Skyline Theatre is set to embark on a trip to the Emerald City. With the November 15 opening night fast approaching, the theatre team is working hard to prepare the stage for the magical land of Oz.
Skyline’s production of The Wizard of Oz will stick close to previous classic iterations. The story behind the musical is based on the book by Lyman Frank Baum. It follows Kansas girl Dorothy and her journey back home after a tornado sweeps her to the whimsical land of Oz. However, Director Brodie Brockie and the theatre crew took it upon themselves to add their own creative twists.
“The challenge was to create a version of the show [which] feels like you’re meeting these characters for the first time,” says Brockie. “It resulted in some really fun creative choices by everybody involved. The Wicked Witch, played by Celia Lyon (‘25), has this sort of New Jersey tough attitude, [which] was not something that I ever would have thought of.”
The new additions aren’t exclusive to the characters’ personalities; their physical forms have been altered too, especially Dorothy’s dog, Toto. In many other stage adaptations, Toto is either a stuffed animal which idly sits in a basket, or a real dog that frequently goes off script. Skyline’s production has made Toto a puppet, which will be brought to life by Lillian Toohey (‘26).
“[Puppeteering] is really fun because I get to have facial expressions while also [controlling the puppet],” says Toohey. “I have two ways of reacting to the same thing… The tail and the head are connected to handles. The tail can even wag depending on how you make it [move]. The head/neck has two levers that each control both the ears and mouth from the handle.”
It’s not just the actors and directors who are busy. Beneath the stage, the pit orchestra is working hard to prepare instrumentals for the musical numbers. Many of these numbers are taken directly from the movie adaptation by Victor Fleming.
“[Pit is] a commitment and the music isn’t easy, but it’s a lot of fun,” says violist Ian Saucer-Zeoli (‘25). “It’s really different from playing music in a concert setting, because our job is not to be the focus. We are a backing track, and to be a backing track we have to play music that we’re — that I, at least, was completely unused to.”
And what would a play be without a set? Our tech crew has worked tirelessly to bring the Emerald City to life. “One of the biggest things that we are preparing for is the scene changes and who is going to move what set piece,” says construction crew member Ashton Woods (‘25). “All [of] that is going to be a collaboration between pretty much all of the crews throughout the entire show.”
Show dates, ticket information, and more can be found here.
