The Wizard of Oz (2012)

The Wizard of Oz is a timeless tale, and everyone came into rehearsal with clear ideas about the story and the characters. During our first class in September, we asked everyone to take the stage to show us their favorite moment in this famous story, and tell us what they most wanted to do in the show (sing, dance, scene, monologue, etc.).

We built the final show as a “highlight reel” or their suggestions, allowing everyone to share roles (we had 8 Dorothy’s, 2 Tin Men, and 3 Witches, amongst others). It was so much fun to watch our group play with this beloved story, and put their own spin on these well-known characters. Our classes focused on the power of music to communicate and express feelings.

As always, our actors got a chance to play with multiple characters and worked together in short scenes. We also featured the ensemble working as a team with several group pieces: A movement piece creating “The Tornado”, a big group song and dance to “Follow the Yellow Brick Road”, and we closed the show with “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” performed in American Sign Language.

This semester also marked continued growth with 4 new actors, and a bigger rehearsal space courtesy of Christian Fellowship Church.

Guest Artists:

Choir director and musician Peter VanKempen led our music rehearsals
Sara Schuh joined us again (via Skype) to teach us ASL for “Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Northwestern Medill School of Journalism student Gabriel Cohen joined us for class and interviewed a few of our students for a radio piece about living with Down Syndrome. Click here to listen.