161.

While you may recognize the familiar "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", sung by our daydreaming heroine, Dorothy Gale (played by Sarah Crutcher) or the familiar march of "We're Off to See the Wizard", you may have not even heard of such creatures as the "Jitterbug" (which is considered a curse word in the orchestra pit by the way ;) ).  Yes, amongst the lions and tigers and bears, the Jitterbugs dominate the stage, even having their own theme song.
Some other differences from the movie include a couple of nods to the original childrens' novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, written by L. Frank Baum: the Sorceress Mark (which in the production is placed on the ruby red slippers made famous by the 1939 film), as well as another novel character making his appearance on the stage, the Wicked Witch's (played by Nadine Borrelli) servant, the skeleton Tibia (played by myself), who is responsible for spiriting the famous trio away once they go searching for Dorothy in the Witch's castle.
Finally, I want to tell of something originally in the script that I wish we could've worked in somehow:

Dorothy:  Have you still got the balloon?
Wizard: Balloon?  My dear, no one travels in balloons these days!  I've got something much better than that... something I've worked on for years, just in case I ever needed to go quickly, shall we say...
Dorothy: What is it?
Wizard: An atomic rocket ship! 

That would've been my favorite part of the whole play, but it worked out much better to use the hot air balloon transport; plus, I can't help thinking that it will appeal to those fans who also went to see the recent movie Oz: The Great and Powerful.

Now for some shout-outs (I can't name them all, and don't expect me to either)!  First, the cast:
Sarah Crutcher plays a wonderful Dorothy Gale.  With a voice reminiscent of Judy Garland and her own jubilant attitude in portraying the character, she really gets into Dorothy's shoes, so to speak.  Blake Kildow portrays a very impressive Scarecrow, flopping around the stage in a flexible manner.  Along his quest to find a brain, he demonstrates the presence of knowledge he never knew he had.  Michael Hawkins, with his realistic metallic makeup, really looks to be made of tin.  Adding spunk to compensate for the character's lack of heart, Hawkins never fails to make you laugh.  Speaking of laughter, just wait until Stephen McQuaig makes his grand entrance as the Cowardly Lion.  With a purr here and a snarl there, you never know what to expect from the big guy.  What I can guarantee you is an amazing spine-tingling performance.  Nadine Borrelli plays the Wicked Witch of the West.  With a nasty temper and high hopes to get her hands on Dorothy, we also see the humorous side of the Wicked Witch, the one that can only be played right when Borrelli dons the big hat.  If there's a Wicked Witch, then there's always a Good Sorceress of the North, played by Mellissa Kresal.  With a high-pitched laughter and an ever-present smile on her face, Kresal represents everything the Good Witch stands for and reflects the never-fading good spirits for what the Land of Oz is so famously defined.  I don't believe that we could've ever cast a better Oz than Mark Williams, who has an earth-shattering voice of terror... until he's discovered behind the curtain.  His voice quickly changes from terrible to soothing as he walks our characters through to their final destinations.  Marisa Williams demonstrates her singing prowess as Gloria when she and Dorothy share a beautiful duet in the song "Evening Star."  Debbie Ratliff has a great set of pipes when it comes to playing Dorothy's Auntie Em.  One shout from her is enough to send anyone running home.  The lovely Kim Beck makes her appearance on stage as one of Oz's primary caretakers, Ozmas.  Anita Finn portrays an innocent Oz Lady turned angry as she beats the Cowardly Lion this way and that, accusing him of attacking her.  Chris Brown and Amanda Brown sing, dance, and sweep merrily (and in rhythm) as happy-go-lucky Ozians.  The double-casted roles, including Rem Farr (Munchkin/Ozian Soldier), Joseph Rollins (Flying Monkey/Foremost General), Tye Etheridge (Uncle Henry/Lord Growlie), Michael Lee (Farmhand Joe/Ozian Servant), Jacob Peavy (Flying Monkey/Ozian General), Carson Bennett (Munchkin/Witch), and Niki Simmons (Ozian Soldier/Witch) make great use of each of their characters, playing them all with aplomb.  Finally, we simply cannot have The Wizard of Oz without Dorothy's little dog too, and we have our own little Toto: Paisley McQuaig, an adorable little pup in the family of Stephen and April McQuaig.  While it's only natural to be a bit skittish on stage, Paisley has a tremendous case of stage fright, but does well to cover it up.  She's a great little actress amongst all these unfamiliar faces.

The famous adventurers!

The two Witches!

And the whole cast!

And you know we can't have a musical without an orchestra.  I find it a privilege to be part of both worlds, acting as Tibia on-stage as well as playing percussion in the orchestra.  Kathy Cox steps in as the director as always, and is ever faithful to any and all of WACT's productions.  More returning veterans are Jenny Varnadore (French Horn), also a member of the Waycross Brass; Larry Gattis (trombone), another member of the Waycross Brass; Cyndi Etheridge (keyboards), who is also co-directing the show; and Taylor Hereford (keyboards), also an astounding actor and singer.  New to the pit but not to the stage are Mary Beth Kennedy (clarinet), who will be directing WACT's next production, Driving Miss Daisy; and Seth Altman (clarinet), who has acted in numerous productions before, both at WACT and at Ware County High School.  Other talents include Renee Giedl (flute); Brittany Loftin (trumpet); David Rogers (bass guitar); and (also helping me out on percussion) Matt Knox (trombone).
Speaking of the orchestra, I must give Mr. Willie Character credit for composing an original piece specifically for our theatre, which is played over the speakers before our production every night.  It is a joy to listen to, and every time I always find myself thinking, "This piece just sounds like it was made for theatre."

Finally, we have to thank the people with the vision and those who contributed to that vision: Directors Stanley Sinkfield and Cyndi Etheridge; stage manager Mamie Jackson; Choreographer Kim Moore; helping with mics and sound are Brian Varnadore and Jonathan Daniell; lights manager Brandon McKinnon and Rebecca McKinnon; helping with hair and makeup are Nosheen Choudhri, Tracy Saussy, Anna Wade, and Kayti Jeffords; helping with costumes are Melissa Kresal, Anita Finn, Adeline Wiederman, and Caroline Sanford; chipping in on set construction was David Moore; and, taking care of just about everything else, including poster design and publicity, is Roger Johnson.

I intend for these posts to be short, but I feel like if I give credit to one person I have to give credit to everyone else.  I hope you all come out and share with us a joyous and unforgettable experience!