Students at John Gray High School took the audience on a musical trip down the yellow brick road with their production of the classic 1939 film ‘The Wizard of Oz’.
Bringing the iconic movie – itself based on L. Frank Baum’s 1900 children’s novel, ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’ – to the stage was especially memorable, Julia Watkins, subject leader for drama and creative media production at the school, told the Compass ahead of the performances on 7 and 8 Feb.
“It’s the first time, for many years, that the school has put on a whole school musical, and they are most excited to share it with the wider community,” she said.
More than 60 students were involved in the production with main cast members including Moriah Praise Padua, who played lead character Dorothy Gale as she takes the epic journey down the yellow brick road to the land of Oz in hopes of finding her way back home to Kansas. Her companions on that adventure were the Scarecrow, played by Nia-Shae Wedderburn; Tin Man (Brooklyn Ebanks); and the Lion (Genesis Scott).
Director Jo Davidson and choreographer Watkins jointly told the Compass the school musical brought students and staff together. “The students have worked tirelessly over the past five months, many of whom have never performed before. It has been wonderful to watch them grow in confidence and blossom into the talented performers they are.”
Similar to the original film, Dorothy endures many adventures along the way to the Emerald City, with the artistic set designed and constructed by local artist Kerwin Ebanks, featuring the colours representing the land of Oz, the rainbow and the yellow brick road.
The student orchestra, under the direction of Fran McConvey, performed the songs whose popularity has endured over the years, including, ‘Over the Rainbow’, ‘We’re Off to See the Wizard’ and ‘The Merry Old Land of Oz’.
“Working on the production has been an amazing experience!” said Moriah. “It was all laughs, making friends and creating tighter bonds. Some parts were stressful, but I know these experiences I will never forget and ones I’ll carry to the future. I am so thankful.”
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