FAIRMONT – The community is welcome to follow the yellow brick road to the Fairmont High School Performing Arts Center. “The Wizard of Oz” It will be shown this week. The musical opens with a free senior matinee today at 12:30 p.m. and runs Thursday through Saturday at 7 p.m.
This year’s fall musical is being directed by high school English teacher Sarah Goodall, who said she tends to alternate between classical shows and more contemporary shows each year. Last year’s program was “Newsies” So this year I chose something more classic.
“We chose ‘The Wizard of Oz.'” Because we have kids, we knew our voice and talent would be a good fit, and a lot of kids were interested. We needed something that would fit a large cast,” Goodard explained.
The show is open to all students in grades 7 through 12, and Goodall said about 120 students will be participating this year, including cast and crew.
“It’s a little bit up from previous years. The program continues to grow.” Goodard said.
She said the theater program graduated 30 students last year, but this year there is still a core group of students who have been in the program for several years, as well as a significant number of newcomers.
“It’s an exciting year as we get to see some new faces, but we’re also buoyed by kids with years of experience.” Goodard said.
She said one of her students, Abi Payman, who plays Dorothy, has been in the theater program since she played Annie in the title show in seventh grade.
“This is like her best performance.” Goodard said.
Students began rehearsing for the show on September 19th. Since then, students have been meeting for a few hours five nights a week. Students are used to practicing musicals in conjunction with other sports and academic activities they participate in, as they run from 6:30pm to 8:30pm or 9pm.
Although a beloved and well-known show, the challenge with this year’s selection is that it is highly technical.
“It’s a story that everyone knows, but along the way there are a lot of special effects that happen and nine different scenes change.” Goodard said.
She said this year’s crews have been exposed to more challenges than previous years, and as a result, several more people have been hired to help.
Some of the staff’s tasks range from handling lighting and spotlights to changing sets as quickly as possible.
“I also have someone in charge of special effects, so come to think of it.”wizard of oz,“There’s a tornado and we have to bring down the house.” Some wizards appear in crystal balls or on the other side of curtains. All of those scenes have special things that need to happen and people who make them happen. ” Goodard said.
Because of the different effects, this show can be more expensive than others, Goodall said. Regarding the costume, she compares it as follows: “beauty and the beast,” The school installed it a few years ago. But she said they are renting costumes for that, whereas they are sourcing costumes for Oz.
Several adults in the community volunteered to sew and handcraft many of the costumes for this year’s production, and Goodall expressed her gratitude.
There are several versions, “The Wizard of Oz,” Goodard said he chose the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) version because it was the closest to the film. She covered the content of the movie almost exactly, but she said there were scenes that were cut from the original film.
“It was a fun add-on for us. It’s a new song and a new number that gets added to the storyline.” Goodard said.
Overall, Mr. Goodar expressed his gratitude to the community participation and community volunteers who helped make this show a reality, and said he hopes the broader community will see the hard work the students put into this year’s production. He said he hoped he would come.