The magical world of The Wizard of Oz came to life on The Civic’s stage last week in a production by the Gunnedah Conservatorium.
About 30 children sang, danced and acted across four shows in three days last week.
Tickets were sold out for three of the four performances, with the Wednesday night show almost running out of seats.
Children started their rehearsals in March this year, making them well prepared for the July production.
The classic story follows Dorothy Gale who is swept away by a tornado to the magical land of Oz.
The leading cast was Paige Johnson as Dorothy with other recognisable characters of Cameron Yianakis as the Scarecrow, Jonathan Martin as the Lion, Harrison Blackwell as the Tin Man, Luke Bunce as Toto, Jana Smit as Glinda and Elsie Walshe as the Wicked Witch of the West.
The production was brought to life with help of The Civic’s screen and speakers along with props and costumes.
On the production team were Meg Clowes and Dominic Goodwin-Hauck as co-directors and co musical directors. Ms Clowes was also producer along with props and costume director.
“The children did so well,” she said.
“Many didn’t know each other before rehearsals started but had finished up as good friends.
“They had a really good time and it’s not just about the show – it’s also the process.”
Danny Hankinson and Ryan Wallace were on as sound and lighting.
Special thanks to the number of people who gave their time to make the show spectacular. Included was Fonda Rowland, who created the Yellow Brick Road setting and promotional artwork at the conservatorium along with Jess Taylor, who assisted for three nights backstage and with costuming.
What the audience said …
• Annette Gardner “Very talented young performers! Audience was spellbound!’
• Natalie Walters ‘Oh my goodness! The production of the Wizard of Oz was phenomenal!’
• Jodie Dobel ‘I can’t even imagine the hours that went into preparing all those amazing kids for this performance. The talent of these kids was truly inspiring.”
• Larni Christie ‘Congratulations Meg and Dom on a stupendous effort with Oz. You could have lit up the power station with the love of theatre last night in the room.”
Gunnedah Conservatorium director Rebecca Ryan said the script was a great choice as it was faithful and true to the original film.
The director also acknowledged the great feedback received from those in the audience.
“All weekend people have been telling me how much they loved the show and I’m talking about people of all ages from the older audience members right through to little ones people who came along who didn’t have any association with the cast,” Ms Ryan said.
Audience members also commended the direction from Meg and Dom as well as the strong singing from the performance cast.